Category: Uncategorized

Started the day responding to a comment on ‘Nextdoor F’ which isn’t something I usually do as so often people can become vitriolic about something harmlessly meant. And then it’s more like a rant site and our town already has one of those! However I thought this a rather biblical story: a lady has been putting a box of used books outside her gate all year for passersby to take a book and enjoy. She was therefore very upset and affronted when yesterday a car drew up and a lady took the whole box of books! So upset that she posted the happening on ‘Nextdoor F’. The response has been amazing! Not only have quite a few people offered to bring replacement books but the word has now spread that outside this lady’s house you can pick up a book to read and I feel many more people will benefit from her kindness. It just felt to me like the story of loaves and fishes!

D day for me – first vaccine. Have heard so many depressing stories of side effects that I have booked tomorrow as a holiday in case I am laid low and take to my bed. We couldn’t have got closer to a vaccination centre – literally a three minute walk from the boat. Downside is we have workmen banging away on both sides of the canal and drills going in the background!! We literally are moored in the midst of a construction site!! We also need the services of a laundrette and a supermarket both of which are a five minute walk from here. Immediately ahead of us is another lock, a water point and (spoiler alert- potty talk!) an Elsan and beyond that the bridge used by the local drug addicts. Seeing as we don’t want to move beyond the facilities until we are ready to leave the town, so that we can avail ourselves of them at the last minute, this mooring seems the best option.

Loaded up with a bin bag of washing each, we made our way to Superdrug and R waited outside like a bag man! The vaccination procedure was slick and quick. They have only been in operation a week so the timing for me could not have been better. Either side of me were construction workers from the big build, grateful to have to sit down for 15 mins post vaccine, in no hurry to return to work! Once done, R and I dealt with the laundry and made use of one of the many takeaways, me remembering the advice to drink a lot post vaccine. So instead of dehydrating myself with coffee I treated myself to a large fruit smoothie and a litre of Evian, knocked back in 10 minutes, and then felt a little sick! Never one to do things by halves, perhaps I should have taken my time rehydrating! The feeling  quickly past and I felt I had done my duty to my body – I struggle to drink enough water at the best of times so I thought it best if I just got on and did it before I got distracted and forgot! Back on the boat we had a big bowl of homemade soup, again with fluids in mind. I once read you can rehydrate yourself with the foods you eat, especially vegetables. I used up nearly all the veg I could find yesterday in my batch soup making and added a large spoonful of curry powder so no one vegetable dominated the flavour. The curry certainly did its job – I nearly blew our heads off and personally had to add a large dollop of yoghurt to my bowl!

I can’t think of Banbury without the nursery rhyme ‘Are you going to Banbury Cross to see a white lady on a white horse’ going through my mind. Visions of sitting on my dad’s knee bobbing up and down to the verse and then dropping nearly to the floor on the last line as his knees parted. Squeals of laughter and demands to play it again! We had to go and find ‘Banbury Cross’ and it brought back memories again of coming here with mum and dad as a child. Strange the things we remember from our dim distant past. I used to love nursery rhymes and yet it is probably 20 years since I last regularly sang them to our children.

We enjoyed wandering around Banbury,  a very eclectic large town with a diverse demographic, most notable in the many different ethnic food shops. It was market day in the lovely market square and Banbury was once renowned for its market.  Today it was depleted of stalls and people – one fruit and veg stall; a cheese stall; a small bread stall and a burger van. A lovely flower stall with reasonably priced tulips so I couldn’t resist a bunch for the boat, even though space is at a premium. The lady working in the laundrette was very down about Banbury saying how much it had changed, and not for the better. From an outsiders eyes I thought it had a lot going for it especially with all the new development around the waterside.  It’s a bit gritty which I like. It feels real. I am sure not without its problems but it’s big enough to be interesting and yet not so big that you feel lost in it. Who knows how it will survive the pandemic – you can’t help but wonder which of the shut up shops will manage to ride the storm. A lot of the town is pedestrianised so it’s ideal for wandering around, browsing the shops, enjoying a coffee and  watching the boats pass through.

We spent a quiet afternoon on the boat, although outside wasn’t quite so peaceful until 4.30 when all the workmen packed up and went home. Did my Joe Wicks routine in case I don’t feel up to much tomorrow.  Its a bit like waiting for the sword of Damacles to strike – so many stories have I now heard of adverse reactions to the vaccine that I am playing a waiting game to see what, if anything develops!

