Wonderful mooring overlooking the River Weaver

Moored near Aston Bridge, Trent & Mersey Canal

Blogger.com have decided to kick out people like me who host their blog themselves..

“FTP publishing will no longer be available after 01 May 2010
You currently have blogs that are published using FTP. You must migrate your blogs to a new custom domain URL or a blogspot URL.”

Oh no I won’t thankyou very much.  I suppose I am of the old school, I like to be in control and have my files on MY server not on Google’s.  There is no change for all of you that use blogspot, just people like me.  Google want to keep everyones files on their servers.

It would never happen, but a scenario, if someone blew Google up then everyones blog on blogspot would blow up too, never to be retrieved.. so don’t forget to backup your blog posts once in a while!

Anyway, I have taken this opportunity to move to Wordpress.  I rather like Wordpress, it is going to be much easier for me to publish blogs.  I won’t bore you with the whys.

On another note.. it’s all happening.. The lovely haloscan commenting system that I have been using for quite a number of years has been bought out by another company called Echo, I hate it!

I have designed the template now on Wordpress, I doubt you will see much difference between what you are seeing now, I decided not to go for something different, I have grown rather fond of what I have..

OK, so it will mean a change of url, bookmark, news feed etc, but it will be worth it I promise you, and I will be much happier doing my blogs.

I’ll try and change it all over this weekend, watch this space!

The two tunnels at Barnton, and oh, those mushrooms!

Anderton to Acton Bridge, Trent & Mersey Canal, 2.75 miles 0 locks

The first tunnel was easy, although the turn into it was rather tight for No Problem, it was when we entered the second of the two short tunnels around Barnton, there was another boat already in the tunnel!

A narrow width tunnel, room for only one boat to go through.. backing off there was a bit of a wind which pinned me to the bank, but there was not enough room between the tunnel entrance and a large tree/bush behind me along with an undredged edge..  It was difficult for the boat in the tunnel to emerge, but he was patient with me while I tried to move out of the way.  It is a bit of a dogleg into that one you see.. I committed myself to the tunnel in the hope that late in the day I would be the only skipper on the move!

It was very quiet around the Anderton Lift area..

This lift takes boats from the Trent & Mersey Canal to the River Weaver below, something we had done not too long ago at the end of May last year, with some fantastic pictures from our great friend Les aboard Valerie..

I bet Geoff of Seyella has a picture of the mushrooms on his blog tonight, not looked yet have been feet up all evening watching the tele,.. he took great joy in getting his camera out as I packed 4.5Kg of mushrooms into carrier bags ready to catch the bus to Tesco in Northwich.  My online grocery order the other day had been a disaster.. a bad internet connection made it difficult to shop online this time, and I wanted 10 mushrooms.. fine, except I put ‘10’ in the wrong box, and got 10 times 50gms box of mushrooms!

I thought there was rather a lot of bags as Mr Tesco passed my shopping through the window into the galley.. but I didn’t check until he had gone.. “If you can get them back to the store we will refund for you”.. phew!  If only mushroom jam tasted good I wouldn’t have worried!

Most of our day was wasted by me and a certain bus company who provide a service to and from Tesco from Anderton every couple of hours, except on the return journey they decided to cancel the bus… grrrrrrr.  Glad I had a bit of local knowledge and managed in the end to get myself back.

If I do it wrong again with Mr Tesco, I ain’t gonna tell anyone!

OK, OK the mushrooms.....

Thanks Geoff…

“They’d had a Tesco delivery at the water point, and there’s an amusing tale relating to mushrooms, but you’ll have to go to Sue’s Blog to read about it…”

Can’t keep anything quiet on the Internet!  I’ll tell you about the mushrooms later, suffice to say anyone for a year’s supply of mushroom soup!!?

Shortest cruise day ever as we try to leave Anderton!

Anderton to Anderton, Trent & Mersey Canal, 0.2 miles 0 locks!

Only two short tunnels today, and I wasn’t worried as my trip through Harcastle last month went really well, my confidence is really so much better now in the dark tubes..

It took three trains and two buses to get us back to the marina, all of them on time, so connections went smoothly.  Lucy and Meg are very streetwise and behaved impeccably throughout making it so easy for us.

Using the services that are now repaired at Anderton we took the opportunity to order Mr Tesco to come and replenish the fridge and larder before cruising off intending to do a few miles today towards Preston Brook and the Bridgewater Canal..  but …

Just as we went through the first bridge I spied Geoff and Mags mooring up Seyella on the 24 hour moorings.. “That will do for today” “OK” said Vic..

No pics in the camera yet.. well I didn’t expect such a short cruise, no doubt back aboard now after a week away there will be some tomorrow as we attempt to break free of Anderton!

A day in the life of.. and Lillie is good and bad

Moored Denmead, Hampshire

Lillie has been the focus of the day,  a very important part of daily life in this family here in the south.. she isn't here tonight.. And no, Lillie is neither a dog nor a child, Lillie is the family car that I am using! The centre of all that goes on around here.

