Decided to replenish our fresh food stores by taking the bus into Banbury. Who knew it could be so exhausting! Just working out which bus might be running, from which stop and by which company was taxing enough. It was not clear, even by googling, how exactly we would get there and infact when we were in the bus coming back, the two ladies present (only four of us on the entire bus!) informed us invariably buses were cancelled! I’m not entirely surprised if hardly anyone uses them but it leaves one wondering how carless people out in the countryside get about.
Yesterday we had our church friends from Southam come to visit with their daughter M. S has recently had a knee replacement so was filling us in on the gory details which slightly depressed R who is definitely struggling with his knee. It did encourage him to keep going with the exercises recommended by the physio but it’s a sobering thought if he can’t easily get in and out of the boat or do much walking. We had a lot of walking in Banbury because all the shops we wanted seemed to be at opposite ends of the town. Having arrived at about 1130 by 2pm R had had enough but the return bus wasn’t until 4pm. He found a bench in the intermittent sun, read the paper and guarded our 2 rucksacks of shopping whilst I wandered off to scour the charity shops for a teapot. A traditional sign to boaters of an assured welcome. Returning back to the boat with said purchase I filled it with flowers and it is sitting decoratively on the bow end roof, well away from any ropes. Things on the roof are easily swept off by mooring ropes so R tries to discourage me from overly filling the roof although he is allowed to stockpile wood and coal, even in the summer! I grant you it is useful for the firepit,(also taking up roof space). Not quite sure where the solar panel will fit but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it! I’m hoping it will be raised enough to fit some wood underneath but because of the many low bridges we don’t want to add unnecessary height. Am planning to go along the Stort in a few weeks and a helpful boater warned me that there are alot of very low bridges to navigate. Note to self to remember to remove the chimney stack!
The Oxford canal is incredibly busy. There are boats passing in both directions frequently and the water point is in great demand. I had fun doing my washing yesterday. Once I had finished scrubbing it in the soapy suds I took it to the water point, drained the water and commenced to do three or four rinses directly with the cold water tap. I then used the spin drier in the boat to get it as dry as possible and hung it in the bow area covered with the new cratch which, due to the sun, became excessively warm, like a drying cupboard. The delight one gets from simple pleasures although it has to be said I felt like an old fashioned washerwoman!!
We’ve rigged up a portable projector with the screen at the bow end of the boat so we no longer are constrained to watching films on my mobile phone. From one extreme to another! James Bond ‘No Time to Die’ kept us entertained for two nights as the first night we only got halfway through when the projector battery died! As the batteries on the boat are so flat at the moment we couldn’t recharge without turning on the boat engine and this is discouraged after 8pm due to noise pollution. We nearly stayed late in Banbury to go to the cinema to see the new Downton film. The downside would have been hanging around until 5.30pm and then having to taxi home. In addition we would have needed to find a bite to eat. I worked out we might have ended up spending upwards of £60 just to watch a movie! Having been shopping I had plenty of food for us to eat and sadly eating out can be both expensive and disappointing if you don’t have much knowledge of the local eateries. The Wharf Inn, where we are moored is perfectly pleasant but I overheard the manager saying how difficult it is to get staff at present. Everyone does their best but it’s not easy. It reminds me of when I was nursing. As second year students we would be put in charge of a twenty bed ward on night duty and sometimes there would only be one other helper, usually unqualified. It was often very stressful! I once did nights with a girl who was a vegan, when veganism was relatively unknown. I seem to remember we ate a lot of raw red peppers and not much else!
NarrowboatTLC 