On the recommendation of my brother, we watched a true story on iplayer called ‘The boy who harnessed the wind’ and I would recommend it as a film full of hope and a reminder that those who have vision can change the world, or at least a tiny corner of it.

We were blessed with another dry day which encouraged us to get going with the nearby three locks, that were easily within walking distance of each other. We had just finished the third lock when I briefly joined the Wednesday Breathe meeting at 10am and was glad with the progress we had made. The canal continued with it’s twists and turns through rolling green countryside with more evidence of Spring by the buds on the bushes beside the towpath and the occasional tree covered in blossom. In Japan in the Spring they picnic under cherry trees covered in blossom and its called ‘hanami’. I noticed an article in last weeks Times which suggested we practice hanami – smelling blossom and appreciating its colour and beauty as according to the Japanese psychologists it is very good for our wellbeing. Certainly whilst on the boat, living so close to nature, I have noticed the change in the seasons from Autumn, Winter and now to Spring. The phrase ‘there’s a spring in my step’ comes to mind. It’s far easier to appreciate and begin the day with a blue sky outside and signs of new growth and colourful daffodils on the verges.

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Arriving at Cropredy our good progress halted as we spied a boat ahead filling the lock. We moored up and decided to look for a coffee in this quiet attractive village, home to a boaters music festival, which causes mayhem once a year because it is such a popular event. If you want to enjoy it by boat, we were told you have to moor up two weeks in advance of the weekend! In my Pearson ‘bible’ there was a recommendation of a narrowboat cafe about a five minute walk along the towpath but sadly we could find no trace. A covid casualty or perhaps just abandoned in the winter months. The other coffee shop on offer was also closed but to our delight, near to the cafe the village church was open and it was such an unexpected pleasure to walk into this beautiful, very old sacred space and take a moment with God. Thankfully it doesn’t need a church for this to happen or God wouldn’t have got much of a lookin over the past year! They say prayer has actually increased, perhaps as we realise we can pray anywhere and with great simplicity. The key for me to unlocking my prayer life was the understanding that God just wants me to talk to him like I would do to a good and trusty friend. Having said all that, we still really appreciated the beauty and tranquility of this lovely church and were thankful to the people that ensured it could be open.

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Back to the boat for coffee and we saw a few CRT employees grouped around the lock – they were planning to change one of the paddles ’20 minutes’ they said. Time for our coffee but as with all these things 20 minutes turned into 40 and eventually R went to ask what was happening and was told the issue was worse than they feared and a new paddle was being delivered. Visions of us unable to pass Cropredy sprang to my mind whereas in reality, because the CRT could no longer do anything immediately, we were left to our own devices and went through the lock using one paddle not two which just took longer. R then decided to use the Elsan which caused further delay as someone was there before us and we had to moor parallel to a CRT workboat. That though led to a great conversation with the CRT volunteer aboard the boat, who gave us very useful tips as to where to moor in Banbury and beyond. He has a narrowboat in the local marina so was a fount of knowledge!

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Eventually we were on the home strip towards Banbury itself. 4 further locks and a few miles of navigation saw us arrive about 3.30pm. Plenty of time to explore the area for a different mooring if necessary and to find Superdrug, thus avoiding last minute panics tomorrow. Lots of free mooring space immediately outside the shopping centre where Superdrug is situated with the added bonus of a laundrette and Morrisons a five minute walk away. However the downside is the noise – Banbury is undergoing a massive rebuild along the canalside and the workmen are out in force! Very convenient though with a large park a stone’s throw away. There’s then a lock and a bridge with more mooring. However a friend who lives nearby and knows Banbury well, says the bridge is known as a haven for drug addicts so perhaps best not to moor too close as nocturnal activity might be quite noisy!

