On our way to Kilby Bridge.

Having been back to Market Harborough to drop off coal to some of the boaters there on Friday. Keith and I treated ourselves to lunch out at the Union Inn, which was as always, very scrummy. I can recommend their 'Old English' Cider. Keith has taken a shine to 'The Old Speckled Hen' beer. After lunch we walked down to the town to do a bit of shopping before watching the switching on of the Christmas Lights. The Market Harborough Christmas event is really very good. Shops stay open till late. There is plenty of entertainment and food on offer for everyone. it was reckoned that 10,000 people came out to support the town, over the evening. Harborough FM the local radio station were on hand to play christmas music and local youngster Alex Barnes from Fleckney helped to turn on the Christmas lights. Alex who is 6 years old has had life saving proton therapy in the USA to treat a brain tumour. He was joined on stage by Eastenders Louisa Lytton (No idea of her characters name as we do not watch soaps) and other stars who are starring in panto in Northampham. Keith and I have become real fans of Harborough FM and were delighted to meet up with some of the DJ's, which included Dave Smith, who is really wonderful and always makes me laugh with some of the things he says. The whole evening was very well organised and entertaining, however I am not very good in large crowds of people, so after having a coffee and mince pie, we headed back to the boat.
Saturday morning, I headed down to Sainsbury's to do a food shop and left Keith to sell coal. He definitely got the better end of the deal, because Sainsbury's was chaos. Having struggled my way around the store, trying not to get cross with people who clearly had trolley rage. I then almost found it impossible to get a taxi back to the boat. I had visions of me having to trudge up the hill with a huge rucksack and four bags. Finally on the fourth attempt to find a taxi company who were not fully booked up, I got offered a ride if I was prepared to wait 10 minutes. I was not about to turn it down and sure enough after 10 minutes my taxi arrived and I was transported up the hill to Union Wharf. Keith helped me get the shopping on the boat, where I unpacked it all and stored it away. Keith had been busy whilst i was away selling coal, so it had been a very productive morning.
After some lunch, we fired Hadar up and set off back to Foxton for the weekend. Over the weekend we went to the Foxton Inclined Plane Museum on Sunday where they had a Christmas gathering with band music to raise funds for the Inclined Plane. Afterwards we called into the Bridge 61 pub for a coffee, where there was yet more entertainment, this time it was a folk singer and his guitar. I was not afraid to join in with a sing along, although I did see all the ducks take flight outside. It has been said that I sound like a cat crying LOL.
With the weekend done and dusted, this morning (Monday) we left our mooring and set off for Kilby Bridge. It began as a nice morning, ideal for cruising, but as we approached Fleckney dark clouds were rolling in behind us and the wind was gusting, so we decided to moor up having only done 4.7 miles. I had put lunch on the back cabin stove, when I saw a tug pulling up alongside. It was our friend Roy. I climbed out through the engine room doors and was immediately asked "Have you got the kettle on". Onboard Hadar the kettle is always on. We enjoyed a quick chat and a coffee with Roy, who then had to leave as he was supposed to be working.
The rest of our day has been spent inside the boat, as it has been raining constantly since Roy left us. As I type this he has just gone past us going in the opposite direction having dropped off the pan below Cranes lock. We will see what tomorrow brings.