Thursday, March 29, 2012

21st Birthday Weekend

As you probably had gathered we have been away this weekend.. It was Tanya's 21st Birthday (our god daughter) and we were going to give her a weekend to remember...
Monday 26th March......
It started with us going down on the Monday afternoon to Kent where we stayed with Al's mum and dad for the night and did a few jobs for them, one of which was to fit a power pack turning the wheelchair into an electric one.
Tuesday 27th March......
With Del still in trouble with his back he went to the doctors, with a bit of a list (as you do) and ended up going to have some x rays. He also fitted in going to the dentist as he hadn't been for four years and found everything still to be in order there.
Wednesday 28th March....
We tried out the wheel chair with Pam and Alf and went for a walk around some lakes and through the woods at Bradbourne Vale near Sevenoaks as the weather was fantastic for the time of year. We then went over to Cliff and Louise and met the kids from school. We were treated to a lovely roast dinner when we got back. Del gave little Ella a guitar lesson. It was nice to see them all before they all went on holiday to the West country.
Thursday 28th March.....
In the morning we chilled with Pam and Alf and in the afternoon we made our way over to Steve and Erica's where they had cooked a nice meal for us, and we stayed there the night.
Friday 30th March.....
Today it was Tanya's 21st Birthday and we had a full on day for her, and she had no idea where we were going. We got the train up to London at 10.00am and went to Covent Garden for some shopping. We then had lunch in Planet Hollywood Cafe and then made our way to the Ice bar off Regents Street. Tanya had always wanted to go there. The whole bar is made out of ice and even the glasses are ice. It is minus five in there so you have to wear nice designer capes to keep warm. We couldn't feel our fingers when we came out but a few cocktails soon sorted it. We then walked down Shaftsbury Avenue and went to see the musical "Rock of Ages" another thing Tanya wanted to do and had no idea we were going. We all really enjoyed it!!! The day didn't want to end so we finished off in T G I Fridays where we had nibbles at the bar with more cocktails. We just managed to get the second to last train back to Steve and Erica's, Tanya's mum and dad.
Saturday 31st March....
Today was party day so we had to get all the food ready, the marque up in the garden, and the decorations and lights also put up. This took us the best part of the day. In the afternoon we went over to Bernie and Sarah's where we had to get ready for the party. It was a Fancy dress and you had to go as anything beginning with "T". Tanya decided to go as Tinkerbell and Al decided to go as Tanya. Del and his mate Bernie went as TV's (well there was a bet involved) It was a great night which finished with Tanya taking on a guy at a drinking game and him being carted of to Maidstone hospital in a ambulance, not very well!!!! He won't do that again!!!
We got to bed at around 3.00am.
Sunday 1st April....
We were all up at 8.00am and the clear up operation began. The house was back to normal by midday and we had a hour just sitting in the sunshine. At 2.00pm we made our way to a Sunday carvery where twelve of us all met up again including Tanya's nan. We left at 6.00pm and made our way back to Derwent6 for 9.00pm Ahhh it's good to be home!!!! We were in bed by 9.30pm as you can imagine

Monday, March 26, 2012

A must Cruising Day

Del left Al in bed this morning and got Derwent6 ready to cruise.. With the frost still on the roof, he set off.. It was just the perfect morning, frost on the ground and clear blue sky with the sun in your face. After a hour into the cruise Al surfaced just in time for us to approach Braunston. We arrived at 9.ooam and put ourselves onto the water point and Del walked up to the chandlers and found out they didn't have what we wanted. We then moved round to the pumpout station after waiting for two boats to come off there. Here we met up with Maffi on n.b Milly M and had a chat but we had to go as another boat was also waiting to get on the station. We followed another boat up to the locks and they waited and we went in together. As we went up the flight we were amazed at how much wood there was about and it wasn't long before Derwent6 was loaded up, but it didn't help Del's back. It was good to see the Admiral Nelson pub being done up again and it will be open for the summer. The boat we came up with let us go into the tunnel first, it was a good job he did as their exhaust was pumping out so much smoke we wouldn't be have been able to see anything let alone breath. We turned at Norton and moored up for the night. It is really shallow here with boats grounding as they pass. We settled in setting up the telly and making the most of the light summer evening.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Up the locks, just in Chico time

With the clocks springing forward we got up a bit late this morning. It was bright sunshine again and we were sitting out in the cratch with a coffee in hand watching the boats go by also making the most of the lovely day. Del decided to look at the stern button as it was starting to fall to pieces. With the help from Paul on n.b. Piston Broke we managed to fit a tyre over the end of the button and hopefully save it. We then watched the Grand Prix in the afternoon and then as soon as it had finished we set off for some evening cruising. We had to get through Hillmorton locks before 6.00pm as there are restrictions due to the water shortages, and hit the bottom lock at 5.00pm. We were lucky that the locks were all in our favour, and surprised at how busy it was at the top. We pressed on till we got to what we call the prison moorings, and there were loads of spots here. We just had enough time for Al to set up the telly for her Dancing on Ice final, which we watched with dinner...