A change to ‘Endeavour’ – the latest installment of ‘Unforgotten’ which ends on a shocking cliffhanger (luckily only have to wait a week!) which I had been warned about unintentionally by seeing a headline flash up whilst on Google search. It meant, when the shock came the impact was lost because I had mentally prepared myself for something terrible to happen. It got me thinking about unexpected death of an elderly person. A friend of mine was terribly shocked at the recent death of a parent in their 90s. Realistically it’s bound to happen (not that many people are living into their 100s) but because there were no warning signs it still came as an enormous shock. Whereas this time last year we were told my mum at 96 did not have long to live and when she died, after the initial jolt that I think every death brings, I realised I was not shocked, just sad. Ever since the final diagnosis I had been gently grieving and saying goodbye. Infact I had probably been preparing myself for a couple of years as I saw my energetic, fun loving mother withdraw into her own space, not really wanting to engage with the outside world.

Annually our Rector at church organises a Quiet Day for anyone who would like to join him, somewhere not too far to travel, and it centres around thinking about passages from a chosen book. I really can’t remember if last year’s QD happened or was cancelled but today the it was held on Zoom. That reduced the numbers as so many people are Zoomed out! But for those of us who joined it was really worthwhile and we had some very interesting discussions about the role of the church today; what it means to be a Christian, how we are perceived, what difference we can make in our local communities etc. R and I were pleased to be able to join in. In previous years that wouldn’t have been possible and if our boat trip had been as intended we probably wouldn’t have even been thinking about the QD. As it is our connection to our home church and other supportive Christian friends has really helped with our enforced isolation. Keeping regularly checked in with God in many different ways has encouraged us in the deepening of our faith as we have had time to reflect on the meaning of life and what our purpose is.

Our Quiet Day was slightly unusual as we had to combine it with moving the boat along an 11 mile stretch of water, that was thankfully lock free, and hope that when the reconvening moments in the day occurred we were somewhere suitable to moor up, with internet connection! It actually worked a treat and by 4pm we were even moored up at the exact place we needed to be; the top of a flight of 5 locks. I had reflected whilst on the helm and R had pottered around the boat. He was probably relieved to have a few hours of an unusually silent wife!

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The time pressure is to ensure we get to Banbury by tomorrow evening. We completed the flight of locks after the QD ended. For a change, R took to the helm whilst I worked the locks which were all manageable, with no impossibly heavy gates to manoeuvre. The single chambers fill so much faster than the GUC doubles. By 5.30 we were moored up, ready for tackling the remaining 7 locks tomorrow, in inclement weather if the forecast is to be believed. Today has been a dry coolish March day but plenty of blue sky.

We really feel like we are in the middle of nowhere as we are surrounded by fields and birdsong, with only the occasional distant freight trains rattling by. No car traffic humming in the background. The Oxfordshire rolling countryside is just that, fairly flat large vistas of green with animals gently grazing. Idyllic but a bit lonely. I don’t think I would like to be so isolated in the boat on my own.

Predictable evening of supper followed by Endeavour. We are rattling through the series. I went off to bed leaving R watching an episode of ‘Last Tango in Halifax’ and was rather surprised how late he came to bed. Transpires he fell asleep on the sofa!

We walked into the village of Napton on the Hill – the church is high on the hill and must have been quite a walk before cars, when most people dutifully went to church every Sunday. There were some quaint houses and a very well stocked local store that seemed to sell just about everything anyone would ever need day to day. It incorporated a post office so I was able to buy some stamps and get enough pound coins in change for our next laundrette visit. Am not sure though where we will find a laundrette – am assuming Banbury, but that’s not till Thursday so we may be running short of clothes by then!

I needed to be on a Zoom call at 11am. Similar to Breathe that runs on a Wednesday for those in need of some company and chat, Baby Breathe is for parents with a new baby and I am helping to facilitate this weekly with a good friend, a retired GP and a young mum, A, who attends our church. After a couple of technical hitches we managed to connect with some mums, interestingly they nearly all had toddlers as well. Being much younger than us, A, is aware and used to all the social platforms, so has been advertising the group and getting a very favourable and large response. Ideally I’d like to see a Baby Breathe solely for first time parents and then Baby Breathe 2 for parents with other children. All of these groups rely on volunteers to help facilitate so I hope we will have enough support to enable them to happen. I have been thinking how difficult and lonely life is for new parents at this time with none of the usual supportive networks around. Sad too for grandparents unable to meet their grandchildren. We are so fortunate to at least be able to meet on platforms such as Zoom. How much more difficult and isolating would lockdown have been without them. Love Zoom or hate it, it serves a purpose and is better than the alternative of nothing.

