Onward to Bugbrooke.

We have now moved on to Bugbrooke. Did a small shop in the village shop, just salad stuff whilst it is still too hot to cook. We will be looking like rabbits soon, after all this lettuce. Been a long hard slog of 2 miles in 1hr 5mins (only joking). Pulled into the moorings and Hadar rode over something large, which sent us careering back out into the channel! Whatever it is, it is big and solid and just behind Hadar's stern.

This is as far as we are going today.

High House.

Hi Folks.

Last night we had a beautiful sunset, over the top lock at Braunston. Unfortunately this photograph does not do it justice.


We are now moored at High House, having done 9 miles, 7 locks, in 5hrs 50mins. We are moored near where our friends David and Elaine on NB Patience moor.

Our morning began at 7.30am with an early cruise through Braunston Tunnel.

When we came out of the other side of the tunnel, Elaine and David were moored up with a gearbox issue. We pulled in just in front of them and realised that the ground was moving.

On closer inspection we saw dozens of tiny Froglets all making for the woods and the damp ground. It was a matter of watching where we put our feet.

Keith helped David sort out the issue with the gearbox and we were both soon on our way. Buckby Locks do not get any easier, but with some boats coming up, it did save a bit of the work.

Being a Saturday and sunny, there were lots of boats, which included the hire fleet from Gayton Junction. One such hire boat came past us, with its occupants dressed as Pirates. What got my attention even more though was the lady sitting on the back counter with her legs hanging over the edge, and her feet in the water. I shouted to her to get her feet out of the water and her legs in. This was a serious accident waiting to happen and yet she seemed totally oblivious to the dangers. Hopefully with us having pointed the danger out, she will not do that again on her boating holiday.

So here we are at High House and the only mooring available was under trees with low hanging branches. Having moored up, we got the loppers out and did a bit of gardening. The trees have now had a hair cut. At least we will not hear the branches rubbing on the roof all night. With jobs and lunch done, we walked round and had a cold drink with Elaine and David and are now back onboard Hadar watching the football.

We will probably stay here until Monday and then make a move.

Back to Braunston.

We are back at Braunston top lock again, 5.75 miles, 3hrs. We travelled up through the locks with our friends David & Elaine on nb Patience.
Elaine and David moored up behind us overnight. It was absolutely wonderful to see them again. We were cruising down to Stratford-upon-Avon with them this time last year. Like all good boaters we had a good old natter, and caught up on all their news. So this morning we thought we my as well cruise together up the locks. The rain has now stopped and the sun is now out yayyy. Elaine and David will tell you, that when ever they do Braunston Locks, it always rains.

A Country View.

Hi Folks.

What another glorious day.

I went and got a few salad bits from the shop in Braunston and some bacon from the Butchers. Keith went to the Chandlery to get some boat bits as well. We then decided to leave the Braunston Stop House moorings and head out into the countryside up the joint Grand Union - Oxford Canal. As we left a gentleman on the bow of NB Constance said "Hello, I read your blog". I thanked him and we went on our way. If the gentleman on NB Constance is reading this posting, it was lovely to briefly meet you. Thank you for reading our diary. Maybe next time we meet, we will get longer to chat. All our readers are very important to us. So thank you for taking the time to pop in and read our diary.

So we are now out in the countryside and it is truly sublime. Stunning views and lots of birdsong.

Between Bridges 105 and 107 on the Oxford Canal, we spotted this heifer grazing on the bushes. Your think aww how lovely. The problem with this was she was grazing out on the towpath. On the offside there were cows grazing in the field, so we think she may have swum across the canal. At any rate I rang the BW quick response team number and they were going to send someone out to find the cows owner.

We winded at bridge 107 and headed back along the canal to moor near bridge 102, the Flecknoe road bridge, 7.4 miles 4hrs. This will be our home for a couple of days, as we have boat jobs to do.

We are moored behind Tug Hector, the 2nd boat that Roger Fuller built back in 1986. The last time we saw her she had just been bought by her present owners Daisy and Paul, and they still love her, which is great news. Tug Hector has had a few changes made to her inside and she is looking lovely. Whilst we were nattering to Daisy and Paul, Graham on the Ecover boat Tia, pulled in to refill my Ecover bottles for which I am grateful. I had been hoping to do this for sometime. I got to have a few words with Graham, before he was off on his way home. No doubt we will see him again sometime.

So all is well with our world and we will enjoy this mooring and the digital TV signal we have. Murray is level in sets with Tsonga, so come on Murray, give us Brits something to cheer about.

Right I am off to make yet another salad for dinner.

Braunston Historic Boat Rally

Hi Folks.