I don't have a car living as a continuous cruiser on the boat.  Some do though like Andrew Denny who, unlike me, has to work and needs his 'Lillie', mooring Granny Buttons in one place then finding a bus or train to go back to a previous mooring to fetch his car back to the boat to be able to go to work.

I had thought that while I was away from the boat and minding the two grandchildren and two dogs for my eldest daughter Wendie while she went skiing with hubby Dan, I could do the school run, take four dogs for a walk straight down the garden, over the field and into the forest, get back, have breakfast.. update the Nene Guide, complete the move to the new server which will host this blog on Wordpress rather than Blogger (OK don't panic.. not yet!), plan the cruise to Liverpool in April and then put my feet up until the evening school run.... Wrong!

Oh, I caught them, by the way.... Wends and Dan,

On the webcam in the bar at Courchevel in France !

I had gone to the small town some 15 minutes away to drop off Kiera to the secondary school, then back to drop off Niamh (pro. Neeve) to the primary school in this village, can't do it the other way round as Kiera starts some 20 mins earlier.. home then for breakfast - not! Lillie conked out not 100 yards as I turned for home.

It was quite scary actually, the engine cut, power steering non operative, glide to a halt trying to get in the side somewhere.. I was in a 30mph limit area and behaving.. what if I was on the motorway at 70+.  I walked back home grrrrr..

Phoning the trusty family mechanic "I'll be there in 30 mins".. Wrong!.. More like 5 hours later!

Mechanic guy gave me a lift back to Lillie and she fired up... am I a dumb blonde.. what had I done to make her fail, now she wants to work! "What do you want to do? Shall I tow it back to the garage?"   I was pondering thinking of my school run.. one to pick up at 3.20 and the other at 6pm as Kiera was rehearsing for a production of Bugsy Malone.. As I pondered Lillie conked out again and wouldn't restart.. "Ah there is a problem" said the trusty mechanic.

I waved goodbye as she was towed away..

The two girls are tucked up in bed tonight.. we got them home in various ways.. I have planned tomorrow with buses and shanks pony for the school runs, I'll only rely on me not Lillie.. not heard anything from her, but at least she didn't stop in the middle of nowhere this morning so I am grateful for that..

I expect that I have made some of you readers smile at some stage reading this.. for sure 'tis different from me, but that's life, or just a day of it!.. Hey, I am smiling too you know!

The school run is hectic, but I did it!

South of England, not onboard No Problem at the moment

It was a bit hectic this morning on the school run. It’s OK for all those Mums who have been doing it all year, they know exactly where to park and drop off, and there is me trying to dodge cars and people with a couple of kids in the back saying “There grandma, stop there!”

Yeah fine, but I only got in this car this morning, and hey these cars have all mod cons which need to be remembered.. drop the clutch to turn it on, and it isn't even a key as I used to know, just a piece of plastic which you push in to the ignition, nothing to turn!

Oh and the handbrake, that is also push button.. “Put your foot on the brake and press the button”.. Oh what! But then I did all that, and even then looked around between the seats for the handbrake lever!

I'm down south at the moment looking after granddaughters Kiera and Niamh,  Mum and Dad have gone skiing AGAIN..

Mind you last night Wends felt so guilty about leaving the little ones it took a lot of effort on my part to persuade her to pack.  They deserve some time away, they work like trojans and look after their family leaving me unworried and proud..

I have to get the lunch boxes correct in the morning, I was going to do them tonight, but it will be better fresh..

A bit of a different blog for you to read, I suppose this is part of my life,  and not a mention of a narrowboat... well almost not!

You know who your friends are at Middlewich...

Middlewich to Billinge Green Flash, 4 miles 1 lock

We waited all morning for Geoff and Mags with Seyella who were moored some way behind us.. well there was a wide lock ahead, the two boats would have fitted in side by side.  Then by went a BW working boat, and not long after Seyella.. I quickly pulled the pins to follow Geoff down to the locks, but……. “We’re going down with the working boat!”… “Oh what!! We been waiting all morning for you!”.. Shaking my fist in the air, I bantered such words as “bugg*r off then”,”we know who are friends are!”.. and here is the proof.. the pair of them in the lock..

Sheesh!

But before that, we said our fond farewells to our travelling companions of the last three weeks or so…

Chas and Ann, and little Molly aboard Moore2Life.  We often travel together first meeting in ice, would you believe, at Banbury in 2003…  It is noted in Chas’ book which he has published online here..

“Got to know Vic & Sue on No Problem. Sue had gone off and found an Internet Cafe and set up a quiz about the Canal on her web site. Turned out that she knows a lot about the network and has designed her own web site for her business. Sue encouraged me get on the net. ‘Car Phone Warehouse’ provided the phone and lead and after a considerable learning curve and by the end of the week we were on line.”

Gosh that seems so long ago now!

Oh and Andrew Denny’s observations when we met a couple of weeks ago….

No Problem and Moore 2 Life are a cute pair; although unrelated they seem to travel as a caravan (in the traditional sense, of a group of people journeying together), and often even share dinners - especially Sunday roasts - together.  

