Counting Bunnies !

 

We pulled pins at 07.35 from our mooring at kiidlington on the South Oxford canal. The whole of the canal seems to be ablaze with wild Rose’s. We can’t remember a year that has produced more than this.

On to The river Cherwell section after Shipton weir lock and look it’s on yellow.. It was a good job Carolyn never saw it as we cruised along that section. mind you it looks by the water mark that it is going down.

  Going through Thrupp and we always look forward to see what is written on this boaters blackboard. I’m not sure why they do it ,but it is most entertaining.

Passing satellite earth station at Enslow and the Pearson’s guide book says that the local residents appear to have outrageously exploited planning loopholes to improve satellite television reception.

How a bout this for a bow fender . We have never seen anything like it before ,but it looks like it would do a good job of protecting the bow. I do think it would look better in black..I’m not sure but we may have a mutual friend as someone we know mentioned an unusual bow button.

Passing the 15th Century tithe barn below Allens lock.  A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes — one tenth of a farm's produce which was given to the Church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the village church or rectory and independent farmers took their tithes there. The village priests would not have to pay tithes—the purpose of the tithe being their support—and some had their own farms anyway, which are now village greens in some villages.

We soon arrived at Somerton Deep lock ,so called because it is a deep lock. In fact it’s one of the deepest narrowbeam locks on the canal system . With an enormous and very heavy bottom gate there was no chance of Carolyn closing it by herself. So once in the lock I put the tiller to one side and then gave a blast on the engine to push water behind the gate, thus assisting Carolyn in opening it. Of course I could have climbed up the lock ladder and did that way, but why struggle.

After a good cruise we stopped at Aynho Wharf and bought 150 litres of diesel (70ppl) a gas cylinder (£26.25) Toilet blue and a new long mooring pin to replace the one I lost up the river Wey . We then picked up this mooring a couple of hundred yards away . We have named it Bunny moorings as the field opposite contained hundreds of wild rabbits. We put the chairs out and with a few glasses of wine we started to count them, We got to 86 and then we both fell asleep . Who said about counting Sheep to get to sleep. Mind you the wine might have had something to do with it….

                                                                                                     Happy Days