Friends on board and a Royal Wedding

Terry & Myra came up to Crick to see how their boat Plaidy was progressing. "Maybe next week now". They were told. We are waiting for the launch so our friends stayed on board for a few days. We have been up the Leicester section of the Grand Union before but had forgotten how pretty it is between Crick and Welford.

The trees are getting greener and the sun shines through reflecting back off the water as we move along.

It was a treat to let our friends do the driving as we admired the view while sitting at the quiet end. A few boats on the move but nothing like as many during the Easter week.
Next day we all watched the Royal Wedding in the morning. What a wonderful happy event it was for the Royal family and the nation. William and Kate being transformed to be the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge no less.

Painting a roof

The rubbish was cleared from the top of Crack’s Hill sometime that afternoon. Later in the week Ann returned to me after her week away in Devon.
Painting a narrowboat’s roof is not a simple matter of just applying paint. Preparation takes longer as any good painter knows. The roof becomes a storage area for all manner of things. TV aerials or satellite dishes, centre ropes, gang planks, and boat poles to name but a few.
We also needed guaranteed dry weather for a few days and some drive to get going. When all the equipment had been removed from the roof it became vast and intimidating. On close inspection every blemish is spotted, scraped, rubbed down and primed. Not with the usual ‘red lead’ but with ‘zinc phosphate’!

The day was just too hot when it came for the top coat so we waited till mid afternoon before opening the tin. “Oh that’s a bit bright” Ann said. “I wanted grey, not white.” International ‘Seattle Grey 251’ it said on the tin. There was nothing for it but to continue our task which took all afternoon and evening.
Boaters are going by almost every 5 minutes this Easter weekend and some have tried to send comments or emails without success. I am sorry but I have to approve them these days because some are just ‘unreadable’ or 'unprintable'.
Ann went walkabout with Molly and saw Tony and Judy on Jubilee two bridges away.

Out for a walk

Another early walk round Crick Millenium Wood with Molly.
I sat a while just listening to the birds with their chirpy cheep cheep, magic.

A bunch of dots

All together now..............Ahhh !

Up Crack’s Hill, again!

Molly insisted on taking me out again in the morning! “Yes, tis true. Not the first time up that hill this week!” As we approached the walk bridge I saw that a sheep was trying to get across with her lambs.

I managed to get them off and back in the field and shut the gates which were all open.

When I got to the top of the hill this is what I found.
Some ‘people’ have had a party and left the evidence behind. I have reported the situation to Crick Parish Council. It is so sad that our countryside is treated this way showing such lack of respect by some.

Sunshine and showers!

I got around to it, all syked up and got the paint pot and brushes out. Rubbed it all down in the morning, applied undercoat, had lunch and took Molly out for a walk in the sunshine.

We went up to the Crick Millennium Wood which was almost as high as Crack’s Hill.
Back on the boat I opened the tin of shiny blue. It was a bit windy and I hoped that the trees and bushes did not drop bits on the wet paint. There was a certain coolness in the air when I had just finished. And then it rained! Not much but enough to spoil the finish. Oh well it’ll be harder to get syked up tomorrow in order to rub down for a second coat!

Waiting for an event

We had gone through Braunston tunnel with Rock n Roll. Then we spent a couple of days placing orders with Tesco and waiting for the delivery. All too soon we parted company.

Sue n Vic had already gone south on the GU and George n Carol left to follow. We headed north up the locks near the Watford Gap Services on the M1. The motorway actually crosses the canal near the top lock. We stopped just short of Crick tunnel for the weekend.

Del and Al happened to stop and came on board for a cup of tea and chat before continuing their journey south.
Our journey through Crick tunnel was uneventful and we called into the marina for diesel and gas. When I went to pay I was told they would not accept my initial declaration of 10% ! “It is known that boats are moving now and you don’t have a mooring here, please declare 60%.” I told the man that I have to sign the declaration so I settled for 20% which in fact turned out to be near the mark. The diesel worked out at 99p a litre and the gas cost just over £25.


We continued to Crack’s Hill just by bridge 14 and have been watching the sheep, lambs, birds and making ginger cake.

Margaret on Seyella had given us the recipe and very nice it was too.
Our friends Terry and Myra are having a boat built at Crick and it is soon to be launched. We had hoped to both see the launch but it is delayed and Ann had already planned to go for a caravan holiday in Devon with the grandchildren. I will be occupied enjoying the sunny days painting bits of boat.

View from Crack's Hill.