Back on the move again….

I haven’t blogged for a while as the connection in Great Hayward Marina is lousy.  However, after over a week, we are back on the move again.

We went into the Marina on Monday 19th as the weather forecast was for gales and heavy rain, and we thought that it would be easier for Tim and Lisa from Staffordshire canopies to fit the pram hood as there might be a bit of shelter.  As it happened, it had to be cancelled totally for Tuesday 20th as the weather was appalling, and it was put back to Wednesday, weather permitting.

Wednesday dawned cloudy if breezy, and the fitting went ahead.

 

Fitting commenced

The finished article

It makes a huge difference to the temperature in the boat, and is somewhere to take off wet coats and shoes in bad weather.  Of course, we travel with it folded down.

On Thursday we hired a car and went to Northampton to spend a few days with Mum, and to get Cassie to a vet.  A few  weeks ago Cassie had a seizure.  It was very scary at the time, as we had never seen a dog have a fit before.  We were hoping that it was a one -off, but 10 days later she had another, so it was time to visit the vet.  We went on Friday morning, and she had some blood tests.  One had to be repeated the following day as the result of the liver function one was a bit high, but it turned out that it was just because she had had breakfast, the second one was normal.  The vet diagnosed ‘Idiopathic Epilepsy’ – meaning they haven’t a clue what causes it.  She has some medication that she will have to take for the rest of her life, but it should keep the fits to a minimum – thank goodness for PetPlan!!  It’s a bit worrying, and we find ourselves treating her with kid gloves so as not to stress her out more than she is anyway, but I’m sure that as the time increases between fits, we will go back to treating her as normal.

We came back to the boat on Monday, and planned to leave the marina yesterday morning, but we awoke to pouring rain so we stayed put for another day, and set off this morning instead.  We only cruised for about an hour and a half, and are now moored just short of Rugeley – we plan to do some shopping in the town tomorrow morning, and maybe to visit the market.  We will then head off tomorrow afternoon and plan to get to Fradley Junction for the weekend.  We have a lot of time to waste over the next month or so, as we are heading towards Pillings Lock marina to have the dinette altered, and don’t want to arrive before the beginning of December, so we will be progressing along the Trent and Mersey very slowly indeed!

Just a quick update….

We are at Penkridge again – this time for my haircut appointment yesterday, and to visit the market this morning.  Not much bought, just a few pairs of thermal in-soles, some bed-socks for Rog, who is suffering from cold feet in bed, and a new bed for Cassie – the old one was mingin’!

Tomorrow we will head on further towards Tixall Wide where we will probably spend the weekend, to await the fitting of our pram-hood cover, which should be ready on Monday or Tuesday.

For about a week now we have been meeting and passing Jim and Sheena on nb Arlanza, and have become quite friendly, but no photos, I’m afraid (I forgot, yet again!).  We have exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and will try to meet up with them again sometime – keep reading the blog, both, and it will keep you up to date with where we are. Lovely to meet you both.

A weekend with friends…

We arrived at back at Gailey on Friday, to await the arrival of friends Sally and Lisa.

                                                             We love the Round-house at Gailey – here’s yet another photo

Sal and Lisa arrived about 10 o’clock on Saturday morning, we had a coffee and then set off for Penkridge, where we planned to eat out and spend the night.

Sally working her first ever lock

Some instruction from the ‘master’!

Both working hard

Taking a break and inspecting the water

Leaving Lisa and I to guard the lock at Penkridge, Sal went with Rog to turn the boat.

We moored up above the first of the Penkridge locks and went to check out the Crossed Keys for a meal – it was fine.

Lisa and I then walked into Penkridge so I could make an appointment to have my hair cut on Tuesday, leaving Sally and Rog on the boat.

We had a good meal in the pub, then adjourned back to the boat to watch X Factor which we had recorded.  We returned to Gailey on Sunday morning, arriving at lunch-time, as Sally had to get back for some baby-sitting duties later that afternoon.

We had a lovely weekend, just a pity it was so short.

Tomorrow, we will head back to Penkridge and my hairdresser’s appointment, and go to the market on Wednesday.  Hopefully, by that time we will have heard when our pram-hood will be ready for fitting, and make our way back to Great Hayward.

Ok, it’s done…..

Having met quite a few bloggers recently, one or two (you know who you are!!) have asked if they now qualify for the ‘Bloggers We have Met’ section – well, it’s done now – lets just hope I’ve done it right and the links work.

A short sojourn on the Shroppie…

Try saying that after a few ciders!!!!

I haven’t blogged since last Tuesday as I’ve been a bit poorly with a cold, which consisted mainly of a nasty cough, and, truth be told, I didn’t have the energy or the inclination to haul the laptop out and set it up.  But I’m much better now so I thought I’d better catch up with our adventures!

We stayed where we were at the lovely moorings near Brewood last Wednesday, as I was feeling very rough and not inclined to do much of anything apart from sit and doze in a chair, but on Thursday morning we decided to move on a little bit.  We stopped at Brewood for some shopping, and when we returned to the boat, we discovered nb Debdale moored a little way behind us. We wandered over and found them hard at work cleaning the boat in preparation to handing it over to it’s next owners at Norbury Wharf on Friday.  We had a chat for a while and then left them to it, in the certain knowledge that they would catch us up when we stopped for water and loos at Wheaton Aston, which they did.

The weather had turned sunny by this time, so I took a few photos – I’m getting fed up of all my photos showing grey skies!

The Shroppie is lovely in the sunshine, with all the leaves turning – it’s a bit like boating through leaf soup though!

   Telford’s aqueduct over the A5 – Pontcysyllte’s little brother!

Typical Shroppie cutting

We moved on to Little Onn where we stopped the night, and then on to Norbury Junction on Friday, where we stayed the weekend.  Our friend Sally, who was a work-mate of Rog’s when we were in Cyprus is now at RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury, came out to see us on Saturday.  It was lovely to see her again for the first time in over two years. We had planned to go for a short cruise, but the weather was so foul that we decided to stay put and have lunch in the Junction Inn and just have a good old natter in a nice warm boat..

Speaking of food – I managed not to cook a meal the whole weekend!  It was steak night in the pub on Friday – the nicest steaks we have had in a long time, and after what turned out to be a much bigger lunch (in the pub again) than we anticipated on Saturday, we didn’t want much else in the evening.  We then went back for the Sunday carvery yesterday.  The food has improved tremendously since we last ate there!  Still plain ‘pub-grub’ but very good indeed.

Sally’s sister, Lisa, (who we also met in Cyprus when she came on holiday) was most disgruntled when she found out that Sal was coming to see us.  They are meeting up in Manchester at the end of this week, and Sally is driving her back home, so we have decided that they will both meet us either at Penkridge on the Staffs and Worcester, or Great Hayward, this coming weekend and stay on board for a night.

So we are making our way back down the Shroppie now, in preparation for the weekend.  I probably won’t blog again until after that,  as we are just going over old ground.

Our gorgeous mooring on the Shroppie, near Brewood