This month is quickly getting away from me. It is a way to
remind me I have good fortune in that the days of my life have no sign of
tedium or boredom and I can appreciate the beauty of the countryside and friendliness
of the people in England. It’s not the distance that needs to be counted. I
really enjoy my home on Nb DolcieBlue and our mobile life has the continuity of
feeling always at home in our floating ‘4 walls’.
The cruise through the green belt of Leicester City was as
enjoyable as doing it last year. The weather, yes the weather forecast, was on
yellow alert for gale force winds.
There was a damp feel in the air and it was almost not
raining when we moored up outside the pub at Anchor Bridge. How convenient to
get the mooring so I could take my half together (slightly broken) dodgy
shopping trolley and get filled up with provisions at Aldi, a nearby supermarket
a good mile walk away. I thought I would try to sniff out a shortcut.
I remember, some years ago in London, I overheard a couple
of schoolboys on their way home saying
“That way is a shortcut but this way is quicker....”
So back to the here and now, I saw a way into an
urbanisation and thought where there is a way in there must be a way out on the
other side. I approached a Postman for direction confirmation.
“Ah.....Hmm...” he uttered as he processed the direction
possibility “Oh yes, go along there, turn Right, down there to the end of
there, and turn Left...”
“Thanks. Have a good day.” I said, and walked along ‘there’
and turned Right thinking I could always ask someone else. Well I needed to ask
someone else, not long after, but there was no one else to ask as I walked
along. There is not much foot traffic these days.
Me and my trolley moved on until I was a few yards further
along the road I had turned off in the hope of a shortcut. Der......
I did find Aldi,
eventually, and filled my trolley and trundled back to DB following the reverse
of the route I should have taken initially.
Groceries onboard, we moved DB to moorings the other side of
Anchor Bridge where we had good paved towpath moorings with mooring rings
beside the outskirts of the extensive Watermead Country Park. Chris wanted to
do some carpentry work to frame the bathroom door, and install a folding ‘plank’
seat to sit on for those long occasions at the wheel. This environment was
ideal for him to get his band saw out onto level ground and put in use.
 |
| This plank is not for walking |
I was motivated or stupid to sweep the towpath clear of leaf
& twig debris directly beside DB. Looks of disbelief that a broom could
actually have a purpose resulted in the usual comments coming my way.
“When you’ve finished will you come and sweep my yard?”
It was a short lived feeling of satisfaction as the
following day I woke to the sound of the strong wind shaking the branches with
dead wood, twigs and leaves littering DB and the towpath. The bird life had
attempted to make their presence known with ‘gifts’ dropped from above but the
wind must have worked in our favour as minimal poop that hit the boat landed on
the solar panel and gunwhale.
As the day progressed the wind appeared to be blowing itself
out and the clouds were parting to reveal patches of blue sky. I walked Della
to Thurmaston Lock checking out the height of bridges, as one does when the
stern canopy and wheel house canopy are in situ with the hope they could remain
in place if we moved DB up river. I got talking with a woman walking her lovely
rescue dog on my way back to DB. In conversation she told me that Birstall Lock
(the Lock after Thurmaston) had good moorings and a pub that is dog friendly.
 |
| Birstall Mooring |
Chris agreed to move up river / canal to Birstall Lock. We
left the canopies up, untied the ropes and motored off. Soon the darned wind
got blowing again and was a right pain when Chris took DB out of Thurmaston
Lock. DB got blown to the far bank of the river and Chris made a long winded
attempt to get DB back to me waiting on the towpath near the Lock. DB was close
but not close enough for me to step on to the stern. I yelled out to him to
motor on and I would walk on to a calmer place, if it existed! He was not best
pleased as he had almost got DB within reach of me but I did not feel safe
stepping out to DB in the gusty wind conditions.
I clutched my windlass, mouthed expletives and paced my way
along more beautiful walking tracks in Watermead Country Park. The river became
hidden and the towpath was non-existent, for a while. I could see DB through the trees and all I
could do was continue walking until I came back to the riverbank and the fine
moorings at Birstall. DB arrived and all
eventually returned to calm in our world.
The day ended at a 'dog haven' Pub. The non alcoholic beer for
dogs was sold out!
And so ended another day.
 |
| Does my boat look big wearing its canopy? |
.
No comments:
Post a Comment