I never thought of it as travelling as a ‘caravan’ perhaps we should be selling pegs and bits of heather or something, but it is nice sometimes to have company during the winter months when the evenings draw in so early.

We caught up with Geoff and Mags at one of the flashes or wide waters which are in evidence along this part of the canal.. due to subsidence of the banks the water has flowed into the fields making huge lakes..

Its was awful, the sun was shining on the windows… I would HAVE to do them today.  But not before a peace offering of Mags’ fabulous home made ginger cake and the usual cuppa aboard Seyella… Ah, that made up for before.. all forgiven now..

Where there's a will, and it would have paid not to have been so lazy at Middlewich

Elworth to Middlewich, Trent & Mersey Canal, 5 miles 8 locks

Oh dear, I really didn’t want to. Any other time I wouldn’t have done it, but I had to do it!

The wind was howling and the ice on the canal looked uninviting, but we need to get to Anderton by Thursday for a rendezvous.. Back and forth to free us from the ice and we were off.  Once on the move my mood changed somewhat, it is always OK once on the move it’s just the thought of it, leaving that cosy saloon after a hearty breakfast can be hard sometimes..

Eight locks to do today, and if any of them were like the last 16 of this flight then it was going to be another tough day.. and they were!

But a little respite was waiting at Rumps Lock in the shape of Geoff from Seyella who arrived on foot just before us, opened the gate and taking the windlass out of my hand as he saw me struggling to raise the paddles.. great stuff.. All that was needed for me to do was to crack a paddle (lift a paddle slightly) to refill the lock for Moore2Life who was following behind.

I nipped into the handy Chandlers beside Kings Lock in Middlewich for a length of rope.. I snapped one the other day.. my fault, I wrapped it round a bollard and I think NP was going just too fast and it just snapped.. it was quite old and maybe I asked too much of it, anyway Vic has spiced the new one tonight ready for use tomorrow. 

I made the effort to get out Alex’s ratchet windlass not long after… oh why had I been so lazy and not dug deep before.. easy peasy on this one that I couldn’t even turn with an ordinary windlass.  It works the same as the ratchet in the toolbox and fits into the end of the winder on the lock mechanism.  This makes it so easy to get the paddles up!  I would seriously consider getting one if you have problems.. especially with ‘Heartbreak Hill’!

If you leave your email address in a comment, I will pass Alex’s phone number to you to obtain one.  For sure this is not going to the bottom of the box again!

Mooring in Middlewich by early afternoon we ventured across town to Seyella which was moored on the Wardle Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal some three or four bridges up from the canal junction, it was shorter by a good quarter mile that way instead of back along the towpath to the junction and walking up..

Scrummy choccy cakes and tea were on offer, it was great to see them both today.  We will be moving with them towards Anderton for a couple of days, Meg and Lucy are going to enjoy the company of their Meg too..

PS Sorry Andrew for calling you Andy… oops hope writing that again didn’t make you itch too much..

It ended up a bit of a rush in the ice to Wheelock

Hassall Green to Elworth, Trent & Mersey Canal, 2.25 miles 8 locks

It was suppose to be a slow start this morning until I found out that the Post Office at Wheelock was only open in the mornings until one o’clock… there were a lot of locks between us and them!

Leaving in a hurry at 10.15, if all went well we should be there in time, just 10 lock miles, but a lot of ice to have to shift to make the lock gates open so cold had it been last night!  Gosh those locks were heavy, well the paddle gear was, I was almost into the ‘big box’ to retrieve Alex’s ratchet windlass.. but I was on a roll, going ahead to set the next lock ready while the previous one emptied.. some were quite close together you see.

Easy…… just two hours and we were within 5 minutes of the Post Office to collect a parcel that I had arranged to be sent there.  There are plenty of pubs around here, one called the Cheshire Cheese.. I have always wondered why they call pubs ‘something’ Cheese.  From my childhood I remembered going to the New Forest on most weekends passing the Angry Cheese and the Happy Cheese on opposite sides of the road at Ashurst close to Lyndhurst.. Unfortunately The Angry Cheese burnt down in 1989…. makes you wonder why doesn’t it?

The wind was so cold in the early afternoon we decided to stop for a late lunch close to the very small Paddy’s Wood and put the pins in for the night.. Mmmm it’s nice and cosy inside No Problem..

White.....................................AGAIN!!

Moored Hassall Green, Trent & Mersey Canal

It is becoming very difficult this year to take any pictures that don’t include white!  Wanna nuther one?!

A huge dump in around 5am this morning.. Being a continuous cruiser is becoming difficult to actually do.. the winter stoppages for maintenance stop us from passing easily along the canal, and what with ice and snow, making any plans this winter has been near impossible.

I’m not frustrated really, although it sounds like it, just seems we make our mind up to do something and then within one day that goes out the window.

The winter stoppage program was started very late this year due to the January freeze, so these canals are not going to be fully open on time again at the back end of March when they should be… It is effected everyone who continuously cruises.  Poor Geoff with NB Seyella has planned his post Christmas route carefully as he enjoys his 10K city runs, the next of which is in Liverpool.. but he can’t get there by boat for the start.. linky..