Author: Mary

Our Zoom church service nearly ended in disaster when a WiFi glitch hit mid sermon. Luckily a back up laptop ensured we were not offline for long, but it gave the clergy a bit of a knock as it is, of course, the thing they dread happening. The church was also very cold so it can’t be much fun running the service. Afterwards we have a Zoom coffeetime chat and the clergy are sitting in their masks which all looks a bit bizarre and brings the pandemic back to centre stage. However I still think it amazing that we have this technology and how great it is that we can stay connected wherever we are (internet connection allowing!).

We enjoyed lunch sitting in the sun on the bows and were pleased when James turned up to look at the snags on the boat. He was going to visit us after six weeks – its now nearly 5 months since we started our journey. The snag list has got ever longer, even if the majority of things are very minor. However James was dismayed at the obvious signs of a very damp voyage and hugely apologetic that he had not managed to get to us any sooner. Now the weather is better our memory of leaking mushroom vents, copious condensation on the windows and damp mattresses is receding, so there was a lot of laughter and luckily for him, as canal novices, we hadn’t thought to question such occurrences. He, however, was shocked at the extent of the dampness and realises there’s a lot to do on the boat to get it ready for its next visitors. We were going to switch to another boat but it transpires that also has had problems with completion – the necessary trim, which arrived after a six week delay, was found on opening to all be damaged. So new trim has had to be ordered and once it arrives will still need fitting. There is a saying that the two happiest days of owning a boat are the day you buy it, followed by the day you sell it! As much as I would now love us to own our own narrowboat (I even design the optimal layout in my head!) I know R would never relax and enjoy it. There would always be something to mend or replace or fix. At least by renting we have James we can call upon.

Unsure now what the next plan will be but we shall wait for a call from James and go from there. He was telling me how he spent his days repairing boats in 3° temperatures over the last couple of months. His own boat needs renovation but there are never enough hours in the day to get started on that. Let’s hope an easing on lockdown and the better weather will provide him with more time.

The afternoon weather was really pleasant for a long walk, first along the towpath and then through a village, onto footpaths across nearby fields, returning back to the boat having completed a circular walk. At one point a deer, alerted by our arrival, shot off into the distance with two other deer spied in tow. We met a lovely man sitting on the towpath near his narrowboat. He was retired and had lived on a boat in his twenties before marriage and children had put paid to his dreams of permanently living aboard. A divorce followed by retirement had led to him eventually becoming a permanent live aboard boatman 9 years ago. He gave us great tips as to where to travel in the future on the northern canals although some of his stories about charting tidal rivers were quite alarming! He was interested to hear my idea of travelling around as a prayer boat and was very positive in his response, telling me that as he got older, so his ideas of religion got simpler – God’s two commandments, that we love him and love our neighbour, seemed eminently sensible. I have to say I rather agree with him.

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Back on the boat in time for our home church Songs of Praise which is always uplifting. Then supper and 3 episodes of Modern Love which is on Amazon Prime and really quite thought provoking. Each episode is only 35 minutes long, based on individual stories, with couples of all ages. It tells how people find aspects of love in different guises, such as focusing on the mental health issues of our day, which gives a realistic similarity of real life.

What an unexpected treat we found at lunchtime! Here we are in the middle of nowhere, it feels to me, although Northampton is only four miles up the road, or along the ‘arm of the canal’. We started our late morning (Saturday lie in) by travelling towards Gayton Marina and then turning right into the Northampton arm. After about half a mile, although I am no good judge of distance, we reached the flight of locks towards Northampton so we turned in the turning circle and retreated to a mooring on the left, still on the arm, having enjoyed a cruise of about an hour, enough to heat the water and warm the boat.

We then took a walk into the village of Blisworth which turned out to be very picturesque. I was impressed to find a shelter, underneath which was an open air community shop. It seemed to be full of books, dvds, toys, toiletries and was available for all. What a great idea and a lovely central hub. Right outside was a sign offering TakeAway food in the barn of the pub garden. That was the treat! Although unable to sell alcohol we were able to buy Irish coffee, mine laced with brandy. It was delicious (R infact had a cup of tea!) and left me feeling strangely mellow as we continued our walk through the village and eventually back to the boat.

