Eye Spy

Today the plan was to look for some wood and it wasn't long before Del spotted two trees down not far from us..

Gary and Beryl  came out and helped us get the trees chopped and carried back to the boats and we soon were loaded for the next cold snap..

Its a good feeling when you're all prepared for the worse.. We had made arrangements for the Friday evening for us all to walk into town and grab a bite to eat, we chose Wetherspoons as it was the cheapest option for drink and we all fancied a good drink... We left at 5.00pm after showering from our wood cutting and walked into town.. We had a lovely meal and a good laugh before having to head back to Derwent6 as Al wanted to see Strictly Come Dancing, yep its back on so our Saturdays are sorted..

We turned on the telly, and it had just started, so good timing. Aching form our busy day we fell into bed..

Hurray!!!! Got the pump and Moving

The poor signals here have not encouraged us to keep blogging so that's why we have taken a bit of a break from it all. Al took the opportunity to go down to Kent again and this time to help her Dad take her Mum in for a check up, also she had an appointment for the doctor herself.. It just so happened we had got a call from the boatyard saying our water pump had arrived, so it gave Del the chance to fit it while Al was away.. Everything went well and Al sorted her Mum out with her Dad and she is waiting the results of her doctors appointment..Del managed to get the pump fitted and bled so he can now look at the old one, so we then have a spare if it fails again.. When Al got back we really had the urge to move and on Thursday morning we were very keen to get away.. We managed to turn just in front of two other boats and got to the lock first not that we were rushing..

It was lovely to get going again in the Autumnal sunshine. It is still very overgrown on the South Oxford and we had to weave Derwent6 in between the bushes and trees. We spotted loads of wood but with the shallow sections it wasn't worth damaging the rudder to try and get it.. We still haven't lit the fire, so we have no coal on board yet, lets hope its like last year when it was nearly Christmas (Yuk that word Christmas) before we went onto coal.. We got to Somerton Deep lock and Al had a bit of trouble on the bottom gate as it is so heavy now.. but we got through alright..

We pushed on to Aynho where we stopped at the wharf and topped up with diesel and water and also had a pumpout on the waste tank...

 As we then pushed on we got to the river section where we noticed loads of diesel in river..

It was quite bad and we were beginning to think it was us, after just filling up.. but it turned out to be some idiot who had dropped it in the river..

We were enjoying moving so much we nearly got to Banbury before we stopped and pulled up in front of friends Gary and Beryl on n.b The Answer.

After a long chat we got ourselves sorted out for the evening. We were worn out from cruising all day and ended up having an early night....

Just an Update

We are still sitting here at Lower Heyford waiting for our water pump to arrive and now getting frustrated we can't move yet.. If we had known it would have taken this long we would have moved on and returned to pick it up..  Still never mind we are near the station and we have options.. Al made use of the train and went down to help Hannah move into her new digs at Uni for a couple of days.

Del serviced the engine and gearbox and also fitted the new bolt to the generator pulley. The brasses are up to date and the blacking has been scrubbed.  We have treated ourselves to a meal out at The Bell in the village with a few beers but over all we have been soaking up the good weather.. Its still so warm for the time of year and we haven't even looked for wood, or got coal on board, yet let alone lit the fire yet.. so a months saving there then.. It's been very quiet here but we did see Viv and Len of n.b. Mollie on their way through, it was nice to see them, hopefully we will have a beer with them on the way back ..

Al's Dad has been very well considering what he has been through and we are close at hand if any problems arise.. So the pump is due to us on Tuesday now so we will be sitting tight hoping it turns up.. Meanwhile we are enjoying the Grand Prix over the weekend...

