Up to Shardlow

We left early thinking we were only going to cruise for half an hour to Weston upon Trent as we were recommended a pub here. On this section you have to keep over to the left as there is an underwater shelf, don't know how the wide beams get on here.

We soon realised that with the boats coming the other way and the weather forecast for tomorrow, it would be a better idea to press on to Shardlow.. We stopped for water at Weston Lock and a wide beam came up with four boats behind it..

We went down with loads of help but it made it a bit tricky with Al's condition to get her back on the boat, as we couldn't pick up on the lock moorings with all the boats. We had this problem at Aston and  Shardlow locks with a queue of six boats at each one. This meant again that Al had loads of help at the lock and we went down on our own. All these boats were coming back from the Erewash canal festival at Eastwood.

Our timing was spot on as a lot of these boats had come out of Shardlow knowing it was going to rain tomorrow, and we had the pick of the moorings.
We walked down to the post office and general store for some salad stuff which we were running low of. It was about a mile walk from the canal, and fingers crossed Al was having another good day, so we decided to chill in the afternoon sun watching the boats come in and fill up the spaces. We then went to the Clock warehouse and had something to eat. Del's steak on his mixed grill was not right and tasted like braising steak, but to be fair to them they took eight pounds off the bill. As the mixed grill was huge we had a result and the rest of the food was good. We will go back there!

Still up and down

Things were going really well for Al, we even went over the local pub which was a short walk over the fields and passed the Old Hall which is now a ruin.

It goes past a lovely church and alongside the river Trent. The pub was called the Cooper and Harpur and the food could be recommended. We walked back in lovely sunshine watching the sunset.

The following day Del was doing the brasses again and Kev and Ann with Jazz the dog rocked up on n.b. Rock and Roll. It was so lovely to see them on their way back to their marina. They pulled over and we had a lovely catch up with them.

Just after they had left that afternoon Al had another attack of this giddiness and Del had to hold her up..

Al cried, clearly her ears weren't right. She had to lay down for the rest of the day and the following morning. It was a bit annoying as the Superbikes were on at Donnington Park and we could hear them in the distance. We were also on the flight path to the Midlands airport as they come into land, so fun watching them.
Del went out for a long bike ride as Al was static in bed and he didn't have to worry about her moving around.. There is a bike track which is an old disused railway nearby, which links Derby to Leicester, that he used just to get some exercise..
The following day Al was feeling a lot better again and she managed to cook a lovely dinner for us both and we relaxed in the sunshine. We also made plans to move on the next day, fingers crossed. 

19 miles to Swarkestone

It was a cloudy start to the day and Al had taken the first of the new tablets.. She felt a little better after half an hour so we decided to go for it.. At 7.30am Del put Derwent6 through Alrewas Lock and then we hit the little river section. It was nice to have the feeling again of being on the river.

 

Al managed to get out and it was good for her to get some air.. She feels like you have travel sickness and it was nice to get the wind in her face just like you do when you open the window on the car when you feel rough!

We managed to pick up an old towel on the prop as we came off the river, and then went alongside the noise of the A38. We passed Barton Turns marina and managed to dump our rubbish.
We got to Branston (where the pickle comes from) with the plan to moor up by the lakes, but the sun was coming out again and it was very pleasant cruising.

We pushed on through Burton upon Trent which was very nice as we passed the brewery's and gardens.

It did help that the grass had been cut, so we had this combination of the lovely smell of the hops from the brewery with cut grass in the sunshine..

Al was feeling a lot better as we got to Willington, and we planned to stop here, but we could only get moored close to the pub, not a good idea on a bank holiday weekend.

 We passed the power station and Al was now able to help with the tiller and locks.

We had a lock keeper at Stanson Lock which was handy as it was 12' 4" deep and he did everything for us.

This is the first double lock we had done since we had gone through Braunston.

We wanted to find a spot where we could keep out of the way for the bank holiday traffic and Al could rest when required.

We tried a few places at Swarkestone, but it was just too shallow for us to get right in, but in the end we did manage to find a spot in the middle of nowhere.

