Stoke Bruerne arrival

Del was up early and set off this morning at 7.45am.. it was lovely cruising with the mist on the water and all the wildlife out.. 

Al and David had the chance to have a lie in as there were no locks..after a hour Al surfaced and Del had got to Gayton junction..

David surfaced just before we entered Blisworth tunnel.. 

We got very wet in the tunnel and we were lucky enough to find a mooring before the top of the locks at Stoke Bruerne..

We had some lunch and then went for a walk to suss things out before Al had to get the bus at 2.15pm to Kent to see her Dad.. Alf had recovered well from his first bout of chemo and he now has some check ups to see how he is getting on..

Del and David watched the tennis in the afternoon before heading down the pub for something to drink and eat...rude not to!!

On to Bugbrooke

We were up early  but decided to have some breakfast before we headed down the Buckby flight..

With David as our help in hand we timed it so we didn't have to queue and went down with a hire boat with a good crew.. it made life very easy for us all through these normally difficult locks..

Once we hit the bottom lock it was easy cruising through the very pleasant countryside where we stopped for water at Weedon..

We then continued on through Nether Heyford and moored just before Bugbrooke..

The first thing we did was put up the washing line in this glorious weather. Then David brought out a couple of beers and we put up the chairs and table..

It wasn't long before the BQQ was on the go..



Through Busy Braunston

The day started early for Del as he was up doing the brasses but the rest of the crew had a lie in.. We had brunch at about 10am with the Swans and Cygnets, and also ducks and duckings.. 

We set off at 11.15am and made our way to busy Braunston.

We had to squeeze through a couple of spots but got through. It was very busy so we pushed on through to the locks just in front of a wide beam..

With our helper on board we were very organised and soon reached the top with no problems..

We hit the tunnel and it was still very busy as we passed four boats inside it..  It was nice to see the sun out on the otherside, light at the end of the tunnel.. 

We managed to find a lovely mooring at Norton junction but again it was busy.. We even managed to get a telly signal so we watched the tennis.

At 7.00pm we walked down to the newly opened again, "New Inn" The pub was about the same with a new carpet, and they had some good beers. But the most important thing was the food, where they had a smaller menu, but the quality was great..The prices were about the same and it was even better for us as David wanted to treat us for having him and paid.. It was a pleasent walk back to Derwent6 where we watched another DVD before we went to bed..

Our Favourites

It was a lazy start for us.. and we all surfaced around 9.30am to the smell of Bacon butties.. Al walked down to Tesco's with David to get some BBQ stuff for next week..

Del got Derwent6 ready for action as we needed water.. When they got back Del set of and made the turn just the other side of Rugby.. We then got to the water point and filled with water..

We then made our way to Hillmorton Locks and it was handy having David in the crew..

We soon got through them and soon got to Onley, one of our favourite moorings..

Al did us a bit of Sausage and Mash one of Davids favourites.. Then we watched DVD's all evening which David had brought up with him...

Al back to Kent and new Crew

We were up early as we had the car and we went down to Tesco's to pick up loads of heavy and bulky goods. Al had to get away as she didn't know when her Dad may be released from Hospital.. Del found the phone on the roof which had been left out all night and you guessed it... it rained!! so a drying process has been put in place which has blown up the hairdryer and you still couldn't read the screen...Things aren't going too well...

Al still had problems trying to pick her dad up as the traffic was so bad going into London she had to turn round and go to Bromley south to get the train to Denmark Hill.. Her dad had been waiting since 9.00am to be picked up and was non to pleased at her arrival.. They got back at 3.00pm and Al stayed a while and got the train back to Derwent6..
Del on the other hand was waiting for a new crew member to turn up while the traffic for Braunston Historic Boat show went by..

We had David (another godchild) who was going to help us out for a few days.. He arrived at 3.00pm and Del met him halfway to show him where we were moored.. After settling in Del and David walked down to the Cinema where they watched the film World War Z a zombie film (and yep you've seen um all..)

Afterwards Al got back to Derwent6 and then walked to the cinema where she met up with Del and David.. David's choice was to go to Pizza Hut so that we did.. Al chilled with a couple of beers, she needed it.. We were all looking forward to a peaceful night..

Bruceeeeeeeeee!!!!

Today Del moved Derwent6 and Al was still down her Mum and Dads.

Her sister was with her Mum now so it gave Al a bit of a respite.. she used the car to drive back to Derwent6 where she meet Del at Rugby.

We quickly got in the car and drove to Coventry...
We managed to use our expertise to find a parking spot close to the canal and then walked to bridge 9 where we managed to get in the queue for the concert.

While waiting Al bumped into an old school friend Barbara who funny enough was 50 last month as well. It was good to catch up and they sorted out phone numbers and things to see each other in the future..

We had a spit of rain whilst queuing to get in the gates but it didn't bother us.. The gates opened at 4.30pm and we rushed to the pit, and when we looked we found a better position for Al on the barrier which was a bit raised. We then had to wait two and a half hours before he come on, he never has a support band and played for three and a half hours non stop.. Just Brilliant!!!!!