I am not going to mention the football, because I realise that there maybe some very depressed people reading this post at the moment. So I will cheer you up with a few photographs from the 8th Braunston Historic Boat Rally.

There were 94 historic boats at this years event. Which is a record. The event organisers were also fortunate with the weather, it was sweltering on both days, which brought out the public and made for some great photographs.

We had the most wonderful weekend, even though we were not taking part as we are not historic, although we are a working boat. Hadar was moored above the locks in the peace, quiet and shade, which was ideal for Paddy and Marmite. It just meant we had a bit of walk.

Keith took part in one of the boat parades. Two were held each day. The first at 11am and the second at 2pm. Keith managed to get a lift on Tom Hill's boats Archimedes and Ara. Keith was in his element.

Our weekend was made all the better, because we got to meet lots of fellow Bloggers and Facebookers. It is always wonderful to put faces to names. So a huge thankyou to everyone who came and spoke to us. It was lovely to see you all. It was also wonderful to see old friends. Some who had travelled quite a way to come to the Rally. If you have never been to the Braunston Historic Boat Rally, make sure you come next year, because it is a fantastic event. The atomosphere is amazing, as are the people you get to chat too.

Today has been a bit of a let down after such a wonderful weekend. But I think we both needed a rest after all the walking we had done.

We polished the boats brass and waited for Tom and James to come with some diesel.

They duly arrived during the afternoon to fill Hadar's tanks. Whilst she was filling up, I supplied the lads with drinks and the usual boaters talk got underway. Tom and James were heading back to London, so we hope they have a good trip. Tom's boats Archimedes and Ara look brilliant now they have been painted up, they are a credit to Tom.

With the day almost at a close, we are looking forward to a goodnights sleep, before setting off down the locks in the morning.

Horse Boating in the sun.

Good afternoon.

I have spent a fabulous morning taking photographs of the 'Butty' Angel being legged through Braunston Tunnel and then the butty was pulled along by a beautiful horse named Gypsy Queen. It was so wonderful to see. It made me ponder about how they used to do boating all those years ago.
It took the leggers about an hour and half to leg through Braunston Tunnel, all 2042 yards, 1867 metres. They certainly needed their weetabix this morning.
Gypsy Queen pulled the Butty Angel out of the lock and on to the next lock down the flight. There is something so majestic about this form of transport. It would have been so peaceful on the cut in those days.

Crick to Braunston.

We are now at the top lock Braunston, 8.5miles, 7 locks, 4hrs. We have had a lovely run through Crick Tunnel and down Watford Locks then on through Braunston tunnel. It was a fantastic mornings cruising, in the lovely sunshine. Surprized the moorings above Braunston top lock are empty, so we are now here till the weekend and the Historic Boat Rally.

Foxton to Crick.

Hi Folks.

Brrrrrrrr it has been more like Autumn today than Summer. Both Keith and I had to don our donkey jackets to keep out the chilly Northerly breeze. The sun did put in an appearance, but was not warm enough to make us take our jackets off.

Some of the views across the countryside along this 20 mile pound are stunning. We enjoyed 17 miles of scenery today and loved every moment of it.

We met Ben on NB Primrose Time on moorings above Foxton Locks, he was heading back to Market Harborough and his mooring. We met our first boat of the day NB Sarah D at 9.30 am and after that there was a steady stream of boats coming out of Yelvetoft and Crick Marina's for the weekend. There were plenty of stationary boats, some not holding up-to-date licences I hasten to add. We cruised past the home and stables of Piggy French. She has a beautiful property, but until today we did not know it was her place.

We were just about to cruise past Kilworth Marina, and saw that they were just about to let the Dayboat out. Luckily they waited until we passed them by.

After Bridge 33, we met in passing NB Margin, who told us that he reads our blog. It is always lovely to meet up with people, who take time out to come in and read about our life and adventures. So hello to the gentleman on NB Margin, hopefully the next time we meet, we may get to exchange names and a few words.

I could not resist taking this photo of a floating garden in progress, or is it purely a weed hatch-er?? Heading towards Crick we passed the new Yelvetoft Marina, who is selling diesel for £1.19 a litre any advance on £1.19? The Marina looked pretty empty. Either the boats are out, or they are still trying to fill it. It is in a lovely area and has all the facilities. Having met every man, woman and their dog moving, it was nice to arrive at Crick and find a mooring. We will be staying here till Monday.

Up, Up and moor up.

Hi folks.

Is now at the top of Foxton locks, 1 miles, 10 locks, 1hr 30mins.

