No pain, no gain

Hi There

You may remember from my last blog post that I was about to be sent outside with some polish and some rags! When Nicky thrust them at me, I said no that’s a red bottle, that’s not the polish!! I know she said, you’ve got to T-cut the boat first!!!

So after T-cutting the boat I had the next exciting instalment of boat care in the shape of polishing it as well. It took me seven hours to T-cut and a further two hours to polish just one side of the boat. (That's the 'pain' of the post title) I did the first side over two days and I can’t remember my arms ever hurting so much, so I did the other side over four days and they came through relatively intact.

 

So here’s a picture of The Boys being dried off after getting caught in a downpour on one of their walks, although the main reason of the photo is of course to show off our nice shiny Badger Sett. I wouldn’t admit it to Nicky, but it does look much better (and that's the 'gain' of the post title) and as she likes to remind me, I’ve only got the front and the back to do now that I know I need to get around to.

We’d been doodling along the final stretch of the Trent and Mersey to where we were meeting our youngest son and girlfriend at Snarestone and just walked the final couple of miles to the junction with the River Trent, River Soar and Erewash Canal on what was probably one of the warmest day’s we’ve had yet.  

 

 

We have been along this stretch before on holiday when we did the Leicestershire Ring about ten years ago and it’s surprising how little we actually remember of it.

Once we’d met up with Dec’s and Stevie at Snarestone we started making our way back to Burton upon Trent where I was hiring a car to collect our other son and his girlfriend from Gatwick airport as they were stopping with us for a few days after their holiday in Turkey.

 

 

Here’s Nicky with Dec

 

 

and then Dec’s with Stevie and finally

 

 

Stevie going solo.

We’re now fully crewed having picked up Aza (Aaron) and Emma the day before so 

 

 

Dec and Stevie are on lock operations,

 

 

Aza bringing the boat into the lock and Emma! Hang on, what role was allocated to Emma, oh yes I remember now,

 

 

she was in charge of the iPad!

Oops, almost forgot one other crew member,

Benji, who was working just as hard on lock operations and here he is just checking the water level in the lock.

We brought ourselves a Scrabble game a few months ago and usually do a game or two in the evenings. Now I don’t like to lose at games and as my version of the saying goes ‘it’s not the taking part that counts, it’s the winning’. Nicky on the other hand is fine (normally), but I’ve certainly seen another side to her when she plays Scrabble and it isn’t nice to see. She probably F’s more in one game of Scrabble then she does in a whole month and continually refers to herself as being a silly woman (so she must listen to what I say sometimes I suppose) and much worse. We’ve even had to start using a timer because she takes so long and yes, it’s my fault if she runs out of time and it gets even worse for me if I’ve not kept a running commentary of the time she’s got remaining. Dec’s even went out and brought us an official Scrabble words book as he saw for himself how ‘excitable’ his mum was getting if anyone used words she didn’t like that could be for a whole host of reasons.

 

Here are the kids having a game whilst they were over with us although none of them were brave enough to let mum have a game with them, no, that all seems to me my pleasure to bear alone L

I said to Nicky about a month ago, ‘what about going vegetarian for a month’ to which she immediately replied ‘yes’. I then said ‘what about going alcohol free for a month as well’ to which a deathly silence fell upon us. Now don’t worry, the meat industry isn’t going to suffer whilst we’re off meat as it won’t be a permanent thing and nor does it seem will the alcohol trade as Nicky is still fully in support of them. The simple reason for going veggie for a month was to force us to think about trying different things and on the whole we’ve done pretty well with what we’ve had so far.

So in our first few weeks we’ve had:

 

Tarte Provencale

Spinach and Ricotta Terrine

 

Carrot and Cumin soup

with of course home made bread French bread.

 

Filo pastry parcels (the home made filo pastry wasn’t a success so we’ll probably buy it from the shop next time) filled with stir fried vegetables.

 

Hot spiced chick pea salad that we did with jacket potatoes

 

Warm winter vegetable salad (not nice and won’t bother with it again)

Peasant salad, the photo of which didn't come out, but it was really nice

 

Catalan pie

Vegetable curry

 

Muttar Paneer (with home made Paneer cheese) and and Dry Moong Dal

 

And last, but not least, a full English breakfast with homemade Cheese and Leek sausages and hash browns.

So we’re two weeks down and two weeks to go and although I’ve not really missed having meat dishes as we’ve hit on some really nice ones in the above list, I am subconsciously planning my ‘meat’ menu with at the very top of the list a bacon in a French baguette for our first breakfast. Followed by Nicky’s steak and ale pie, my Chicken Tikka Masala and probably a roast beef and Yorkshire puddings although not all on the same day. . . .