I decided to tackle the first lock myself, whilst R was filling in the 2021 census online. As I approached the lock gates a man appeared from his own private house, windlass in hand to help me. So much for going it alone! He suggested, as James had, that I touch the front lock gate with our bow fender so that when the force of the water comes into the chamber the boat is steadied by being in contact with the gate. Otherwise the boat gets severely jostled and bumps the sides of the chamber. R was most alarmed from the inside of the boat and rushed out side to berate my technique. It took some explaining to reassure him that the technique I was employing was bona-fide! 7 locks later, we had the measure of it and were at the top of the flight in double quick time as all the locks were in our favour and there were no other boats around.

A further two locks after lunch and then we started twisting and turning through the Oxfordshire countryside, bereft of locks for at least ten miles. HS2 is due to cut right through the landscape, evidence of which we saw beside the canal.  Examining the map we still have many hours of travel before reaching Banbury.

We found a beautiful,  isolated part of the canal to moor up, a bit too close to an enermous radio mast, but at least we had plenty of signal. Having steered the boat through a long stretch of twists and turns I felt quite exhausted but also grateful that I had encountered no other boats coming in the other direction, especially on a bend! R was tired from all the morning locks and then chopping some wood to keep our stove going. Thankfully the days are getting warmer but we still feel the chill at night.

Having some daal remaining from Saturday I decided to concoct an aubergine and mushroom curry to accompany it. R had spied a couple of reduced naan breads in the village shop earlier in the day and they heated up really well on top of the wood stove. Predictably, another episode of Endeavour followed by Schitts Creek to lighten the mood before bed!

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The absolute highlight of today was our takeaway roast dinner! Not only did it taste delicious but we sat at a table with a beautiful view, just warm enough to sit outside. The twenty minute walk from the canal readied our appetite but I have to say I wolfed my meal down, whilst it was hot and just from the sheer joy of a full roast dinner. Why all the fuss I can hear you saying? Surely I can cook a roast on the boat? I probably could but roasts have always been one of my least favourite meals to prepare. A link between church duties and then precise timing to achieve a perfect Sunday roast – too much pressure! My favourite Sunday’s are always the ones when we get invited out to Sunday lunch! I have so many memories of taking our growing family to R’s parents and being fed the most amazing meat but not many vegetables,  compared to my mum who, when I was growing up, gave us about 7 different vegetables every Sunday with a small portion of meat. Sunday lunch at both houses always ended up with a great pudding and then groaning all afternoon from over indulgence! R’s mother was always very particular about crying in the dining room which made every Sunday lunch an ordeal whilst one of our children was still baby or toddler stage. I could never guarantee they weren’t going to have a meltdown over something or other and there was a zero tolerance policy. Once a child cried we were ordered to take it out of the dining room! That’s about the only rule  R’s mother ever fussed about. Fine for a toddler to take all the pots and pans from a deliberately accessible cupboard in the kitchen and make as much noise as they pleased, banging them together!We regularly had Sunday lunch with two other friends who made excellent roasts, so I never had to!

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The weather was surprisingly mild for March and it was a delightful journey along the Oxford canal towards The Folly pub. The canal is very windy with quite a few old narrow humped bridges to negotiate.  The canal has a much more rural feel to it than the GUC and all the locks are narrow, just wide enough for  one narrowboat so it feels more manageable somehow. We moored up at almost the identical spot of our first night aboard, back in October,  when son G and his girlfriend were with us. We had a great evening at The Folly pub in the garden, around a firepit. The next day we retraced our steps to Braunston and embarked on our epic trip on the GUC!

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So much hot water (and realising there’s a watertap tomorrow) I couldn’t resist a bath so by 5pm I was wrapped in a dressing gown with my towel underneath. A little later R remarked that it looked like the sunset would be lovely and we might see it better further along the towpath. With little regard to what I was wearing (sunsets go in an instant!) we were off down the towpath- what a sight! Luckily the other boaters were safely shut down for the night or they may have got a shock seeing this semiclad woman rushing along the towpath, camera in hand. Infact the sunset was a little disappointing- it didn’t live up to its earlier promise.

