Happy Easter!

Just to wish everyone a very happy Easter. We have both been on a low profile for a while and been concentrating on losing some weight.. but today put a stop to all that and we had a nice big roast lamb dinner on Derwent6 washed down with a bottle of rose, followed by a whooping great big Easter Egg. Oops!

Sorry we haven't been blogging much but we are just enjoying life at the minute and Tooty is keeping his eye on the mouse!

Return to Brum

Never a dull moment, always an adventure.. We got up early again and we went into Birmingham. Al had enjoyed it so much with Tanya she wanted to show Del what it was like now with all the changes to the city that had been made.. We got there at 11.00am and walked around the Bullring Shopping Centre which is linked to Grand Central New Street Station.

You wouldn't even know there was a station there, it just looks like a massive shopping complex..

Fabulous shopping, almost better than London, but we did notice some shops that we like missing, like Lakeland and American Eagle..
We had some lunch there, and stayed till after the rush hour, and just stayed under our parking ticket of eight hours.. That cost us £12.00 to park all day, but it would have been £20.00 if we had stayed longer than eight hours...that's city prices for you.
We got back to Derwent6 just in time to see the sunset and the red sky setting over the marina, to remind us why we love doing this..

God daughter left and music right

It was up early as we had decided to go out for breakfast so Tanya had a full tummy to drive home..

We left Derwent6 and then drove to Frankie & Benny's where a full English was in order.. We said our goodbyes and then did a bit of shopping mainly for Tooty the cat..

We got back to Derwent6 and Al picked up the washing and took it to the launderette, to get all the bed sheets done. From there she went on and had her hair cut in town. Del did a bit more painting on Derwent6.
In the evening, with Al with perfect hair, we went to The Merchants Inn in Rugby and watched a band with a few beers.

We got back to the boat at 11.00pm and luckily had the bed to fall into..

Girls Day Out

We were up quiet early as the girls were going into Birmingham to shop. We started the day with bacon sandwiches and then they left to have a girls day out..

Del stayed on Derwent6 and finished off the tunnel bands and also oiled the cratch boards while looking after Tooty (the cat)..

Del then removed the cratch cover and washed and cleaned it to get rid of all the grim and green mould in it..

He used a park bench, as you have to scrub very hard, in fact the harder the better and then it was rinsed off..
It was then sprayed with a silicon spray to make it water tight again.

The girls got  back at 6.00pm and showed off all the days bargains, then a nice steak and salad was in order.

This finished us all off and we crashed out..

God daughter Birthday treat

I was a lovely sunny day, so Del rubbed down the tunnel bands on the stern as rust was showing around the button..  Al tided up on Derwent6 as we had Tanya our god daughter turning up at lunchtime..

She arrived just after 1.00pm and lunch was served, it was so warm the girls sat in the cratch and chatted while Tanya did some studying for a new job she is currently training for.
Del carried on with his rubbing down and painting.
It got to about 6.00pm and we thought it was time to go and have a bite to eat. It was Tanya's birthday last Thursday and she had a voucher for TGI Fridays, so we thought it was only fair to use the voucher and treat her for drinks and dinner, any excuse lol

It was a good voucher as it allowed us to have six, yes six, cocktails. Al and Tanya were soon enjoying the evening.. Del was driving :-(

We had the table for the night and it didn't seem that expensive, we had a great time and will do it again..

We got back to Derwent6 at 10.00pm and after all those cocktails and yummy food went straight to bed..

Our anniversary treat

We spent most of the day watching sport on the telly and not doing much at all really. It wasn't until the evening that we met up with Del's Mum and Keith.
We had arranged to see Keith in a brass band he plays in called The Harborough Big Band, and it was a nice treat to have our tickets bought for us for our Wedding Anniversary. Thank you both!
It turned out to be a really good night.. You just don't realise the talent out there..

They played Big Band music from the 1930's right up to modern day and they were all bloody good.
We left there at 10.30pm and dropped into Derwent6 to crash out..

Fernwood friends going separate ways

We woke up to showers on the roof this morning and we had made the decision to move. When we looked out of the side doors a boat was going past very slowly. It was n.b Oakfield and it was great to see Ann & Keith.. n.b Oakfield is sadly up for sale, and this boat will be a great buy for someone who is thinking about this liveaboard life.. Way back, we swapped our build slot with Ann & Keith and we just went in the water before them. The sale details are on this link.(http://www.abnb.co.uk/boat_pages/3115web/3115abnb.php?BoatID=3115)
We held the boats together and had a long chat catching up on the last two years we had missed. We used to winter in the same area and had some real fun times together, which helped us get through those short, dark, cold winter days.. It was really sad to see them go, knowing we may not see them again on the cut.

We sorted ourselves out and then set off in the opposite direction, through the rainbow ahead.

The first hurdle was Clifton Marina with its double breasted boats.. It is so tight to get through here now even though they have claimed the small arm section of canal.
We got to busy Brownsover and no moorings were in sight and when we got to the other side we could see why.

They are fitting sandbags to the bank of the moorings here. Why? we don't know, they are fitting the sandbags over the rocks which were always a problem when mooring there.

They would bang the boat if it rocked or the wind blew you, and the fenders didn't help at all, but they still remain and have not been removed.

We carried on to Newbold and it was also busy there, we then realised it was because today is the last day of the 14 day winter moorings and they change to 48 hours from the 1st April..

We got through the tunnel, but it was a bit wet from the rain we had, and got back to Brinklow marina for a pump out. The wind was very strong, and always is here, so we had to reverse up to our mooring and then quickly dive into our slot.. it took a lot of strength to pull Derwent6 in, but we managed it.. Phew!
We then went to Rugby and the Steam Turbine for a nice big juicy steak and salad.
It finished the day nicely and should make us sleep soundly..