Waiting for our Order

Well we haven't blogged because we haven't moved.. so what have we been doing.. Well Al's Dad has had some doctors appointments for blood tests, seeing consultants etc.. so it has been handy here with the station so near.. The other thing has been we have got this problem with the water pump which is still leaking and we made the decision we need a new one as Del has always wanted a spare just in case it packed up in the middle of nowhere. He will also then be able to take the leaking one apart and repair it so it could be a good spare.. We ordered it off E Bay, as it is a 24 volt, and we had it sent to Heyford Wharf and it should be with us by the end of the week. We have been using the train for Banbury and Oxford, although one only runs every three hours.. It is noisy here over night with the freight trains but we are getting used to it.. The reason we haven't blogged much is that we find this is the worse place to get a signal on the system. We have trouble with the phones and internet signals and were lucky to get a good telly signal. Still we will blog when we can.. We are shopping in Banbury tomorrow and Del was hoping to change the engine oil..

Trip to Oxford

As today was so wet we made the decision to go into Oxford..We only get about four trains during the day so we got the midday one and thought we would use our taste card for lunch.. We planned to go to Fire and Stone but when we arrived it was closed. With loads of choice we walked over the road and went to Ask.. We had a lovely Italian meal for half price and came out with full tummies..
We then walked to the local cinema and went to see Rush the new film about James Hunt & Niki Lauda the racing drivers..

It was very good with some old footage off the crashes and reminded you of how dangerous racing was in the 70's.. Two drivers were killed every season..  We came out at 6.15pm and our train wasn't till 7.15pm but guess what we nearly missed it..  We were knackered when we got back to Derwent6 so we just chilled out and then fell into bed..

Zakky Race Day

Steve, Erica & Zak arrived on the Wednesday evening and we went straight up the local pub for something to eat.. it was good food and plenty of it...the only problem here is that there are very poor signals and of course the noise of the trains all through the night did keep us all awake...

It was an early start as Zak had to be at the race circuit for 8.45am.. So it was bacon butties and we drove the eight miles to the circuit which was in the back of beyond. While Zak had his briefing we had a coffee and then watched as he went out in the super car Aston Martin.. he was blown away with the four litre engine.

He then had a drive with a professional driver who took him round in a two seater Atom.. This thing is bloody quick and only a formula one car would beat it.. when he came out of this he said he wanted one.. together with a bit of neck ache of course..

We then drove back to Derwent6 and Steve and Erica had to go as Steve was working in the afternoon.. It was great to see them and a big big thank you for paying for the meal on Wednesday night..
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 In the afternoon the sun came out and we chilled in the cratch and Del managed to do some brasses..

Down to Lower Heyford

After getting very itchy to move on we decided to leave early in the morning.

The weather had been kind to us and it was another lovely day and we soon got down to Somerton Deep lock. It has been quite overgrown here but it has made it very pretty..

We made our way down through another two locks to Lower Heyford and was lucky enough to get a mooring on the fourteen days here..

We needed to be by the railway station as Al is going down to Kent and also we are meeting friends Steve and Erica as their son Zak is having a race day at a local circuit..

Sitting tight for a bit

We have been sitting out this fine weather while we have some good signals here..

We have had a weekend of telly with the Grand Prix and of course Al's Strictly is back on.. Derwent6 has been polished and we have done some paint touching up.. We have found a small leak from the water pump and it may need a new one as it is leaking through a joint.. so we will see if we can pick one up at the local chandler's, before getting one on line.. The bow was full of water and it took us a hour to get the water out we got out about ten litres.. At least we had the weather to dry it out a bit.. and we found it before the winter sets in.. We have resisted lighting the fire, but it has been borderline as to whether we light it or not..  We have just been enjoying ourselves but we are getting an itch to move again..

It has been so pretty here with the mist in the mornings and sunshine in the afternoons and Derwent6 sitting in the wide open spaces...

Absolutely Nothing

Well we have been making the most of the sunshine and this fantastic September weather.. What have we done!  Absolutely Nothing! Its been nice.... we have been for walks and picked some blackberries for crumble and Del has been out on his bike. Al has read a couple of books but in general we have just been enjoying life.. With the forecast of rain tomorrow we will be staying put over the weekend..