Bruce played all his top tunes like Born In the USA, Born to Run, Glory Days, The River, Thunder Road to name just a few..

We walked out of the stadium knackered and walked back down the canal to a Fish and Chip shop we knew.. We just got there before the mad rush and while we were eating them outside they run out of chips..  Result!
We got back to Derwent6 at Midnight and went straight to bed, still with our ears ringing and our hearts pounding!!

Hectic few days with no sleep

As a lot of you are aware Al's dad has had to have chemo therapy and her Mum has to be looked after so we both got Derwent6 looked after and got the train down to Kent.. Al took her Dad, Alf, into Kings collage hospital in London while Del looked after Pam, Al's mum. Alf went into Hospital on the Monday and had the chemo on the Tuesday and the plan was to pick him up on the Wednesday.. All went well even though we didn't get much sleep with Pam up half the night and Al sleeping with her to comfort her.. On the Wednesday we got a call that we could collect him in the afternoon, so after the carers had been for Pam we left for London..Well this didn't go too well at this point..First we had Pam sick in the car going to pick Alf up and then we had Alf not too well from being discharged. We also had to deal with rush hour in London, welcome to the real world, Del and Al... We managed to get them home and then got them settled back in the comfort of their home.. Pam did not look good but Alf wasn't too bad.. Del had to leave to go back to Derwent6 and Al stayed with her Mum and Dad...She had just dropped Del off at the station when she got a call from the hospital saying her Dad had to go back in because the platelets were low in his blood and he may need a blood transfusion. What, you're joking...She couldn't get hold of Del to come back, so she rushed back to the house where the carer's were still there.. One of them was able to look after Pam while Al's sister drove down from Farnham to look after her. Al then took her Dad all the way back to King's in London. He had to stay in overnight and she drove back and got to her Mum and Dads at midnight..Del got back to Derwent6 at 10.30pm and cracked open a beer..Ahhhhhhh

The last few days

Well we have been taking it easy for the last few days...not!!
We did have plans to go to a theme park on Monday with friends, but we couldn't get a cheap train fare and to be honest we were knacked.. We chilled on Tuesday but we did get a few jobs done. Del polished the roof and sides & the brasses and painted the fire which had gone rusty in a few places. On Wednesday Al made her way down to Kent again as her Dad had to go to hospital for some check ups.. It has turned out to be a bit of a shock as he has been diagnosed with a tumour in the liver and will have to have chemo at some point.. They are positive they can treat it, as he is a fit and strong 86.. Lets hope so..
Del managed to do more jobs, and one was to sort out the waste tank filter..We have been getting a smell again in the engine room and when Del took the filter out it was full of water again.. so we brought some U bends and clips and made up a piece of pipework so water can't get to the filter.. We will see if it works.. We have also cleaned the cooker and draining plug filters which were getting clogged up..

So we haven't blogged much due to us supporting the family.. We have a lot going on over the next few months so watch this space...

Home again

Gosh it's good to be home again....to hear the birds singing and ducks quacking feels tranquil...
As you can imagine Derwent6 was a bit of a mess (well a mess to Del)  It was covered in dust and grass, yes they had cut the grass while we were away... It took Del a morning to clean Derwent6 up a bit .. We had a good chat to Paul and Lynne off n.b PistonBroke who had moored next to us, before we had to leave..We had been here for 13 days and needed to move. It is now a lot busier on the cut here so we timed our move at lunchtime..

It was the right thing to do as the traffic was not too bad..

We didn't have to queue for the locks at Hillmorton and we found a nice mooring at the bottom. Ahhhhhh chilling at last!!

By the Seaside

As you may have gathered we have been off Derwent6 for a couple of weeks.. We have been down in Whitstable in Kent where we went to Zoe's, a good school friend of Al's, 50th Birthday Party...It was a great night and a lot of drink was had by all..

Afterwards,we stayed at Zoe's and Greg's looking after their two super dogs Jumble and Rummage while they went away to Barbados for a couple of weeks..

It was a chance for us to live by the sea for a bit and Whitstable was an old seaside oyster fishing town and still is....The first thing we had to deal with was that the dogs were up at 5.30am in the morning wanting to go out, a routine they are used to but we aren't lol.. The first week was quite cold for the time of year but it gave us time to get to know Whitstable.

They only have to take 75 steps before they are on the beach and another 100 metres before they are in the pub, on the beach, idyllic....

The Second week it warmed up a bit and we were able to sit on the beach, watch the sunsets and have Fish and Chips with friends....

Dave and Diane came and saw us for a day and we had a relaxing time with them..

We also saw Bernie and Sarah where we also pubbed out and had a BBQ..

We had a great two weeks although we did miss Derwent6 and home.. You still get that itchy feeling that you just want to move on.. Zoe and Greg arrived back and the dogs were so pleased to see them..

After a bit of breakfast we left them in peace to get over their jet lag and we made our way back to Derwent6 to get over our early starts in the morning.... Derwent6 was being looked after by various boating friends who keep in touch with us by texting....thanks guys. It was good to walk back to the tranquility and the peacefulness of the canals...