Unbelievable

 

On a clear night…The moon over the Grand Union canal.

Starting them off young . We now have Curly (number one Granddaughter) with us for the next couple of weeks and she will have to earn her passage. Fortunately a lot of the lock gates are very well balanced ,so even Curly can open and shut a lock gate.

Some of the Ducks at the Tesco moorings in Leighton Buzzard . They must be the best fed Ducks anywhere ,except everybody seems to feed them bread which is not good for them. There is currently a campaign from Canal and River Trust to educate people on what to feed Ducks with.

With Curly on Camera duty she takes pictures of Inca winding at Leighton Buzzard.

Eventually around (without Bowthruster) and then onto the services to take on water and get rid of waste.

Another picture by Curly…. I love my Nan !!!!!!!!!

Un bloody believable , after winding and leaving the services we watched a person with kids feeding the ducks outside the Tesco moorings. When they had fed all their bread to the ducks they just chucked the plastic bread bag into the canal. I managed to grab the bag as we passed it , but felt i should have shouted some abuse advice at the person involved, but with young children about i some how kept my calm and said nothing.

We then headed back up to bridge 110 for the rest of the day and night. Tomorrow when Curly eventually gets out of bed we will start our journey back North towards Braunston.

                                                                                                                   Happy Days

Kingfisher

 

How lucky were we . I had been watching this King of fishers which is my favourite bird for a couple of days flying up and down its territory and every time it passed us it never stopped. But yesterday at 15.00 he landed in a tree just down from us on the other side of the canal ,he then took off and headed straight for us and landed on the bow of Inca . I just managed to get this one photo before he flew off again. Its not a perfect picture but it was such a great experience to get so close to this very secretive and beautiful little bird.

                                                                                                Very Happy Days

Lazy Git !!!!

 

Before leaving Fenny Stratford we did a big shop at Tesco . There is one thing we refuse to do when in any supermarket and that is to use the self service checkouts, even if we only have a few items. At this Tesco there were 16 self service checkouts and only 9 normal checkouts with an employee on each till . In the 16 self service checkouts there was only one employee working all 16 checkouts ……. Look at all those lost jobs !!!!

After shopping and using the services at Fenny it was off towards Stoke Hammond and a selfie in beautiful sunshine. Wearing my favourite hat ,and i still very occasionally think about my old workmates slogging working away back down in Devon.    Keep up the good work lads !!!!

After a couple of days at Stoke Hammond we pulled pins at 08.15 and were off again in even more glorious sunshine. We stopped at the bottom of Three locks to fill with water as it would be several days before we get to another water point.

It should have been a simple task of going up the three locks , but some lazy git had left all the bottom gates open and the paddles were left up thus draining the pounds between the locks. The rules are simple,close all gates and paddles when leaving a lock unless otherwise instructed.Carolyn ended up having to let water down through the locks and filling the pounds so we could pass through the flight.

Eventually after a hour and a half and all the pounds full we made it to the top lock.  Luckily being on the canals and living the life we live there is never usually a need to hurry . Its just a shame that it was so early in the morning and the pub was closed.

Eventually we reached another of our favourite moorings just before Bridge 110. With only a couple of other boats moored on this stretch its lovely and quiet, just the way we like it. With Easter nearly here we have the pleasure of Curly (Abbie) are Granddaughter for a couple of weeks. So no doubt we will be kept well occupied .

                                                                                       Happy Days

The Sky above Inca

 

The moon and Venus. Luckily with us living on a Narrowboat and spending a lot of our time out in the country which has very little light pollution we get some brilliant views of the sky at night.

                                                                     As close as i can get to Venus. Using 64x digital zoom.         

                                                                                                     Happy Days

Strange Bear

 

Still at Fenny Stratford and there is a strange looking Bear climbing in the trees around here.. One for you Curly (Number one Granddaughter) ..What is it ?