Stop Start Day

We set off early this morning, if you call 8.30am early.

We had a very full waste tank and needed to empty it as soon as we could . We made our way through the first lock at Twyford bridge and then got to Twyford Wharf where we noticed a £15.00 pump out and had been given a tip on how good it was.. It is a bit shallow round here but we got in ok in the end. They tip off was right as it is only a little machine but did give us a good pumpout and we managed to flush the tank clean which is a first this year.

We then got through Kings Sutton lock and moored again at the pig farm at Nell bridge in the hope we could use the shop and fill with water there..

We could use the shop and brought some lovely pork sausages and some lovely bacon., but they had stopped boaters using the water tap due to the hot weather and the pigs came first..

We set off again and covered the river Cherwell section, and soon got to Aynho where we stopped again for water at the marina there.

We topped up with diesel and got a few things in the shop. As you can imagine it took a long time to fill the tank and it wasn't long before another boat came along... It turned out to be Paul and Elaine with the two dogs on n.b. Caxton ( Manly Ferry) and while we filled with water we chatted with them.. 

They pulled onto our spot as we pulled away and we then looked for a place to moor. We found a nice mooring with some lovely views and where it gets a nice breeze. Al got her washing out straight away and we soon had some needed lunch..

We chilled with the paper and sat in the sunshine as it broke through the clouds.  As the evenings draw in a lot quicker now we watched some telly later. Mmmm we think it's another nice day tomorrow.......what a summer we are having!!!!

We tried to move

We planned to move today but the weather was nice and we had to get some more shopping while we were here.. So after a bit of a chill and Del had cleaned the dust off Derwent6 we walked into Banbury. We went to Morrison's but we were hungry so we decided to have the £2.49 meal on offer before we shopped.

We got our shopping, (too much as usual) and struggled back to Derwent6.. We were knackered and didn't feel like moving after that so we sat in the cratch recovering.. Beryl and Gary had their chairs out behind us so it would be rude not to join them.. We ended up having a BBQ but we had trouble getting the coals to light and it was getting dark before we had something to eat. We watched this plane getting lost and was buzzed by this helicopter....

We still chatted under the stars till we all got cold and then crashed out with the intention of getting up early and setting off tomorrow..

Staying with friends and another friends wedding..

After the wedding Del stayed with his mate Bernie as he had the week off work while Al made her way back to Derwent6 for a bit of peace and quiet.. When Al arrived back Derwent6 was still being looked after nicely by Gary and Beryl on n.b. The Answer. Thanks guys! Al had caught a cold somewhere so it was good for her to have some time to recover with all the stresses of her Dad and everything else. Del on the other hand was enjoying himself out with his mate Bernie flying and building their gliders and going down the pub, of course... 

Last weekend we had another wedding to go to, so Al had to get the train back down on the Saturday morning and saw her Mum and Dad first before meeting up with Del again later. This time it was Alan and Shirley who also live in Kent.
Alan is an old mate from Del's team Squash days, where he used to play in the county leagues. They were so pleased to see us and they looked so happy..

Del also got to catch up with the rest of the team mates so a good drink was in order, good job Del had been practicing all week.

It was a lovely wedding and fantastic to see everyone.. It was back to friends Bernie and Sarah's for sleep..  On Sunday we decided to make a move back to Derwent6 and we had to say our goodbye's. Bernie and Sarah have just been fantastic. They have fed and watered Del over the week and made him feel like part of the family. A big big thank you to you both.. and when you have stocked up with food again Del will come down again... We arrived back with a trouble free journey to Derwent6 at 5.00pm. Derwent6 was covered in dust from where they had been cutting the corn fields around us. We said a big thank you to Gary and Beryl for looking after her. We also found out that they are planing to build another marina around here as a guy was spotted measuring out the pontoon areas and a temporary bridge will be erected where we are moored for the excavators and trucks. It was lovely to be back home again and we chilled with some telly in the evening watching the sunsets again..Ahhhhhhhhhhh.