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A quiet afternoon although R, sawing wood on the bow of the boat, spoke to plenty of people passing by. This is obviously a very popular walking spot and everyone was very friendly. Not a surprise as we have been told by other boaters that once you hit the Midlands people are much more inclined to stop for a natter. A Zoom call for me followed by two lengthy chats with good friends meant it was soon time to prepare supper and then find a film to watch. We actually watched two episodes of ‘Modern Love’ which was a bit different to the detective series we usually get embroiled in. Finished off with ‘Keeping up Appearances’ which, although funny, is also cringingly embarrassing at times. It is also sobering to think how dated it is, leaving me feeling incredibly old!

Early start with the Filling Station prayer meeting immediately followed by us moving the boat towards Stoke Bruerne and the seven locks where, a passerby told us, we could buy a bacon butty and a cup of tea at the top of the flight! That was incentive enough for R as I never buy him bacon! The scenery was fairly bland and flat for the two hours it took to arrive at the lock flight and we are officially now in the Midlands. Some of the seven locks were set to go, others looked like they had a waterfall cascading over the top, but we are obviously much more proficient than on our way down 5 months ago, as we did the flight with relative ease. The only disappointment being the lack of bacon butty at the top – the cafe was closed due to covid so we had to make do with a cup of coffee and a homemade wrap on the boat!

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Emerging into daylight once again, we looked to moor up, hopefully with internet coverage as I wanted to join my Friday afternoon Zoom. The first stop was not promising but the signal looked stronger fifty yards further along so we advsnced the boat manually. I immediately enjoyed a deep hot bath – always the best time to do so, whilst the water is still hot from the engine. Deciding to wash all my clothes I just donned a warm jumper and kept my towel wrapped around my middle. Realising the Zoom call was starting I tried to join, only to be frustrated by lack of signal inside the boat itself. Donning socks and slippers and wrapping a blanket and shawl around me I sat on the bow and got connected. R meanwhile decided to move the boat along the towpath in the hopes that we might achieve a better signal and thus I could sit inside. Suddenly a shout alerted me that he needed help. The stern had drifted towards the middle of the canal and he needed me to walk along the outside edge, grab the midrope, jump back ashore and pull the boat back towards the path. In normal circumstances all very straightforward. Bear in mind my inappropriate open toed slippers and even more inappropriate lack of clothing! Luckily this towpath appears to have little passing traffic. A sudden gust of wind and a loosing of my towel could have been very embarrassing indeed! As it was, although the signal improved slightly, it was not significant! I logged onto EE and discovered the postcode here has intermittent good WiFi, inside of buildings. A mile up the road, the site of another marina (hence I can find the postcode) the WiFi looks to be far more stable so I think we will go there tomorrow. It seems a bit of a shame to link our mooring to the connectivity of the Internet and just goes to show how reliant we are on strong Internet connection for keeping in touch with others. I wonder if this would have been the case if our trip had not coincided with two lockdowns, resulting in the sad inability to see any family or friends. Even though we planned to go on the narrowboat for a few months, it was never with the intention of not going home or not travelling to family events, such as weddings and birthday parties. We had hoped also that we would have many visitors join us on the boat. As it is, R and I can just about count on one hand the loved ones we have seen since October. I am not complaining as I realise we are not alone in this and my heart goes out even more to those who have not even shared lockdown with one other person. It is just that I think it has made contact with family and friends more important to us than it would have done if we had been occupied with meeting new people, popping into pubs, trying out different churches every Sunday and entertaining visitors to the boat.

Next on the agenda was the mile long Blisworth tunnel. When we last came through it I all but panicked on entering the tunnel and R had to steer it through. This time I was at the helm the entire way and only had one slight mishap when a deluge of water fell from a vent and I tried to avoid it, sending the boat slightly off course, thus bumping one of the sides. Once I had righted it we went through without any other hiccups and I really felt I had achieved something. Reminded me of our first ever mile long tunnel a decade ago when we bounced from side to side along the length of the boat from one end of the tunnel to the other!

Today was a day for revisiting the past. It was a cold, fairly bleak day with no sun to be seen until the afternoon, when it made a brief appearance.