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Songs of Praise with some stirring hymn choices followed by a very fun Zoom with M and J. We go back a long way with them – M was responsible for R and I meeting at a party in her house where a lot of us managed to scottish dance in really quite a small space in a basement cellar. Having arrived too early for the party along with another bloke, R and he were sent away to find a pub and return later. 11pm, a few beers inside them from a long pub crawl, they joined the party and the rest is history, so they say! TWO episodes of Endeavour – I did feel rather guilty, but the first one ended on a cliff hanger so we just had to check all was going to be OK and then, before we knew it, we had only 20 minutes left of the second episode so we watched until the end! We are regressing to our teenage years!

Last night at the FS meeting I was asked about the birdsong and what we heard first thing in the morning.  I had to confess to not noticing any particular singing nor seeing that many birds on the water. This morning, listening attentively, the first thing I heard was a cacophony of birdsong that made me realise how easy it is to tune out noises that become common place, be it trains, road traffic or God’s humble wildlife. I shall endeavour to listen out for the sounds of nature rather than taking them for granted.

There certainly seems to be a good community of boaters at Braunston.  Speaking to a neighbouring boater, who has had a resident mooring here for three years, she related how manic the village becomes in June, with a weekend canal festival, a parade of narrowboats, traditional workboats and barges. You can often tell how seasoned a narrowboater is by the length of their hair and beard, sporting comfortable clothes that may well have seen better days. The lack of vanity is very refreshing. The parade promises an exciting spectacle of colour and jollity but when you think of the size of the canal, the narrowness of the towpaths and its popularity, it sounds to  my ears something to perhaps avoid! Although there is a beer tent that, once the festival is over, the boaters are invited to freely drink the barrels dry. Perhaps the time to really avoid Braunston is the day after the festival with sore heads aplenty!

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Further along the canal we stopped at the well known, to boaters and locals, narrowboat cafe and enjoyed coffee and in R’s case, a bacon butty and bovril! Whilst awaiting the food I spoke to a lovely old chap who used to run a fleet of narrowboats. Now he lives in Braunston with a boat in the marina which sadly hasn’t been anywhere for the past twelve months. I reflect that once all the boats are allowed back onto the canals it will surely be like Piccadilly Circus!

We walked along the towpath, some of it extremely muddy, the type of mud you squelch into and think you are never going to get out of! We were looking for a mooring with good internet signal although increasingly we are finding what works outside the cabin does not guarantee good reception inside. However we found a spot near to a bridge with a poster advertising Sunday lunch at the nearby village. That’s a treat we last had back in November, courtesy of R’s cousin, at a pub near Aylesbury. The landlady today, when I rang to enquire, could not have been more helpful so we are booked for a takeaway at 1230. Hearing we are boaters, she  even suggested somewhere nearby where we can sit and eat as the half-hour walk back to the boat would mean a rather cool and congealed roast dinner!

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Walking back to the boat on footpaths rather than the towpath to avoid the mud, meant we took in some lovely views, lots of sheep and gambolling lambs  although we did get a little lost so it took longer than anticipated to arrive home.  We started the engine as soon as we could so as to get to our mooring before dusk. Turning left onto the Oxford canal felt quite a momentous occasion as we said goodbye to the GUC. Having cut our teeth on this wonderful stretch of the canal network for five months we feel it is time to branch off and sample other watery delights. I realised though, as I rounded a bend and almost went headlong into an oncoming narrowboat, that I have become rather complacent, used as we are to having the canal almost to ourselves!  We were on rather a bendy stretch of water and I was not strictly on my side of the canal. The first sighting of the boat I had, I immediately went into reverse and we almost missed each other, although there was a slight bumper car moment. The other boat took the incident in their stride, much to my relief, as canal rage is a possibility.  R’s rage is bad enough! He berated me, from 60ft away, for not concentrating as I was speaking to my brother on the phone but I maintain I saw the boat as soon as it came into view and as we were on a bend that was fairly last minute.

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Moored up for the evening I set too finding all the ingredients for supper as we were partaking in a ‘Come dine with me’ supper Zoom with friends from church. It really was quite good fun, although hindered by our phone freezing every so often making communication with the other dinner guests rather stilted and laboured. However it was good to try out  different recipes, one a lentil and spinach daal by Jamie Oliver. I don’t think I have knowingly cooked one of his recipes and it was surprisingly tasty, even if it was lacking a couple of the spices. No Waitrose near here to pick up anything remotely exotic! We’ll be eating it for a few days to come – I didn’t scale down the recipe for just the two of us! A side dish of cherry tomatoes cooked with garlic, lemon slices and chilli powder, was also delicious – having never thought to pair lemon with tomatoes I was pleasantly surprised.