Having been awake since 6am, Keith and I enjoyed an early cuppa in bed, before getting up and preparing Hadar for the off. The plan was to get up the locks early, which also seemed to be the plan of others, because as we arrived at the lock, there was a boat already going into the bottom lock. So having sat Hadar on the gates, I walked up to find the lock keeper. He informed me that we were 4th in the queue, which was a surprize to me because there was no one waiting at the bottom. Apparently I was passed by a gentleman running up the towpath, who was going up the flight third, if he was quick enough to get rid of his rubbish. Flippin cheek.
As it actually turned out, the boat in second place, said that we should go before them, as it would be easier. Which was really very nice of them. So thank you to the crew of Mutley. They very kindly helped me do the first few locks, which gave us a chance to have a nice chat. It turned out that they are good friends of Jo and John on Acen, who we also have go to know, since being in Market Harborough Basin. So we had a nice quiet run up through Foxton locks. Once above the locks Keith moved some more coal around in the hold to get the bow up a bit, he also restacked all the toilet blue and kindling. Hold looks all neat and tidy now. I mopped out the front locker, the gates at Foxton are leaking lots, and with such force it bounced off the fore deck and up under the hatch. There was a good inch of water in the locker. I have got most of it out, but as I am trying not to overdo it with my shoulder, I did not get it completely dry.
We have enjoyed a chat with other boaters moored near us and had our lunch. We are now watching the Germany v Serbia World Cup match on a digital signal, so all is good with our world today.

A little Gem

Hi Folks.

It has been the most beautiful morning here at Foxton. The sun was shining bright and early, with the temperature rising, as the hours crept by. Having walked his Lordship P early, we got to have a good run out across the field and I saw this little gem.
The flower is a Monkey Orchid and was the only one there. It is a real beauty. P was of course oblivious of this little gem, all's he was interested in was the rabbit holes.

On the move.

We are finally on the move. Firstly we waited for our coal delivery, before setting off at lunchtime today and are now at Foxton 5.5miles 2hrs 5mins, it is absolutely fantastic to be on the move again having been stuck in Market Harborough since December. After our coal was delivered by Chris and Tom, Keith then started Hadar's engine. It got warmed up and coughed into life, running at first on 1 cylinder, but then eventually she coughed some more and was soon running on 2 cylinders, she then ran perfectly all the way to Foxton. We then said our goodbyes to friends and set off yippee.

Hello, Goodbye.

This morning we said goodbye to our good friends Nigel and Anne on NB Enseabee. They arrived in the basin yesterday evening and after a quick clothes change, we joined them for a fabulous meal at the Waterfront Restaurant. Followed by drinks onboard their boat. It was a fabulous evening of chit-chat about allsorts of things, and the poo tank did not come into the conversation, which makes a change. Because normally all boating chatter has the poo tank in there somewhere.

Rainbows and Visitors

Hi Friends.

I dare say like us, you had all sorts of weather thrown at you. We have had three thunderstorms in three days, giving us an excellent light show on the first night.
Once the rain had cleared, the water in the basin was just like glass, giving us a fantastic mirror image across the basin.

After the thunderstorm, the sun would come out and we would be honoured with a Rainbow.

Whilst we all like dry sunny weather, this rain has been welcomed across the country and is very much needed in the reservoirs, otherwise we will be seeing restrictions across the network.

Today we had the pleasure of seeing NB. Inglewood coming into the basin with her crew of Christine and Alan and their friends onboard. With them moored up on of the pontoons, we joined them for a coffee, before going down to Joules for a lovely lunch. It was great to see Christine and Alan again. The last time we met up was at the Little Venice Cavalcade 13 months ago. So there was plenty to chat about. The above photograph was taken as they left the basin, heading back to Foxton.

Welcome Visitors.

Hi Friends.

Over the past few days, it has been lovely weatherwise.

I hope the sunny weather has been with you as well?

Keith is doing extremely well. He looks so well now and cannot wait to get moving. He is totally pain free still, which is fantastic. It is so nice to have him back to his normal self.

I have had a Cortisone injection in my right shoulder, to help with my partially frozen shoulder. I have to rest it for a couple of days and then start the exercises given to me on a sheet of paper. I am quite sure that this will do the trick and I will be in full working order by the time we begin our Winter coal run again in October.

Yesterday friends John and Jo arrived back in the basin on NB Acen, they are here for a month. It was lovely to see them again, along with their Whippets Purdy and Darcy.



Also welcome visitors are Sheila and Bruce on their brand new narrowboat Sanity Again. They had been showing their new Braidbar boat at Crick. They arrived in Market Harborough yesterday. Today we took the opportunity to go and have a peek around their lovely looking boat. It really is beautiful inside and out and they are of course very pleased with it. It was fabulous to be able to catch up with them on all aspects of news and gossip over a cuppa. They are heading off tomorrow, but I am sure we will see them somewhere on the cut again soon.


