Happy Christmas and finger's crossed for 2021

 

We love this Christmas card because it reminds us of all this happy times we had in Shoreham in Kent..  You can see how close it is to the house that Al was born in.. 

We just want to say a massive thank you to all our reader's who follow our adventures with us, we are just so lucky even through this is a very different year.. So all have a fantastic Christmas and here's to the new year in 2021..

 

All settled in and one more sleep, can't wait!!

 The following day we had torrential rain so it was a good job we got it all done yesterday.. It was one of those days when you just sit and throw another log on the fire with a sausage roll and a coffee in hand (with a little Tia Maria on the side) 

On Christmas Eve it was bright sunshine and a good day for us to walk into the village and pick up some parcels that family and friends had sent us and pick up a prescription.

We turned it into a lovely circular walk as it was chilly but warm in the sunshine..

We took the opportunity to walk up and see the landslide work which looked like it was finished. We had also had reports that a tree was down across the canal. When we got there we could clearly see that the work that had been carried out hadn't worked because the large stone barrier had shifted towards the canal and the slime from the landslide was going straight into the canal..

We helped a bit by clearing enough of the tree for boats to get through and the wood was also handy.. 

 

So here we are all set up for Christmas day. This will be the first Christmas we have had on the boat and the first Christmas we have been on our own on Christmas Day, weird times.. It will be the first time we have had Christmas out of Kent in both of our lives, again weird, but we are so looking forward to being completely out of the way, on our own, in this pandemic. Everything done even with our little Christmas card helper! 

Up for 6.00am

 We were up at 5.30 am, yep 5.30am, as the shops opened at 6.00am. Al walked down to M&S and saw the queues out on the road because for some reason the car park wasn't open and the barriers were still down.. At 6.05am she was the first customer in the store and had it all to herself for about 15 minutes so grabbed all the goodies off the shelf and of course the turkey..

Del met her just as she walked out to help carry the bags back to Derwent6.. Sometimes living on a boat has its advantages. Once it was daylight we pulled over onto the water point and filled up while emptying the waste tank and then got out of there..

Again the canals were empty and cruising was much better as we had had a lot of rain..

And we pushed on back to Newbold.

At the tunnel it was just pleasant cruising..

We trickled up towards Brinklow in the muddy waters.

We took a chance as to whether a mooring would be available and of course it was empty. We moored again in our favourite quiet spot.

  

High Risk, but we want a Turkey!!

 The tow paths again are really muddy and it is a bit annoying as the gunwales have to scrubbed twice a week..  We are still in a tier three area and yes we have seen two hire boats, maybe with people on from tier four.. The state of the canals are getting worse with the silt and leaves from winter and with them not being used by boats. Its weird because its not that the leaves get caught in the prop, its the tiller digging in and not being able to turn, even worse if you meet another boat.. 

Anyway rant over! Our plan was to move today as Al wanted to get some last minute fresh bits like fruit and vegetables and of course the turkey.. We had some rain when we woke up and waited till it passed over. It was very very quiet when we set off and very dank and murky.

  We made our way back to Brownsover where we had plans in case it was too busy to moor up..

We took the turn and then spotted a mooring and slipped Derwent6 into it. Al was off in a shot and geared up with mask and sanitizer she attacked Tesco's.. It turned out to be a bit of a bun fight with people pushing and shoving just for toilet roll again.. Al just stood back and let them get on with it.. No one was sanitizing their shopping trolley, or their hands, so you can see why we are in such a mess at the moment... Del met her with a few bags and we scurried out looking like a couple of bank robbers back to Derwent6.. We did contemplate grabbing a Japanese Christmas dinner for a change (KFC to you and me), but the rain stopped play, so it was beans on toast! 

All Clean sheets, and into the mud

 With all our washing done and paying for our few nights, we left the marina.

We had some last minute parcels to collect and also we had to post all our Christmas cards.

We picked a lovely day to cruise and it was very pleasant to be out and soon got to Newbold. We moored up on the old water point again as it was so busy at Brownsover. After Al had got a bit more food and trolleyed it back to Derwent6 we set off.

We went back to Hillmorton Locks and turned again as it started to get colder.

We moored at Clifton and the mud here now was horrendous.

Tooty was not happy with his little muddy paws and Del wasn't happy with the state of the carpet, but he did have the swans to look at..

Collection and Washing points

We waited for Mark on the coal boat to come through and topped up the tank with diesel and also picked up three bags of coal to see us through Christmas.. The weather has been quite mild for the time of year but you have to ready for anything that is coming round the corner. Yep we need food and yep we need water, but of course we need to collect presents for out loved ones..  So we set off this morning towards Elliott's Field retail park and were stopped after just ten minutes cruising at Clifton Cruiser's with a boat right across the canal..

We carried on to Brownsover and managed to get moored right by the bridge which means its easy for a trolley load of food to refill our cupboards.

Al picked up things from the Amazon lockers and of course some Christmas treats.. 

We carried on then to Newbold and then went through the tunnel and made our way back towards Brinklow.

 This next section is lovely all out in the countryside, it would have been nice in the snow, but hey ho, or Ho Ho Ho!

We pulled into Brinklow marina for a couple of nights, and went on a mooring away from everyone so we were self contained, things were very strict here. We managed to get all our washing up to date as it is easier for us to do that, so on went the washing machine and tumble dryer. A big thank you for all the gang for trusting us and letting us use the pontoon and shoreline. 

 As everyone knows we always use Brinklow marina over the Christmas period, but this year will be very different for us all. 

Prezzie Pressure

 So our heavy food and drink was loaded and now it was the time to complete the present list and then wrap and send them off this year. 

We set off at 9.30am and headed back towards Rugby. It wasn't as cold as yesterday but it wasn't warm cruising.. Del had four layer's on and Al supplied the teas and coffee's to cup hands. He also has some small pads which are called "Heat in a Click" which get warm and last about half an hour and fit snug in a glove or a pocket..

They last loads of times as they turn back to liquid when you boil them.. We unhooked and went under the M69 heading for Ansty.

It was really quiet which was a good thing.... 

We then followed the railway, waving at the goods trains as they chugged by us. 

We then got to The swingbridge where Al had to put on her coat and push on the gate before she went back to the present list.

It was then our first hold up of the day. C&RT were blocking the canal as they unloaded a barge full of stone for the subsidence at All Oaks woods.

The woods are now looking a bit bare with all the trees with no leaves, making things tricky on the prop, but fun at the same time.. 

Its then through some pretty bridges onto Newbold tunnel. 

We then got to Brownsover and we stopped and Del took a walk along to see f there were any moorings, no chance! So we pinned where we were and Al took a hour round the shops to pick up some more presents and wrapping paper for Christmas.

On her return we made our way back to Hillmorton where we turned. It was now starting to get dank and the navigation lights had to come on.

We managed to moor up just in time before it was too dark to see.

After another long day (for us) we chilled in the evening with a glass of whiskey and chocolate, Yum!!!