I had a couple of planned Zoom calls first thing so R made us a packed lunch and we set off late morning, walking along the disused Buckingham Arm. It is in the laborious process of being renovated and as you turn onto it there are many boats permanently moored and obviously water in that part of the canal, that gradually peters away as you walk further along. There were workmen in progress having nearly completed a new bridge over the arm. Then it will be time to restore the canal itself. Quite an undertaking as we walked along and saw the dilapidated state it is currently in. The towpath itself was one of the trickiest I have walked along. This was more like a skating exercise. The mud itself was not deep, it was just incredibly slippery and at one point R did actually lose his footing. We eventually found a couple of walking sticks but resolved to return another way.

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We arrived at Old Stratford, just outside of Deanshanger and I was ashamed to admit I did not remember this little village at all. Nor did I remember the fairly extensive park that ran between Old Stratford and Deanshanger. I don’t think I ever walked there. My memories of Deanshanger are painting and decorating our first home; zipping into Milton Keynes to visit John Lewis and then six weeks of bedrest prior to arrival of H, our eldest, because she was not growing properly. Our lovely neighbours, B&E, who had a 12 and 10yr old at the time, put a bed up in their lounge and I spent nearly every day with them, whilst R commuted to London to work. I occupied myself with a tapestry that still remains unfinished to this day – the needlework is done but I then tried to attach it to some velvet to make a cushion and have never managed to complete it. The friendship of B&E was a lifesaver to us – we knew no one in the vicinity and once I was on bedrest we had no opportunity to make any new friends. B&E, being a decade further on in parenting skills, taught us a lot and we remain so thankful of their friendship and the role model they set. B is a godfather to one of our children and knowing that he still prays for him weekly is a comfort to us.

We lived a stones throw from Deanshanger church, the only lively evangelical church in the area and each week about 200 people flocked to its doors. We leant a lot at that church but also, because it was so big, felt we had no specific role there. Everything was covered. I remember after H was born saying to R that I would give chuch a miss for a while. After all I had a baby to care for. R, to my total surprise, disagreed. He was so profoundly affected by seeing his daughter born, that he wanted to go to church, on a regular basis, to give thanks. That switching of roles I think led to us both becoming closer to God – R because he wanted to and me because at a time when I might have given God a backseat, I was prevented from doing so. On revisiting Deanshanger, we both agreed, that our time, though short there, was instrumental in shaping our way forward as both a couple and a family and in many ways it helped to shape our spirituality.

The village had changed considerably. The secondary school was still there and prominent – probably one of the largest schools in the area, just as in our day. However when we lived there it had a massive factory producing the ochre for coloured bricks and on washday everything hanging outside had a tinge of deep rusty red. There was an incredibly high chimney that bellowed out smoke and was not particularly attractive! Now that has all been replaced by housing and apparently, when not in lockdown, the car queues are lengthy getting out of the village. Dominated by housing estates you might think Deanshanger an unattractive place to live and yet the village green still retains character and the beautifully maintained old houses and thatched cottages add a touch of oldy worldy charm.

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The journey home was uneventful save for a meeting with a man who R later told me was probably the local farmer. Having nearly slipped into the canal on the muddy clay rich footpath we thought to return home on a parallel strip of land that was the edge of a field. This farmer accosted me just as we were about to walk the field edge saying that the footpath was along the canal and that is where we were to walk not on the field boundary. Explaining to him how precarious the towpath was fell onto deaf ears. He didn’t give a monkeys. All he wanted was to ensure we did not trespass on to his land. Although sympathetic to this view, I still found it incredulous he would not take any heed of what I was saying. At least R and I both had, by then, our walking sticks!

The evening was quiet with a relatively early bedtime as there is a busy day ahead of us.

My day of rest yesterday resulted in a day of action today, beginning with a trip to Bubbles, the local laundrette. It probably was the most efficient one to date with clear instructions written in speech bubbles on the walls. Let me tell you it’s no easy task working out some of the machines and where to put the detergent and which setting is best. A new skill learned over the past 5 months! I am not the most competent clothes washer at the best of times. Many a male garment has turned pink in our house or shrunk beyond recognition! As for ironing, I must be one of the few people who can make an ironed garment look more wrinkled after ironing than before!

