Author: Mary

Oh the bliss of waking up to some instant heat. R, up before me, switched on the blow heater and by the time I got out of bed, after R bought me a cup of tea, the cabin was warm as toast! I soon felt the cold when I remembered the clothes soaking in cold water in the bath! Squeezing out the excess water I then proceeded to spin 3 loads of washing (the drum is rather small) and hung the garments on the strings I had put up in the boat for our Christmas cards! I really appreciated our cards this year as they were our chief form of decoration. R found some of them hung in awkward places for his 6ft plus frame! Being relatively short where they were hung made no difference to me!

We met our nice new neighbours who normally spend the UK winters in Spain and the warmer weather here on their narrowboat. However now in lockdown, Spain isn’t on the agenda. They seem very cheerful and not too worried about the possibility of a cold winter ahead. I must say life in a marina is much more relaxed than travelling around, hunting for essentials. Even today we walked along the towpath to see where we might possibly be able to moor up next as we think staying a month in the marina is a bit expensive, on top of our rental costs. There are so many considerations, one being where you can turn the boat. We found an Elsan and water going on towards Leighton Buzzard and think we can turn the boat by a short reverse and come back to a mooring near where we are now. But we had to find a turning point near here so that we can change the direction of the boat to go back to the waterpoint again. Fortunately, just below the lock we are presently at, there is space to turn a boat so I think after a week or two we will go back out onto the open canal. As if turning the boat isn’t stressful enough, sometimes you also have to operate a few locks just to get to where you need to go and then operate the locks on the return journey. This little stretch of water doesn’t involve any locks between the winding holes (or turning circles). Fortunately there looked to be two or three available moorings and a Tesco, Aldi and M&S foodstore all within easy reach! Of course in a weeks time they may be full but I would be surprised as the lock behind us is now closed.

Another plus of our hookup is that I can make use of our diddy slow cooker. Not only did I manage a hearty beef stew for tomorrow, I then poached some fish for our supper tonight, and have now put the oats and water in it ready for porridge for breakfast in the morning! Nigella Lawson eat your heart out!!

The rain is pattering on the roof and it looks like we might be in for a wet week although the weather forecast does often change nearer the date. Not sure we will even make much use of our outside exercise allowance if it involves getting wet – will be interesting to see what we can manage on the boat!

One slight disadvantage of where we are moored is that the mobile signal is intermittent so I am finding it difficult to upload pictures. Sorry you will just get a dull monologue! Not a lot is happening here – it’s probably the same for you!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Attended our 10am Church service today on Zoom and it proved to be so much more meaningful than the services I have joined prerecorded  on Youtube. Our clergy were in the church building leading the service but all the congregation were in their homes and we could see each other on the Zoom platform. Additionally after the service ended we were all able to chat with one another. I really hope this is a way forward for the future.  Not that all the congregation are banned from the church building! Rather that once we can return to the building for worship we also continue Zooming the service so that those who cannot physically be with us, can at least be part of the worship in their own homes. I think the service will also be recorded so that it can be accessed on YouTube at a later time for those who cannot attend at 10am. I get so excited by the thought of the media possibilities that we have in all walks of life. I remember our son G having an old banger of a car and every time something went wrong he would just go to YouTube and sure enough   someone would have posted a video on how to fix the problem!

Once the morning service was over we donned our warm layers and got the boat moving. Just two locks to do to get forward of the lock that will be closed tomorrow for a few weeks.  Once through that lock we heaved a sigh of relief as we realised we no longer had a deadline.  Infact the opposite.  We now needed to find a good place to hunker down for however long necessary.  I was  looking at the map to see where a suitable mooring might be when the Grove lock marina caught my eye. We had rung them a few times last week but just got the answerphone so I had written them off as a possibility of a place to stay as noone returned my call. However as luck would have it today the phone was answered and we were told there was one available visitor mooring for a couple of weeks. So by 3pm we were tucked into our new home and hooked up to electricity, with ready supplies of water, wifi, showers to name a few of our ‘luxuries’ which we used to take for granted! We could even park our car if we had it with us! The shops at Leighton Buzzard are not too far to walk too apparently  – it will be a toss up between how much we think we can carry and how often we want to brave the supermarket!