We are such creatures of habit – once the dinner was over and the washing up done, we settled to yet another episode of Endeavour followed by some light relief, ‘Friday Night Dinner’. For anyone familiar with FND R has decided he has rather a lot of sympathy for our sons as he recognises a few old man traits that he shares with the father! I think that’s why it either makes him wince or laugh out loud. I am not a fan of the language used but the characters portrayed just lift my mood and make me smile.

Illegally moored on a lock bollard and along walks a young CRT man, who couldn’t have been nicer! Turns out he is on the same team as C who we met on the Northampton Arm so we had a long chat. He was telling us how much debris quickly builds up in the canals and that, in normal circumstances, it is removed by willing CRT volunteers. He and C have been having to try and keep on top of the debris which is a losing battle. We thanked him for all his hard work and he beamed from ear to ear. He is more used to complaints from boaters. Such a small gesture of goodwill made a big difference to his day. Made me think we should thank people more often.

Along the towpath we met a lovely old man who told us that the phrase ‘on the wagon’ referred to people being taken to the gallows on a wagon and being offered alcohol all the way. So our use of ‘on the wagon’ meaning alcohol free is back to front! The Canal Shop in Braunston, right on the side of a lock chamber, is full of all things canal related, such as souvenirs, as well as food essentials. As it was open I popped in for some postcards. Noticing a sign for ‘freshly made bread’ I enquired if they had any. ‘Come back in half an hour’ I was told, which gave us enough time to arrive by boat and pick the bread up whilst waiting in the lock. I think it must have been part baked to be ready so fast, but it was warm, crusty, organic and delicious!

We moored further along, towards the turning into the Oxford canal and took ourselves off for a walk around the picturesque village. A lady, noticing me photographing the church excitedly told me of the two peregrine falcons, perched on the upper part of the church spire, visible from the other side. I thanked her and went to take a look. There has been much excitement over recent weeks in our home town because there is one peregrine falcon that has taken up residence on the church tower of our church. Doubly exciting to have two with the possibility of baby PF’s coming into being!

There’s an amazing butchur in the centre of the village that we had been advised to visit but I couldn’t summon up any enthusiasm for buying meat, especially as it’s Friday so my thoughts were on fish! A sign in the local pub window said they were doing takeaway fish and chips, which I was sorely tempted to opt for. However back at the boat, I never got a reply from the pub so we made do with some fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli and a homemade sauce. Simple, delicious and hot! Not sure what state the fish’n chips would be in by the time we returned them to the boat, in the event of the pub miraculously being open! Talking of miracles, after numerous attempts to book a covid vaccine at Banbury and repeatedly being told there were none available at that venue, suddenly appointments appeared on the screen and I was able to book in for next Thursday. So that means another flight of locks and a few hours motoring but all being well we should get to Banbury in plenty of time.

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Our evening consisted of the regular monthly Filling Station meeting we help to organise and our speaker this month was a local vicar, newly appointed at the beginning of the first Covid lockdown. She spoke of a year spent ‘walking on jelly’. Apparently that is possible – you only sink when you stop walking. But jelly is very wobbly and I am sure most of us can relate to that feeling at some time over the past twelve months. Another episode of Endeavour finished the evening well.

Sometimes, by the time I start writing this at the end of the day, I struggle to remember how the day started! Tea and crumpet is a given and then today I spent rather a lot of time, to no avail, trying to book my Covid vaccine. I have found a chemist near to the canal in Banbury so that’s where I would like to go but the appointments seem to be like gold dust. When I spoke to a very helpful lady on the NHS vaccine help line she said I have to keep trying at all times of day and night because every centre puts additional appointments on at varying times. It is just trial and error.

We walked back along the towpath to see if anyone was working on Daydream but saw no signs of activity. However when I spoke to James later in the day he said N had been busy doing the trim so perhaps he wasn’t visible from the outside! We walked along the Leicester arm – it’s just over 40miles long so we only did a fraction of its length. Then back on the boat and we were off towards the Braunston tunnel that is next to Daventry. It was very familiar territory but amazing to think we were here, facing in the opposite direction, five months ago. We were such newbies then and thought our nearest supermarket was a 45 minute walk. Today, so much more adept at gleaning information from Google maps, we found a Tesco Express 15 minutes from the towpath. We did get a bit lost in one of the numerous housing estates trying to find it. Not helped by the fact I was chatting away on the phone to a friend rather than paying attention to where we were headed!