Multi tasked by talking to my ‘Breathe’ friends on Zoom whilst the washing and drying was in progress and returned to the boat just as R was finishing a Zoom meeting. We decided to walk to Cosgrove as we want to moor there next, either today or tomorrow, and found a lovely route through a local park with scenic views of the valley. There were quite a lot of boats moored where we want to be, at the top of the Buckingham Arm. From there we can do our proposed walk to Deanshanger and as tomorrow looks a dry day the plan is to do it then. However I realised I have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning so best to move the boat today. Before leaving Wolverton groceries had to be bought as this is the last place, going north for quite some distance, where there are any large sized supermarkets close to the canal. It was 4pm by the time we were ready to leave and the promised rain had set in with a fine drizzle accompanying us all the way. Dressed in my full waterproofs, the weather was not a problem and we arrived just as the daylight was fading. The journey had given us enough hot water for a bath and as we are near to the next watertap there was no need to stint on its depth!

Whilst preparing supper I finished watching Bridgerton and after our weekly lent discussion group we finished watching The Queen’s Gambit. Two more series ticked off the list!

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Quite an apt day to finish my post on ‘Sabbath’ as that is the day I gave myself today, having woken up feeling a bit under the weather. Immediately my mind turned to all things covid, so decided to cancel going to the laundrette and settled down to a day on the boat. R meanwhile attended to some mechanical details on the boat and continued sawing logs! We had had quite a busy day planned. After the laundrette, a Tesco shop and topping up the water, we were going to moor a mile up the canal at Cosgrove and walk to Deanshanger, the village we lived in in 1987/88. All of that will have to wait a day or two because tomorrow is meant to be wet so not a good day for a longish walk.

To compensate for missing a walk today I did some Joe Wicks exercises. Then I got creative and made a ‘prayer boat’ sign from bunting. I have been meaning to do it for weeks but never got started. It’s to hang on one of the boat windows so is not too large a project. It kept me busy for the morning and then after lunch I settled down to a couple of Bridgerton episodes. A cross between Jane Austen and Mills &Boon! By the late afternoon I was feeling back to normal and decided my early morning vapours were either a reaction to a couple of long walks combined with poor sleep, or a psychosomatic reaction to a fear of spreading covid. Places you have to go, like the supermarket, have warnings, obviously, against entering the shop if you have any covid symptoms. Now there are so many possible symptoms it is easy to jump to conclusions that the blocked nose you have along with a muzzy head may well be the start of covid rather than a simple allergy! And changes in body temperature, another covid symptom could infact just be an affliction to women of a certain age and feeling chilled is no surprise when the boat is unheated during the day and cold!

The logistics of actually having to isolate on the boat are complicated. Planned isolation, such as before R had an op, was easy as you just buy provisions in advance and make sure you have plenty of fuel, water and empty lou cassettes! Waking up and deciding you shouldn’t leave the boat because you may have covid is much more problematic as your basic necessities may run out within three days and yet there’s another week of isolation to cope with. Prevailing upon neighbours isn’t an option as you can’t visit the boat next door!

A quiet day was much appreciated and then in the evening we enjoyed a Zoom, sitting at the end of our daughter C’s dinner table, chatting to the couple she and her husband now share a community house with in London. They moved in together before Christmas and we have never met them so it was good to have a chance to meet virtually. There was an odd coincidence in that one set of parents owns a narrowboat. On retirement they had planned to spend many months aboard but then grandchildren happened along, so those plans went awry! That’s why R and I are so keen to spend as long as possible on the canals now whilst our family responsibilities are relatively light.

We watched a couple more episodes of The Queen’s Gambit and now at episode 6 I am finally finding it riveting enough to want to see it to its conclusion. The themes of a bleak childhood, an ill fated adoption and a brilliant mind combined with an asperger’s personality which then leads to severe addiction, makes an interesting storyline.

Quite sobering to think we are already in March. For us it signals the last month on the boat. We still haven’t had any of the snags sorted but we are wending our way towards James in the hopes he will get some of them fixed. Amazing how a few degrees rise in temperature can stop the condensation that was on all the windows most mornings throughout January and the first half of February. I haven’t even had to wear my thermals this past week, nor two pairs of socks!