We splashed out and brought ourselves a new toy the other day,

 

that fits perfectly under the back boards on our cruiser stern when not in use, but when in use it becomes,

 

a bicycle and here being modelled by Nicky and me (I’m in the bottom photo J)

We went into Polesworth the other day and much to my distress Nicky decided that she had to pee, not that that in itself is distressing to me, but the 10p I had to splash out (pun intended) on the public loo was. Now it was one of those Star Trek swish type doors and I told her to make sure that she didn’t it caught inside after the deed was done as it might be one of those automatic self cleaning ones and that she wouldn’t want to be caught inside or she’d end up getting a wash and blow dry as well.

You can see by the look of relief (okay, pun intended again) that she was happy to get out safely.

Nicky’s been having a bit more success keeping plants and herbs alive lately, so our ‘allotment’ is coming together now with Marjoram, Thyme, Mint, Bay Leaf, Rosemary, Chives, Parsley, Tomotoes, peppers (normal and chilli) lettuce, courgette and strawberrys. No doubt there’ll be some pictures of our various crops in the coming months, assuming of course that we manage look after them right, but here they are for now.

 

 

And finally for this post, making the best the good weather and having some nice walks with The Boys in the evenings, this one being on the Coventry Canal between Polesworth and Atherstone.

 

And so in signing off,

Day 535 in the Badger Sett Narrowboat - 1075 miles and 470 locks further on from when we started.

 

10,000th Blog Viewer

Hi There

Well we've just clocked up the 10,000th view of our blog.

It might have taken two years from our first post back on 14th April 2012 when becoming 'Liveaboards' or more correctly named for us I think 'Continious Cruisers' had not even been considered. All that changed though and just six months after that first post that was exactly what we were and are today.

We don't know how many regular viewers we've got, or whether a large majority find us by mistake, but on hindsight a blog with 'boys on tour' in it might cause it to crop up in searches for boy bands! For our 'regulars' though, thank you for taking the time to follow us on our travels and although our blogs may not be as regular as some, we hope that we provide some intermittent interest in between the others you may follow.

The top three places that our blog has been viewed from is the UK (5,447) United States (1,676) and in third place good old Jersey (444).

After about twenty photo's this was the closest we got to getting a good picture. Not the easiest thing to do with two dogs who get excited when you start running towards them, the camera beeping away on timer behind you, to settle down, try to get them to face forward again when all the action is now behind them and not get caught trying to tell them there's something far more interesting in front of them! But I suppose the end result wasn't too bad.

We stopped for a couple of days at Penkridge on the Staff and Worcester Canal for what turned out to be a nice spell of good weather. When we brought our boat we'd chosen to go for a cruiser stern for two reasons. Firstly so there was enough room at the back for the four of us when we are travelling and secondly so we've got somewhere to sit outside when it's nice that's off the towpath. Sometimes you do get quite a wide tow path where you can sit comfortably without getting in anybody else's way, but even then it doesn't seem as private. So this was the first time this year we'd used the stern for it's second use and there's been a few more since then as well.

We knew the top half of the Shroppie quite well and have found the lower part of it and the Staff and Worcester Canal to be mostly a nice rural canal with plenty of nice places to stop along the way. I think the Middlewich Branch, Shroppie and the Staff and Worcester canals make three quarters of the Four Counties Ring with the final part of it being up the Trent and Mersey and is a choice for some holidays. We're lucky to be in our situation though as we took about six weeks to do just these bits where the holiday norm is for about two weeks for the whole ring.

So after leaving our last mooring spot on the Staff and Worcester Canal at Tixall Wide

we took a right turn at the Great Haywood junction and headed down the Trent and Mersey. Didn't get far though, moored just opposite Shugborough Hall that was about a mile from Tixall Wide

where we started, but it seemed like a good time to stop :-) for a cuppa. Ended up there for a few days and is where the self portrait photo above was taken on one of the walks around there.

We also stopped at Rugeley for a few days

and were in supermarket heaven with a Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi all within about a five to ten minute walk of the canal. Given the choice we tend to go for Aldi if there's one close by and find the meat in particular to usually have very good dates and always of a very good quality. They do a 1.3kg joint of gamon for less than a fiver and with about a three week date so we usually pick one of those up and it can sit in the fridge until we run out of fresh meat with no reasonably priced shops about.

After that it was a few night stop at the top lock at Fradley Junction and took the opportunity of taking a walk down the Coventry Canal where we'll be heading down after our sons have been over on holiday. Getting to the time of year now where the swans have made their nests and dad's on patrol.

Pictured here is mummy swan on the nest in the left of the picture with daddy swan near the bank a bit further up the canal and gives The Boys a good old hiss as they pass by.