Loaded up with crisps and biscuits to keep R happy (I think our next supermarket of any size will be in Banbury) we entered into the Braunston tunnel, a tad shorter than Blisworth but long enough. It’s so hard to keep one’s concentration the entire way through but I was delighted to come out the other end without touching the side (slightly debated by R who thought he felt a slight nudge at the back once, but I didn’t feel anything so I think his imagination was working overtime!). Thinking that was enough for one day we moored the boat and sat down inside to look at our emails. At which point we realised we had no internet signal. A flight of five locks later we entered a pound that showed 4G on our phones so again moored up. I cooked supper and we settled down to watch Endeavour and then realised we still had insufficient internet signal so R moved the boat in the pitch black using the midrope and balancing a handheld torch, whilst I looked for 4G signal appearing on my phone. At the furthest point that we could moor, with our bow rope attached to the first lock bollard indicating a lock ahead, we found we had sufficient signal to watch Endeavour and secured the boat yet again. We also want to be able to join our 8am Friday prayer Zoom, although the thought of an excuse for a lie-in was quite appealing!

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Braunston is usually a hive of activity, a central hub for many boaters as its a crossways between major towns and cities, such as Birmingham, Leicester, Warwick, Coventry, Rugby, Banbury and Oxford and it directly links to the Oxford canal. Not so much happening at the moment but plenty of the rental boats sitting waiting for occupancy once the season starts, and quite a few liveaboards on the towpath. In high season I imagine it is mayhem! I took an evening stroll and saw a very stunning red sky as the sun was setting, a truly beautiful sight.

I did get a cup of tea in bed and managed not to spill it this morning. A quick  Zoom meeting with Breathe and then off to the marina cafe for our promised breakfast although by now it was 10.30. My hot cross bun was slightly disappointing as it had been heated in a  microwave but it was good to support the cafe and give it some custom.  

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The Buckby locks were next on the agenda and we managed 6 out of the 7 before stopping just before the top lock  to attend the Zoom funeral of my mother’s oldest friend, Jeannie. A bit bizarre on a narrowboat but we are all getting more used to taking part in such ceremonies in our home environment. Jeannie  had been a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music so obviously music was very important to her and it was sad that no singing was permissible at the crematorium. However the recorded pieces of music chosen were beautiful to listen to and the eulogy was one of the best I have heard in recent times. It brought Jeannie’s wicked sense of fun to life reminding me of the ribbled sense of humour she shared with my mother and the many limericks that they frequently entertained guests with. Not for the faint hearted! For me it felt like the end of an era and I was glad to see my brother and sister were actually able to be present. After lunch we finished the last lock and then, on the left as we came out of the lock we came alongside Daydream and I managed to peer into the boat that we may well be moving onto. Although different to Windrose it does look rather nice  but it still looks like a lot of work needs to be done before we can move on board, so the thought that this might happen at the end of the week is an unlikely prospect. Further along we passed the arm towards  Leicester but we turned left and moored up opposite a large field, sheep grazing and a beautiful view. The lady in the boat next door was obviously a folk singer and unbeknownst to her we enjoyed her impromptu performance! I then had a phone call with Alex, the boat broker, who suggested that we might like to stay on Daydream until the middle of June as it is vacant until then. This put me in a quandary as I would love to stay on the water longer but R is ready to go home and catch up on overdue chores.  We have until the weekend to make up our mind.  It may be that I will stay on the boat until the end of April, with Richard coming and going. It will be on the Oxford Canal so anyone is welcome to join me for a walk as I think that’s allowed! One of our regrets of this trip has been the inability to offer friends and family hospitality – hopefully we can do so when we embark on another cruise, as we hope to do.

Lent group discussion, followed by ‘Death in Paradise’. We certainly know how to live it up in lockdown!

It had to happen one day – cup of tea over the duvet! Enough to immediately soak through to bottom sheet. I tried to clean the duvet itself with detergent but didn’t want to get it more wet than necessary as there’s no easy way to dry such a large item on the boat. Wonder if I’ll be offered tea in bed tomorrow!