Goodbye and Hello

Wow another sunny day... We were up early this morning due to the fact David was returning back to Kent. We sat out in the cratch and had breakfast in the sunshine and then he set off for the station. It was great to have him on board, and he had brought the sunshine with him. Del's back is still playing him up and it might be a trip to the doctors for him but he still managed to do some brasses. We were going to move today but due to the amount of traffic here it was better to stay put for today anyway. We watched the Grand Prix Qualifying at mid day and then just as it ended Steve and Chris turned up with some hot cross buns and a bottle of wine. They are having a Fernwood boat built and wanted a chat about their ideas. It was nice for us to get out all the old plans and go through what they had decided to have. We chatted all afternoon in the sunshine and when they decided to go we thought we would join them for something to eat at Butler's Leap where we talked boats some more. They came away with a list of things to think about and Del came away with a bad back and just got back to Derwent6. We think they have a very good idea what n.b AmyJo will look like, and by the sound of it they will have a super boat. Thanks guys for a lovely day, it was nice to see you again.....

Busy back to Rugby

We left Keith and Ann on n.b Oakfield and set off on a nice slow journey back to Rugby. The sun was out and the winds calm so it was just lovely cruising weather. We soon made our way up to Newbold tunnel and just the other side we met Doug and James on n.b Chance. We got to Rugby and we were surprised how busy it was but we did see some other friends of ours Gary and Beryl on n.b The Answer so we manage to squeeze in a spot for a chat, it was lovely to see them and catch up. They told us that it was busy just the other side of the locks so we made our way back to our other favorite spot at Clifton, which was nearly empty. It was the right decision, as it soon got extremely busy with hirer's and private boats coming out of marinas for the lovely weekend ahead. Some of them got in a bit of a pickle just trying to pass us. In the evening we all watched sports relief on telly for most of the night.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Back to Ratty Country

Wow David is just having a fantastic week with us. The sun was out again this morning and it was rude not to have our bacon and eggs out in the cratch again, it was lovely.Del is still having trouble with his back, but managed to walk the rubbish to the bins and do some brasses, but was in agony. We left Hawkesbury at around midday and took it nice and easy. There has been loads of wood up here but Del couldn't use the chainsaw to cut it up, so was not happy. The day was just lovely and we had to put the sun cream on. We even spotted a wild deer grazing by the canal. We made it back to All Oaks wood where we chatted to Keith and Ann on n.b Oakfield. They told us again about the rats and mice they had seen at the nearby car park and how they got in the trees to the bird tables, sure enough we saw them. They weren't bothered about us and even looked you in the eye: best lock all the doors tonight. We then had dinner and watched another DVD in the evening..

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A treat at Hawkesbury

The sun woke us all up trying to get through the portholes this morning. We had bacon butties out in the cratch and then we said our goodbyes to Keith and Ann on n.b. Oakfield. It was lovely to be cruising in very spring like weather. The blossom was out on the trees and the lambs were basking in the sun. We soon got to Rose's narrowboats stop gate where David jumped off to get us through. We then followed the train line to Ansty and then on to Hawkesbury Junction. We filled with water at the top of the lock. With the gates left open Del turned in front of The Greyhound pub. It was a bit shallow but we made it OK with about twenty onlookers. We managed to get a nice mooring at the top and we quickly got the kettle on and sat down with a nice piece of chocolate fudge cake Al had made on the journey here. While sitting there we got chatting to a boating lady who had lost her handbag while riding her bike back to her boat. Del and David helped her try and find it. It turned out that someone had picked it up and phoned her dad's phone number which was inside. It was returned to the lady very quickly......good news!
In the evening David wanted to treat us for all the help we had given him over the years. He has just started a new job and wanted to spend some of his hard earned cash! We booked a table in The Greyhound and it was a good job we did. It was very busy, but you could see why.. The food was fantastic, at reasonable prices, we had a great night, and it was free for us! Thank You David, we won't ever forget it. We got back to Derwent6 just in time to watch Match of the Day, and see Arsenal go to third in the table....

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Up to All Oaks for a sing song

We had a very lazy start. Del was resting his back, David was catching up on lost sleep from work, and Al just likes the bed.... We surfaced at 9.30am and Al walked down to Tesco's after finding out what David fancied to eat this week. David walked the rubbish round while Del got Derwent6 ready to cruise. We ended up setting off at around 12.30 at a nice steady pace. We moved up to Newbold tunnel with it's disco lights (no tunnel light required here) and back out into the countryside at Brinklow. We caught up with Keith and Ann on n.b Oakfield and pulled up just in front of them. We needed Keith's and David's help to moor as Del could hardly walk with his back. We sat out in the cratch in glorious sunshine for lunch and a little later Keith and Ann joined us. While we were chatting a hire boat needed some help to moor in front of us all. We got talking to them and found out that the guy (Brian) was into collecting guitars. They also offered us a beer, so they both joined in our gathering. Del got his guitar out and showed Brian, he then played a bit of Elvis Costello and blew us all away. With two guitars we had a bit of a sing song in the sunshine and Brian even gave Keith a bit of a lesson. As the sunset disappeared we all went in as we were getting hungry. Al cooked a nice curry and then we ended up watching a DVD, with nothing on the telly.