Gary to the rescue. No not me, but Gary with his dog Trigger on coal boat Ascot , We always use Gary when we are in his area which is from New Bradwell through to Leighton Buzzard. We had a gas bottle off him At £25 which should last about 2 months and he also topped us up with 60 litres of diesel. Lets hope this price of 70 pence a litre stays down this low for a long time ,especially with all the miles we will be doing on our Summer cruise this year.

Another day or three will be spent here before moving on again . With Easter approaching and the school holidays about to start no doubt it will start to get busy with lots of boats on the move .There has already been a few hire boats passing us. We cant really complain as we and the other continuous cruisers have had it all to ourselves for the past 5 or 6 months.

                                                                                      Happy Days

Bridge 84 on the Grand Union canal

 

We pulled pins at 09.15 from our mooring at Giffard Park with a very grey sky overhead and the mercury just nudging 5 deg C. It wasn't long before we were passing the Lionhearts boat club in Milton Keynes. It looks like a really well run club and we always get a wave when ever we pass (on tick over of course).

It was then onto Bridge 84 . This is the bridge which was starting to fall down and was becoming a bit dangerous. It has been closed to all traffic for 2 months and has caused a lot of trouble for some people in the area.

Originally there was talk of demolishing the bridge and then rebuilding it , but in the end they underpinned the bridge wing walls using a combination of micro-piles and reinforced concrete capping beams, installation of tie bars into the voussoir of the bridge, surfacing repair over the bridge arch, and brickwork repairs to the bridge parapets, spandrel walls and the arch barrel.

Having never heard of a voussoir before i thought  i had better look it up and it turns out it means ….A voussoir (pronounced /vuˈswɑr/) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. There simple !!

There is still a lot of work to do , but at least the Navigation is now open again . I dread to think what the bill is going to be just for this one small bridge.

Great name for a boat….I bet the owner gets a few comments about it.

We finally arrived at Fenny Stratford after 2 and and a half hours cruising and picked up this 14 day mooring ,with all the shops up the road in Bletchley Carolyn will be in her element and have a few good days of retail therapy.                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                  Happy Days

Green fingered boaters

 

This is the boaters waste facility at Giffard Park in Milton Keynes, as well as the skip being half full of green waste there was also a load beside it  . There are certainly some green fingered boaters in this area !!.

                                                                                                     Happy Day

A bit of R and R

 

We have decided to spend a few days at Giffard Park and enjoy some of the many walks in the area, Although Carolyn will walk far more of them than me. Now then Ann (Nb Oakfield) , What about that for a good looking tree in Great Linford ?

This is  Linford Manor, also known as Great Linford Manor, is a seventeenth century mansion or manor house converted into a recording studio complex in Great Linford, Milton Keynes, England. It is now owned by Pete Winkelman who is chairman of Milton Keynes Dons…… Come on you Dons !!!!! Our local team for the next few weeks.

More proof that Spring is here…

A lovely day for a walk in the parkland of Great Linford.

Free to a good home and its foldable so ideal for a boat… A bit of water damage but otherwise it just needs a little lot of TLC….

                                                                                                            Happy Days

Eclipse

 

Having enjoyed the last eclipse in 1999 there was no way we were going to miss this one.

We were worried that we wouldn't see anything as there was very thick cloud cover . But then at about 09.00  and with the eclipse at 09.30 the cloud started to clear and we got a good view of the Sun and Moon.

Nearly there and unfortunately it didn't go as dark as we expected ,but it was still great to see.

                                                                                    Happy Days

Freebies

 

With rain first thing on Monday morning we never pulled pins until 09.55 when it eventually stopped. Passing over the iron trunk Aqueduct at Cosgrove and Hamish makes the most of the view.

On our journey towards Wolverton we noticed some really bad vibration on the stern Of Inca, So when we arrived Carolyn went off to do a Tesco shop while i went down the weed hatch. And the picture above shows you what i found wrapped around the propeller. It took me over 10 minutes to cut it all off with a knife and was it bloody cold or WOT. I had to cut a bit then try and warm my hand and arm before then trying to pull off what i had cut. I think we need to try and find some long gauntlets to buy for the next time it happens.