So after 19 miles of cruising we were knackered, but it was such a lovely day and well worth it. It is suppose to rain tomorrow so we can sit it out if we need to. Perfect!

Doc's and Chores

Al was still not too clever in the morning and we phoned the doctor's for an appointment.. We managed to get one at 10.00am and we had to fill in the paperwork before we went in. Al was not too good getting there but we managed it.. The Doctor was brilliant, and could see we needed a repeat prescription. He decided to put Al on some stronger tablets Prochlorperazine and these could be taken two or three times a day.
We picked them up at the pharmacy and Del got Al back to Derwent6.
We had something to eat and Al had another tablet and slept.
Del sorted out the chimney which had gone a bit rusty over the winter months and did some household chores.
We are on a 48 hour mooring here in Alrewas so we will be moving tomorrow, not too far we think!

Good Advice!

Al had felt a bit better yesterday so the plan was to get up early and set off at 7.00am. We ended up getting away at 7.15am in the lovely morning mist.

We went past Streethay Marina and then as we were alongside the A38 Al poked her head out to say that she didn't feel too good again and had been sick..

We would have stayed put if this had happened before we left but we now had to find the next doctor's.
We got to Fradley Junction and lucky someone opened the swingbridge for us as they were coming out of our lock, so we were able to turn and go straight in.

Even more of a bonus was that there was a volunteer on duty to help us down, and he gave us advice and directions to where the nearest doctors was, touch! At the next lock there was another volunteer who also gave us advice and told us to remove the chimney as the bridge was low as we exit the lock.
We then had another two locks which Del managed to do. In between these they are building more houses, HS2 is going through, and also they are building Fradley marina. Its a shame as all we could smell was the rape fields across lovely views..

As we got into Alrewas the scene changed and it got even lovelier, pretty gardens, twisting canal, and overhanging trees, blue skies, and a doctors!

We moored up just before Alrewas bottom lock where a boat was leaving as we turned up..

Al made a call to the doctors, but they couldn't get us in today but gave us some advice on taking a sickness tablet.. Al started to feel a bit better again, its so weird this dizziness thing, you never know when its going to attack.
It was so nice, Al felt like going for a walk in the air and just got better as we walked. We popped in the chemist to see if they could extend Al's tablets but they said we needed another prescription from the doctors.
Al had always wanted to go to the Arboretum, and it was a 25 minute walk away, so we went for it..

It is so big now it has an audio walk, a mini train, and a new visitors centre with cafe's and exhibitions.

It is still as moving as the first time Del went eight years ago and well worth a visit.

Al coped very well with a lot of sit downs and a few stops for drinks.
We took a nice slow walk back to Derwent6 and also relaxed with our feet up for a bit..
Al felt ok again and even managed to do the chicken salad in the evening. Doctors tomorrow!

Al's little test

Well Al was supposed to be going to Kent to meet up with a few friends and family over the weekend, but I'm afraid that never happened. She has been doing her exercises to get over this dizziness she has been having and things are still improving, but very slowly..
So what have we done? Well not a lot really apart from a gallant effort from Al to go up the pub as we are so low on food on Derwent6. She did manage a Sunday Lunch which made her feel a bit better and did her good.
So today we thought we would make a bit of an effort to get Derwent6 sorted out..

Del took the boat to Kings Orchard Marina where we got a pumpout (even though it was only half full).

We filled with diesel (after Del did a diesel test to check for diesel bug) and we filled with water. If you look closely at the bottom of this jar you can see the water collected from the bottom of the fuel tank.

They are so helpful here and we like to use them..
We came out, after Al had forgotten the firelighters which we needed for a BBQ, and had to walk round the marina to pick them up.. Not good for a dizzy women, but a good test..

We then went back to Huddlesford and turned again, mooring up outside the pub as Al had arranged a Tesco's delivery to stock up the cupboards.

We timed it so we had some lunch in the pub (as we had no food) and the Tesco's man turned up at 3.00pm.

Al passed this test with flying colours so we will be on our way tomorrow to catch up on our agenda. We chilled as the evening cooled things down, we have been so lucky with this weather!!