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We moved the boat from the North of Milton Keynes to Wolverton, which we did in two tranches. The first this morning when we got as far as the Black Horse pub, where we considered staying overnight. As there was copious hot water from running the engine we had a midday bath – feels quite decadent! Especially as we know we will soon be at a watertap so we didn’t have to stint on the hotwater! Then for our daily exercise we walked to Wolverton to see the best place to moor up near to the laundrette. We then decided that we might as well move there today, so after a Zoom call that finished just before 5pm we set off up the canal at full speed or at least as fast as we were able to go so that we would arrive at our destination before sunset. There were a number of moored boats on the towpath so each time we passed by we had to slow right down. There also seemed to be a few obstacles in the water, like large logs and plastic bags. R stood at the bow overseeing the debris – you want to avoid getting bags wrapped around the tiller or the prop shaft.

The only downside of our new mooring is the proximity of the trains overhead, which probably explains why there are not many boats here! Tomorrow however we can have a treat of a lie in and then find the laundrette near by. That’s assuming we get any sleep!

We watched a feelgood film, a true story called Penguin Bloom. All about an Australian family who, whilst on a holiday in Thailand, experienced an accident that altered all their lives. It had parallels to how we felt as a family after R’s accident and it really is a miracle he didn’t end up in a wheelchair considering where and how he broke his back.

Started the day with a very apt anniversary card from R which explains why our marriage has worked so well!

I did give him a bottle of single malt whisky and 8 crunchie bars so he was quite happy! Morning church was followed by R sawing wood and me outside reading the newspaper. I was slightly surprised to then find R back under the duvet fast asleep until I remembered he had had his covid jab yesterday and one of the side effects can be fatigue. So I returned to the paper and enjoyed the sunny weather.

R, who has the next door boat was also outside and told me of a sad happening yesterday. A lady walking along the nearby towpath turned to talk to her friend, slipped her leg between the path and a boat, severely breaking it. Trying to regain her balance, she toppled fully into the canal. The ambulance arrived to transport her to hospital and nearly dropped her on the stretcher as they carried her down a steep incline. All a bit of a drama. The towpaths are often not safe and one needs to be careful especially when there has been a deluge of rain. A granddaughter of a friend, in an electric wheelchair, ended up in the canal and it was really difficult getting her free from her wheelchair, as she was strapped in. It took her months to recover.

As we will move the boat along tomorrow to use the Elsan and fill up with water, we walked to our next mooring to check on space and internet strength. Passed a boat waiting at the waterpoint and discovered the man, Richard, lived on board with his wife and family and he earned his living using reclaimed copper from pipes etc to upcycle it into jewellery. I looked on Etsy ‘Bybikeandboat’ (he also has a Facebook page) and he makes and sells bracelets, rings and earrings. Worth a look if you have the time. I think copper bracelets help against arthritis or is that an old wives tale? I suggested he might make some cufflinks as something a bit different so I shall keep looking at his Etsy page to see if he does.

I had hoped to be back at the boat by 4pm to try out a christian keepfit session, run by one of our rector’s children, which sounds intriguing. I often do my Joe Wick exercises to worship songs. Passes the time more quickly and helps me feel uplifted. We were later than 4pm so I ended up doing Joe Wicks in the cabin. Meanwhile R decided to also practice his accordian, which he did on the bow right next to our neighbour who hastily shut his cabin door! R next door has been telling us of the etiquette of not mooring too close to other boats and how some boaters can be quite unfriendly if you do. That’s all well and good but as the canals increase in popularity mooring close together is inevitable and if you want internet access, there are a lot of no-go areas. I have been reflecting on who has the right to be authoritarian about the canal as it belongs to everybody and just because you have lived aboard for a number of years, does that give you more ownership than the punter who takes out a boat for a fortnight?

Another uplifting Songs of Praise, listening to the stories of four of our church family, left me marvelling once again at the wonders of technology and how we have been able to have more meaningful encounters with one another through the medium of a screen!