Our other welcome visitors were the swan family. The pen and cob brought their family of now eight cygnets to the basin for the first time. Sadly they have lost one of the cygnets over the past couple of weeks. I have a feeling it was probably the one I saw lagging behind after they all took to the water from the nest. They are the most beautiful family. Neither the pen or cob are at all agressive, they still take food from the hand, which is really lovely, because normally swans can get very agressive when they have young.

Painted Bucket

Keith has finished painting Hadar's bucket and has signwritten the ash can that Jo painted.

A Nice Day Out.

Yesterday we told you all that we went to the Crick Boat Show and that we bought some porthole lace. Well I thought you may like to see a photograph of the Spider Web lace in place. We are chuffed with our purchases. If you are looking for Porthole Lace give Sylvia Hankin a try at Artist of the Waterways.

Today (Sunday) we got to go out with friends Viv and David on NB First Fruits. It was Viv's birthday and so we went to Launde Abbey. In the photograph below you need to look past the scaffolding to see the real beauty of the place. It is in a stunning location in the heart of the East Midlands. Thankfully the weather was much improved from yesterday. Today we had sunshine and a gusty wind.

We spent time wandering around the gardens and the chapel, which is really stunning. All the local churches supplied flower displays and in the grounds stalls were set up selling crafty things, plants etc. The Abbey has an amazing walled garden and in the walled garden they have a couple of green houses. One of then has cacti in them and it was a bit like the day of the triffids. The cacti were enormous.

Having enjoyed an excellent morning strolling around the Abbey and gardens, we settled down under a gazebo to enjoy a buffet lunch, before heading back the scenic way to the basin and a cuppa onboard on NB First Fruits. We really did have a fantastic day with Viv and David, so a special thank you to them both for taking us out.

Crick Boat Show

We have just got back from visiting the Crick Boat Show. We were offered a lift there, which we gladly accepted. It was a little damp, but we enjoyed it as we got to meet lots of our friends and had some good old chinwags with them all. Jo managed to pick up some porthole laces, some proper spider webs ones, which look really nice. She has been looking out for some for a few years now. I spotted a windy Klaxon, but it wasn't really what I was looking for at the price he was asking. It was nice to see the historic boats allowed back into the marina. We did notice though that the number of stalls is definitely done, as was the number of sales boats in the marina, I think this may be why they allowed the historic boats in to fill up some of the empty spaces!

National TV Fame at Last

For those who were fortunate enough to be watching the BBC's "The One Show" tonight you will have been pleasantly surprised to have seen the above photo being shown. They had requested people to send in photos of people with their trophies, so Jo sent our photo taken of us last year at the Little Venice Canal Cavalcade after we had won the Vic Trott Trophy for best dressed boat people, with us in our costumes standing on the stern of Hadar moored up in the pool. We were amazed to see them show it. What was truly amazing was that their guest was Hayley Mills who was Keith's childhood sweetheart.

Hadar Ploughing through the Ice.

Finally we have been able to post this video of Hadar, ploughing through two inches of ice during the winter of 2009/10 from Foxton to Market Harborough. On a normal day the journey time would be 1 hour and 50 minutes, but on this day it took us 6 hours and 40 minutes, arriving in Market Harborough in the dark.

Painting and Varnishing.

It has been a fantastic morning weatherwise, so this was our chance to catch up with some paintwork. It finally looks like the weather is warming up. Keith turned his attention to the galvanised bucket. He has had this bucket for many years. it used to be green with roses and Pisces signwritten on it, but the years have taken their toll on the paintwork and it was in need of some TLC. Keith is now painting it in the red, white and blue of the boat and will then signwrite Hadar on it.I turned my attention to our Ash Carrier which was a present from Mo and Nessa on NB Balmaha. It is made of galvanised steel and so could probably cope perfectly well without being painted for a while, but I thought it would be nice to give it some added protection. Not only that Keith can then put the boats name on it, so it is personalized to us.Our Galley doors also got my attention today. I like to varnish them at least once a year, twice if the weather allows. It helps to protect the woodwork, as we like to have them open in all weather.

With the morning jobs done, we are taking life easy in the afternoon, as neither of us wants to overdo things. Keith is now coming down off of his pain killers. This will take a few days and then we will know if he is really pain free. I am not pushing my shoulder to hard, as it gets very annoyed if I overdo things. I am hoping my Physio appointment comes through soon.