We set off from our mooring at the top lock with the plan being to get water two locks down, but as there was a queue for the water point we just decided to moor up for the night and walk The Boys instead of just hovering for water. When we filled up with water later that day it was no wonder that there had been a queue as our water pump on the boat has probably got more pressure than the waterpoint. Didn't help that it had been nearly a week since we last topped up as we needed a good fill aswell. After that, a stop at Alrewas and just above Branston Water Park

continued our journey towards East Midlands Airport to collect our sons and their other halves who are due over.

Currently moored just west of Swarkestone Locks on the Trent and Mersey Canal and with some time to spare now, I think I'm about to be sent outside with a bottle of polish and some rags :-(

And so in signing off,

Day 503 in the Badger Sett Narrowboat - 1018 miles and 438 locks further on from when we started.

Down the Shroppie and onto the Staff and Worster Canal

Hi There

Well about that time to put pen to paper or more like finger to keyboard I suppose and put another post together.

Before I get onto the travel bits I've got to mention our 'some friends' that I mentioned in my last post who we are meeting up for a boating holiday with in July. Seem to have upset 'some friends' by calling them 'some friends' so to clarify 'some friends' are actually Steve and Angela.

Now Steve is my second best mate as I upset him many years back by not asking him to be my best man at my wedding. But what goes around comes around, so when he got married he made a point of not asking his best mate (me) to be his best man to get me back, but soon came running back when 'The Chosen One' (bit of a Man Utd comparability here, but I won't dwell on it other than to explain that we're just in a period of transition) said he didn't want to be his best man so I got the job in the end anyway. So here's a photo of Steve and Ang with no doubt more to follow from our holiday with them in July/August.

Anyway, back onto life afloat.

The weather has been pretty good the last few weeks and I've always got Nicky to rely on for sunset photos.

We haven't really bothered much about markets for our shopping, but the few times we have gone to one our money does seem to go a long way for what you get. You also get the odd very good bargain as well and at Market Drayton it came in the shape of a box of mushrooms. You'll see by the picture, with a mug to put the box into some sort of size context, that it was a sizable beast. Oh and the box only cost £2 :-)

Needless to say that our menu was a bit mushroom based for the next ten days with the first being garlic mushrooms, Nicky found an excellent recipe for mushroom soup that we ended up doing twice and one we'd certainly recommend http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-mushroom-soup/  a mushroom risotto as well as being a part of a few cooked breakfasts and added to in other recipes.

Came across this little chap in the cut south of Market Drayton. For non boaties a cut is simply where the canal has been cut into the landscape where I assume it was the easier option than around, through as in tunnel or locks to raise the canal up and over the obstacle in question. The following pictures show the cut better where you can see the height of the land on either side.

Locks usually have overflows from the pound above that enter the canal or next pound below, some of which are pretty strong that you can see by the above photo.

So from being nicely lined up for a lock,

It all goes horribly wrong,

And adjustments need to be made to rectify. For a change on this one I didn't actually do an imitation of a bowling ball with the side rails up, but managed to get it perfect for once. Have to be honest though and point out that whilst it was a single lock, if wasn't as tight a fit as some so had a few more inches to play with. (no dirty thoughts please)

A few more pictures to

show a bit more of the cut.

Even managed to pick up a few hitch hikers on the way that'll pay their way in the shape of fire wood next winter, although . . . . . .

Binks wants another one on the fire now. Note the Ecofan merrily doing its stuff and the never far from boiling kettle of water.

Travelling through Gnosall

and coming up to Cowley Tunnel that was originally intended to be 690 yards long, but only ended up being 81 yards as they came across faults in the rock and ended up . . .

opening it up into a cut instead.

We saw this road shown in our Nicholsons guide as being a 'Roman Road' so thought great, that'll be a good walk for The Boys, but someone before us obviously had others thoughts about what it could be used for! Actually, talking about a walk for the Boys, there is a disused railway that you can get onto from bridge 36 just north of Gnosall. Walked through the countryside for about four or five miles west and it didn't seem anywhere near coming to an end, but having in the back of the mind that what we walk west will have to be repeated east, we gave up and doubled back.

So that's just about us for now. Currently moored a few miles south of Penkridge where there is a market day on a Wednesday so we'll be there hunting out the bargains, although I hope they don't come in the shape of mushrooms again as I could do with a week without.

Oh, and remember the hitch hikers, well here they are now.

Although some of this that's coming up to having been seasoned for about eighteen months now will need to go into the cratch for burning to make some room.

And so in signing off,
 
Day 478 in the Badger Sett Narrowboat - 971 miles and 410 locks further on from when we started.