After spending a quiet morning, I having done my Joe Wicks and R sawing wood, we ventured along the canal looking for the water point. R left the boat to search along the towpath ahead of me. Meanwhile I spotted a large sign saying ‘water , written on a bridge pier, so slowed the boat down in case R hadn’t seen the sign and was too far ahead. I didn’t fancy a long reverse. Suddenly a man’s head appeared at an open window of the house next to the bridge and asked me if I was looking for the water point, which he told me was 100 yds further ahead. Poor guy – he must be leaning out of that window constantly in the summer! The water sign on the bridge is totally misleading!

I found R next to the waterpoint and threw him the midrope to haul the boat into the side of the canal. Or I might actually have pointed the bow at the edge, close enough for R to jump aboard, shimmy along the outside of the boat to grab the midrope himself and then jump back onto the towpath when able. This is the most likely scenario because very early on in our trip it became obvious that I had no throwing skills whatsoever and unless we were going to shout at each other every time we stopped the boat, R had to find another way of getting hold of the rope! It’s worked a treat so far although I do remember the unfortunate dunking he got very soon after our journey began!

Moving onwards through Weedon Bec, which was surprisingly bigger than I anticipated, I spied an attractive church way below the canal on my left, with an A-frame notice board outside the porch, which led me to think the church might be open for daily prayer and to enjoy the tranquility inside. A prominent set of steps led from the towpath down to the church and I made a sudden decision to pull in and visit it. This did require R climbing over the roof of the boat to get the midrope on the correct side and I worried slightly that this might end in disaster. We have learned last minute decisions are not always wise. However in this instance all was well and we moored at the top of the steps. Sadly the church was only open on a Wednesday afternoon, but the sign referred to their food bank, which was open for donations to be left in the porch every day. What an answer to prayer! I had been contemplating the quantity of tins we had accumulated over the months and was not looking forward to taking them home, realising there was no way we can use them all up in two weeks. This is a winwin. I get to lighten the load on the boat and the food bank gets supported. I am learning it is quite a skill to have the optimum amount of food and household necessities on the boat. You really do not want too much of anything and yet you don’t want to be running out of things that will involve popping into a supermarket, as we are all being encouraged to minimise our visits to shops. With the end of our trip in sight I now want to eat as much as I can of the tinned and dried food so I don’t have to lug it home. We may well be moving on to another boat for the final ten days so that’s another reason to lighten the load.

Setting off once again R produced some wraps, for a now late lunch, whilst I took to the helm and we travelled to the next flight of locks, enjoying the solitude and the ease of navigating a wide canal. The canal may have been empty of traffic but this was made up for by the copious amounts of lorries on the very nearby M1 on my right and the enormously long freight trains on my left. We moored up outside Wilton Marina, quite well known for the quantity of secondhand narrowboats it sells. They also have a cafe that we made use of when we came down the GUC in October and moored in almost the same spot. We had hoped to find it open, operating as a takeaway, but when we got to the entrance it was just being locked up as it closed at 3pm. We plan to go back tomorrow morning so that R can have a bacon butty for his breakfast.

We have a slight complication on the boating front in that we may be moving onto another boat so that Wind Rose can be repaired. However Daydream is not quite ready. She isn’t far from here as James told me that she’s moored at the top of this next flight of locks. So we walked the flight in order to take a peak at what may be our next home for a very short while. She was very easy to spot, all in blue, but hard to peer inside as all the curtains were drawn. However we could see through the cover over the bow alot of wood and tools so something is going on but I don’t know how long it will take to finish! The walk did us good though and we were able to assist a single boater with a couple of the locks as he was descending the flight. It’s quite hard work on your own. We were interested to see that he stood on the towpath and pulled his boat out of the lock using the midrope, rather than going down the slippery ladder into the stern, which also involves either walking along the boat roof, or walking along the outside edge, risking all the slime from the chamber walls attaching itself to your clothes. He was grateful for the extra pair of hands.

The sun was still in evidence as we approached the boat and I had visions of watching it set as we sat on the prow with an evening tipple. In my dreams – we were moored out of the sun’s dying rays behind a warehouse shed! At least the internet worked so we could watch the latest episode of Unforgotten followed by an amusing Christmas episode of ‘Keeping up Appearances’.

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