The washing machine is in the marina office which is only manned at the moment 3 days a week so I am not hopeful I will get a look in as one of our chatty neighbours told me there is always a queue! I used the machine on our boat last week and was amazed to find the shortest wash took over 2 and a half hours! Either I find a laundrette or I do the washing by hand. So tonight saw me fill the bathtub with a load of clothes and then wash them as best I could. That was once I had removed the fruit and veg and temporarily found them a new home. It really is an eye opener living in a small space!

A day of moving down more than along as we tackled 10 locks descending from the village of Marsworth, just after the Tring cutting, in the direction of Leighton Buzzard. The promised sun, shown in full on the weather app, never managed to quite break through the low lying cloud, so much of the day was seen through a white mist, beautiful but errie. A postal delivery in the form of our friend K, from Amazon,  with extra supplies of gloves, a hat and scarf, arrived mid morning just as we were enjoying an ‘extra hot’ cup of hot chocolate from the cafe discovered the previous day and it was well worth the calories! K took the opportunity to film R and I operating a lock. Of course R was doing all the physical labour – I  just guided Wind Rose seamlessly into the lock chamber! We tied up near to Ivinghoe but sadly did not have time to visit what looks to be an interesting village. We had to be ready for a Zoom quiz at 5pm with our Wombler friends (so named because of the many walks done together over the years, post a Round Table connection) followed by a quiz at 7pm with our church friends. To give you an idea of our quiz capabilities,  we came bottom in the Womblers and top in the church! Not that the church quiz had any religious content.  It had interesting rounds such as naming savoury food dishes from  anagrams and creating a new word by adding one letter to a word having been given clues as to what boh words should mean. Anyway the main reason for coming top was that we combined forces with another couple (via WhatsApp) who happen to be particularly good at quizzes! I would really recommend using Whattsapp and Zoom in tandem as it makes for a much more sociable event. You do have to keep one device muted to prevent feedback but it worked a treat! Of course all this quizzing didn’t leave much time for a gourmet meal so see under ‘recipes’ the 5 minute dinner called pesto tortellini! I seem to have a lot of meals with pesto – I bought a large jar with me from Costo so am having to find imaginative ways to use it up!

• 

• 

Snow was forecast today but actually when we ventured out on a walk along the towpath it felt warmer than yesterday. We wanted to find a suitable mooring for tomorrow after we have completed the locks through Marsworth and out the other side. We met a delightful man walking beside the last lock we visited and he fell to talking to us. He was definitely someone with a positive outlook on life, always trying to see the glass half full. He used to be a football coach and then a mentor for troubled youngsters in London. He found that work heartbreaking as so often those he helped to recover from drug abuse, relapsed. A few years ago a friend who was a fishmonger asked for his help. As a result of that he now has a passion for fish and healthy eating. If I heard him correctly, there are 10 master fishmongers in Britain and he is aiming to be number 11! Moving to live with his mum near here and help care for her, he is learning all the aspects of the job that he needs to know before he opens his own shop. Such is his passion for supplying fresh fish he gave me his number and said to ring him whenever I wanted advice on a recipe or how to cook a particular fish. As R admitted that I wasn’t a great fan of oily fish such as mackerel, he suggested how to cook it in such a way I would be hooked (excuse the pun!). Finely slice a fennel bulb and lay in a dish topped with the mackerel, fresh as can be, juice of a blood orange and fresh parsley. Bake. Sounds delicious and simple so worth a punt! We parted on the best of terms and he heartened us by saying our chat had made his day! Reminded me how important it is to be ready to stop and listen when someone obviously wants to talk.

The walk through Marsworth was very picturesque with the Tring reservoirs to one side with lots of ducks and swans parading around. In a way quite a bleak, but beautiful landscape. A couple of pubs, a few houses but not much else of note. Nowhere to buy any provisions that I came across. I think it must be rather strange to live in a village that largely consists of a canal bisecting its centre with a scattering of 7 random locks close together!

Am in the midst of a P D James whodunit so tucked myself under the duvet this afternoon and read a few chapters. Then my regular Friday Zoom with friends, followed by another phonecard with a good friend and it was time for gin, supper and an episode of Vera followed by a feelgood, fairly soppy film (based on a true story). Then a relatively early night ready to tackle the locks tomorrow. At least I know halfway along there is a takeaway selling delicious hot chocolate. The one I had today wasn’t quite hot enough so I just need to try another one tomorrow asking for it extra hot, just to confirm the taste was the best chocolate drink I have had in a while!