When ever we go under a railway bridge like this one at Wolverton we always keep one eye looking up for those pesky little Pigeons. I'm sure they would have great pleasure doing one on my head.

I love it, Freebies …..More free fishing tackle . The Fishermen cast out from the towpath and then their lures get stuck in the trees and their line snaps and they kindly leave their tackle for me…..Just the ticket !!!!

Passing the church at Great Linford and what lovely trees Ann (Nb Oakfield) .

Springs here !!

Good name for a boat . I guess they love their dogs. I wonder why there's a teapot on the roof ?

We finally moored at Giffard Park at 14.30 after filling with water and dumping the you know what at the services . With a Chinese takeaway just a 100 yards away guess what I'm having for dinner tonight. Yum Yum.

                                                                                                            Happy Days

The Hangover

             

With Cosgrove nearly empty above and below the lock we picked up this mooring just before the iron trunk . Its a mooring that we know well. As you are aware we love our Internet and on this mooring we get over 8 Gigs, if you move 20 feet forward or back that drops right off to 1 or 2 Gigs. We find that all over the place it can vary in such a short distance. We use the OOKLA app speedtest to find the best place to moor with the highest Internet speed. We both have iPhones and tether off them on the 3 one plan. Its even surprising that if you move the phone from one side of the boat to the other it makes a big difference.

If only we could get on this mooring, so handy for the water point and everybody seems to want it , As one boat moves off it another shuffles along and goes on it . Every time we come through Cosgrove there is always someone on it. Maybe we will be lucky when we come back this way in a few weeks time,but i some how doubt it. (For those of you that know, that was just a bit of cutting wit).

On Saturday we were joined in Cosgrove by our friends Stewart and Fran from Nb The Boat. Typical of me and i ended up drinking too much, So after one or three bottles of the red stuff i was a bit Nissed as a Pewt. Still its not like i drink a lot at any other time. We had a lovely evening and i never got to bed until after midnight. Look forward until we meet up next..

Great excitement on Sunday when a helicopter landed in the field next to the canal in Cosgrove , I'm not sure what he was up to but the locals all seemed to enjoy it.

We were thinking about moving on Sunday, but with the hangover from hell there was no chance of that happening. Anyway with good Internet and TV reception her Ladyship is happy to stay here for another day.

                                                                                                         Happy Days

Division of labour

 

After mooring at Grafton Regis Carolyn took Hamish for a walk and just around the corner from us were our friends Lew and Sharon on Nb Midsummer. Not only were they on Midsummer but they also had with them their new boat , And what a beautiful boat she is and with a superb fit out .We then moved Inca the 100 yards around the corner to be nearer and then had a good evening of catching up.They were busy swapping everything from one boat to another and we gave them a little bit of help with moving stuff. We had a couple of days in their company and really enjoyed our time with them. Catch up with you both again soon !!!!

Saying good bye to Lew (Birthday boy) and Sharon on their new boat ….Don't worry Sharon i will get a good photo of you when you least expect it ….

What a good site sight, work progressing on The Navigation pub at bridge 64 just outside of Cosgrove.

How to moor a wide beam …. not a problem for a Narrowboat to pass, but another wide beam would really struggle.

I'm sure the contract says to cut the grass so many times a year, but it was so short it never needed cutting. But a big thanks to the guys who were cutting as they stopped until we had passed and avoided flicking stones and crap on to Inca.

Another good sight. Work being done on the plot of land in front of The Barley Mow at Cosgrove.

We have a cunning plan when ever we get on to a service point, Carolyn tops up the water tank with the hose and i get rid of the rubbish and empty all of the toilet cassettes.Carolyn says its a fair division of labour, which she says means …The division of labour is the specialization of cooperating individuals who perform specific tasks and roles.. I'm not sure about the Cooperating individuals , but i do as I'm told so i guess i cooperate.

                                                                                            Happy Days