Monday 16th to Monday 23rd June 2008

Monday 16th
We waited until after the early morning rush at Kilby Bridge before setting off to Wistow. KB is a transit point for boats, they’ve either just been through Leicester and need a rest to calm the nerves and cool red-hot engines or they’re building up steam to make that mad dash across the city and out into the countryside again.

By 10 o’clock the place was empty and we pottered off to our first lock. One could be excused for thinking the canal had been rented out to farmers, the animals were certainly enjoying the lush tall grass along the towpath. We nearly didn’t see this one (No.100657) grazing behind the giant cow parsley.

Planning our cruise to the last detail we (V) reckoned we should meet boats coming our way from the Foxton Festival which means all the locks will be set for us. And to prove the theory we’d only gone through a few before we met Beryl (RBOA) returning to Mount Sorrel on nb.Wasp.

Passing greetings, as you do in the few seconds you get as boats pass, we were encouraged to hear that more boats were on their way which meant even easier lock transits.
As it happened they didn’t show up until we reached Wistow where we found them parked in our layby, dooohhh.

We found the place so crowded that we couldn’t squeeze in so we wandered off round the corner and spent a week in the reeds. Lovely for scenery but lousy for hayfever.

Tuesday
Today we discovered a new game - guessing which way the next boat is going. A serious starboard list gave us the clues. If the cupboard doors open on their own then a boat is coming up the flight behind us, if we find we can walk along the boat without scraping a shoulder along the walls then a boat is coming the other way, down the flight, pushing a lock full of water before it.
One minute we were stuck on the mud and leaning into the canal, the next we were afloat and being washed up and down the reed bed, dragged along by boats in a hurry. Jolly good fun.

V took off during one of our level periods to explore and came back with the news that Wistow Rural Centre isn’t just a café with assorted gift shops. On Tuesdays and Sundays a farm shop opens up selling fruit, veg’, dairy products, and best of all, meat from that well known butchers in South Kilworth.

It hasn’t been the nicest of days and even when the rain stopped it still felt cold. It might be the middle of June but we’ve not finished with the fire yet.

The rest of the week was taken up with projects, mostly electronics but a couple of days were given over to sanding the floor and re-varnishing. While V went to Bristol to see mother, I scratched a layer of wood off the floor and deposited it evenly around the boat. No matter how well you think you’ve cleaned up someone always has to rub a finger over something and discover another shelf covered in dust.

Saturday was mostly a wet day and after five hours I took to fanning the floor with a sheet of cardboard to get it to dry. Having stacked the arm chairs on the dinette there was no where to sit so I had to eat and sleep standing up until it was time to go to bed.

Sunday was a warm windy day, perfect for painting and the varnish dried as it hit the floor so I slapped on a second coat before V returned. But why is it that brush hairs always get noticed after the varnish has set hard? Apart from the wicked whiskers which invite naughty fingernails I was quite pleased with the new shiny floor. Now all that remains is to do the remaining dull bits between the shiny bits.

Monday
Yes it’s Monday again, a moving day and a laundry day of course. Foxton beckons with its water taps and rubbish skips.
Met Neptune just after a narrow stretch on a blind bend. They’re exploring the odd bits at the end of canals before they go back to wide-beam territory in Lincolnshire.

A lady on the following narrowboat made us laugh when said she thought they were crazy trying to get up Foxton Locks in a huge boat like that. Hmmm, don’t think so, Neptune’s owners know what they’re doing, you don’t cruise around in a boat like that without a lot of careful planning.

One of us has a "special" day next week so the Blog might be a little delayed, more than usual is what I mean.

I'm well excited.