There was an article in one of the newspapers this week entitled 21 ways to treat yourself in lockdown and I realised many of them they were indulgences I was already enjoying: proper coffee; comfy shoes (I even have on the boat a pair of the exact recommended birkenstock slippers – I bought them a couple of years back from the birkenstock seconds retail outlet in Bad Honnef where my sister in law lives!): long baths (well the one on the boat isn’t so long!); coats of many colours; shopping around for bargains; candles; cocktails; fresh flowers (slightly cumbersome on a boat with little space!); a project (I suppose that’s one way of looking at this narrowboat trip); a bookclub (bible study is nearest equivalent) and biscuits. I was so pleased to see them on the list. I have rediscovered the pleasure of a good biscuit with my morning coffee or afternoon tea. A guilty pleasure that I have not enjoyed for many a year. My waistline may not thank me but it is such a comforting treat.

• 

• 

Reminded me of growing up in The Vicarage this morning as I donned my clothes under the duvet! R usually gets up first – we can’t get up together, not enough space. So I snuggle down in the hopes a cup of tea will miraculously appear and it nearly always does! Although R’s first task of the day has now become the wiping off of condensation, which otherwise drips from the windows and ceiling vents! Like it’s raining inside. A bit disconcerting when you don’t expect it! Anyway, it was a chilly morning and we had planned a late start because our tasks were to top up the water, empty the potty cassette whilst we had the opportunity and then head along the Tring cutting which would take under two hours. However the phone did ring at 0830 (I am sure many of you think that’s a lie in!) – it was daughter C, checking how much ibuprofen she can have in 24hrs as suddenly worried she had taken too much. Her back’s in spasm so she can’t get out of bed without severe pain. A physio thinks it’s a bulging disc and it’s a recurrent problem – so a virtual doctor’s appointment for her today which I hope will lead to a scan. Not the best time to have to be investigated! R also suffering back pain. May be a disadvantage of being tall, says the short one of the family. Although my mum was tiny by her 90’s in height terms – most noticeable in a family wedding photo. Although in a wheelchair by then, she was determined to stand unaided for her photo!

The Tring cutting was cold but I had prepared – full thermals, cotton top and trousers; cashmere jumper, fur lined waterproof fleece and poncho, leg warmers, 2 pairs of socks, scarf, two pairs of gloves and a hat! I was in there somewhere amongst the layers. And I was not cold apart from my hands because I kept exposing my fingers to take photos! We were joined on the towpath by a very chatty lad who delivers beer all around the South for a big brewery and has taken to walking miles in lockdown to keep himself fit and purposeful. He was a fount of knowledge on local walks and pubs, although currently the pub knowledge is of no value! He kept abreast of the speed we were doing, occasionally hampered by very wet and boggy towpath conditions. He left us at the turnoff to Tring Station but we had enjoyed his company.

Before we knew it we had arrived at Bulbourne Junction and had to do a quick reverse as the towpath ahead looked chocca with boats. Luckily the boat R decided to walk along to reach the towpath and pull us in, was unoccupied or we may have had another frosty encounter! I walked on to see if there was a better mooring ahead, before the first lock of Marsworth (think there are 6 in close succession so we don’t want to start them today as you can’t moor up between them) and found one where the towpath was no longer a mud bath. However it is the first mooring we have had where we need to use our ‘plank’ to get safely ashore.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We walked along the Wendover Arm towards Tring having learnt our lesson about taking a long narrowboat down shallow, thin Arms! When we arrived in Tring we found the coffee.shop we had frequented when we walked all the way from Berko to Tring in the second lockdown and enjoyed just as good.a cup of coffee alongside a piece of pear and almond cake – shared. Although R unbeknownst to me also bought an almond croissant so not quite as abstemious as I had planned! I made an ‘essential’ purchase at a hardware store and found a novel way to transport it home!

• 

Tomorrow is looking snowy according to the forecast whereas Saturday is full sunshine so we will hunker down tomorrow (may even have a full duvet day!) and do the locks on Saturday that await us! I think the boat is in need of some tlc so housework and tidying up will be the order of the day. We really can’t allow ourselves to get too untidy – there just isn’t the space!

To our great surprise we heard voices on the water after sunset this evening. Looking out of the window we saw a couple of canoeists setting off along the canal with head torches. It reminded me that this morning going along the Tring cutting we saw a lone, late middle aged man standing on a paddle board gracefully gliding past us. I couldn’t help but wonder how often he has capsized as you really don’t want a mouthful of canal water if you can avoid it.