Our children organised a family Zoom to wish us a happy anniversary and it was a treat to see them particularly as they are all so spread out. It was tinged with sadness as today marked the first anniversary of the death of one of our son-in-law’s closest friends who died in a car accident in Ethiopia. As an ethiopian this charismatic young man was achieving amazing things in Ethiopia and it is such a tragedy he died so young. Some people manage to make an impact in a very short space of time and he was definitely in that category.

Everyone in the family talks alot and it can be quite difficult being heard so when we are all together, whether in person or on Zoom we tend now to try and find out how each person is feeling by giving them a platform to speak uninterrupted. Very ‘unbritish’ but surprisingly moving and encouraging to sense them removing their masks and letting the family know how they really are emotionally. I was never that good at being a ‘baby’ mum. My hope in having a large family was that when the children grew up they would be there for one another and supportive of each other. The phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’ and ‘I may not like what you are doing, but I love you’ comes to mind. We have had some fireworks in our house over the years and we never spent a lot of time just as the six of us together without a ‘diffuser’ present, but I do pray that the bonds of family will be important to each of them and that they will always look out for one another. Now both my mum and dad are no longer on earth it is up to me and my three siblings to make the effort to stay connected. I think it is a tribute to mum and dad that we all want to and are making conscious efforts to ring one another in lockdown. I was very touched last July when my sister celebrated her 70th birthday and was only allowed six people in the garden. She choose her siblings and partners (her children and one sibling are abroad so couldn’t have come – that would have been a conundrum!) rather than her friends and it reinforced the bonds of family. When R had his bike accident the first person I called was my eldest brother, who dropped everything to come and be with me within hours. None of us live in each other’s pockets but knowing family is there is a tremendous comfort. It’s not always easy. All relationships go up and down but it shows the importance and power of forgiveness if family ties are not going to be broken.

Waking up in our own bed was quite a novelty. I also realise the mattress bought a couple of months prior to our going on the boat is fairly firm in comparison to the boat mattress. I may be purchasing a mattress topper on our return home! It was lovely to go for a walk locally and the spring sunshine helped. Walking back up our road I chatted to quite a few neighbours who were outside enjoying the warmer weather and it was good to be welcomed back, even if only for a few hours! I tried to accomplish a few chores but infact R’s jab was given early and he was ready to be collected sooner than I had anticipated so we were back on the road in good time to get the car back to the hire place. It meant I didn’t feel stressed and had no need to speed unnecessarily. Reminds me of a long weekend to Munich when we hired a car to pay a surprise visit to my brother in Austria for his 60th birthday. Returning to the airport, having visited the centre of Munich, we got a bit lost on the ring road, not knowing if we were heading in the right direction for the airport. In my panic I went rather fast and paid dearly for it when a large speeding fine arrived on our doorstep four months later. Luckily Rs sister lives in Germany and was not only able to translate, but she paid the fine from her euro account and we reimbursed her in sterling.

Dropping our things at the boat, before returning the car, our neighbour remarked that we seemed to be bringing back as much as we took home! Infact, it was mainly food bags but it did take a while to find homes for everything. The boat looks a bit bare without our foldable bikes and its certainly given us more room to sit in the stern. The truth was that although bikes sounded a good idea we never had need of them through the winter months and actually they need a bit of tlc before being safe to ride. Perhaps they will come in useful at home. R on a bike always fills me with slight trepidation in any case!

It was such a lovely evening that we took our foldable chairs onto the towpath and found a sunny spot to enjoy a glass of wine as the sun went down. I am always amazed by the beauty of the reflection on the still water when a mirror image appears of the boats and trees.

I decided to make an effort for our dinner as it’s our anniversary weekend so actually bought some lamb steaks and managed to cook them without turning them into old leather! The dessert was a bit of a surprise. Having thought there was a portion of gin and tonic parfait left in the freezer I instructed R where to find it and suggested he added it to some raspberries. He showed me what I thought was parfait before dividing it between our two bowls of fruit. We were both rather surprised to find that actually there was no parfait left in the freezer and what we were about to eat was frozen crumbled cheddar cheese!!

Thinking it would be nice to chat with some friends rather than watch a film we set up a last minute Zoom call that lasted nearly two hours and although it obviously would have been even better to see our friends in the flesh, we had a very lovely time catching up.

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