Tuesday 26 June 2012

A nothing sort of a day….

North Oxford – Braunston to Rugby

A warm, cloudy and very humid day today.  We set off for Hillmorton under threatening skies, and that’s how it’s stayed all day.  Since yesterday evening actually, when the clouds darkened and a storm threatened, but didn’t actually happen.

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Storm clouds approaching yesterday evening

The locks at Hillmorton were much quieter than normal, we met only 2 boats going the other way, and, because of that we were down the three locks in record time as there was always one of the paired locks ready for us

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Paired top locks at Hillmorton

The skies were getting increasingly dark by now and we knew the forecast rain wouldn’t be long in arriving, so instead of continuing on to Tesco’s, doing some shopping and then having to go on in the rain until we found a mooring, we decided to moor by the golf course just outside Rugby and sit out the rain until tomorrow morning.  We will have to move then, even if it’s still wet as we need to get to Hawkesbury Juction hopefully tomorrow or by Thursday morning at the latest because by then we will be getting pretty desperate to empty loo cassettes!  It’s been raining quite heavily on and off since lunch time, so I thought I’d try out my new baby, and I’m in love!!!!

My new baby is a Baby Dyson!  I’ve always hated ‘cylinder’ vacuum cleaners (which is what we had), it takes as long to put them together as it does to do the job, and then they don’t do the job very well!  Consequently, the floors on the boat didn’t get vacuumed as often as they should have.  I’ve used a Dyson at home ever since they first became available – Cassie’s (and previous dogs) constant moulting means we need a good vacuum cleaner, and I’ve always been pleased with the job they do.  We went and looked at the new Baby version with the fold down handle, and decided that we should have one.  Not cheap, but we thought that if it got used more often and prevented us from wading ankle deep through Cassie’s tumbleweed it would be well worth it.  It does the job in half the time, and actually picks up the dog hair from our rug, which was a nightmare to get clean before. As with all upright Dysons, the handle detaches and the hose pulls out from the back, making it very simple to vacuum the edges where the brush doesn’t quite reach. The handle pushes down into the hose at the back, so it fits very easily into our storage cupboard, and the ‘ball technology’ makes it really easy to manoeuvre.  So that’s why I’m in love – anything that makes cleaning easier gets my vote!

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Ready to use

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Ready to put away

7.5 miles and 3 locks

5 comments:

  1. Wow, this could be just what I'm looking for. I also have the problem of getting rid of dog hair. It's a wonder our Labrador isn't bald by now with the amount of hair she sheds every day! My hoover is a small Electrolux superbroom which is great for the wooden floors but hopeless on the rugs.
    Hope to meet you on our travels one day.
    Happy cruising,
    Irene

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  2. I vaguely remember a blogger saying that there's an unadvertised elsan station round the back of the board-up toilet block at the park moorings in Rugby (the ones over the canal from Tesco). Can't remember who it was so I'm having trouble checking, but worth a look if you're stopping there anyway.

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  3. We can vouch for the effectiveness of the baby Dyson too - and when we finally get our boat it'll be coming with us!( will it need a lifejacket?)

    best wishes
    Ali Allen

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  4. Hope you are both ok.

    Adam is correct, the toilets are boarded up but the Elsan point is just round the back on a BW key. Why didn't you use Hillmorton?

    Ali x

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  5. Irene - We've tried the broom type, a small cylinder type and even a Dirt Devil, but none were any good for the dog hair on the rug - the Dyson is great!

    Adam - Rog thought he'd read it somewhere as well, but when we saw it was all still boarded up we didn't think to look around the back - doh!!! We were moored park-side as well!

    Ali Allen- as long as you aren't planning to vacuum the outside of the boat, I think a lifejacket might be a bit over the top!!!

    Ali G - We didn't use Hillmorton because we couldn't stop anywhere near the Elsan point, the trolly is knackered and we really couldn't be bothered to break our backs trogging to the Elsan with with 2 x 40lbs of s**t and p**s! Don't get me started on Elsan points with nowhere to stop and do the biz!!!!

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