30th August
Loaded all our stuff back on to the boat yesterday to start our journey down to Oxford and the Thames. It's a joy to be able to throw open all the doors and windows after our last trip in miserable weather, evidence of which is still around: hats, scarves and gloves lying where we left them.
This time we hope we won't have the poor old squirrel stove roaring quite so much - it's on it's last legs anyway after 13 years good service, the top looking even more out of line than when we left. Another bunging of holes and gaps with fire cement to help it limp on through one more winter then we will have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. It's a shame we can't just slowly replace the seperate bits that are no longer functioning (like Trigger's broom in 'Only Fools and Horses' ) as not all of it is 'broken' - we could then say we've had this log burner for 14years, it's just got 4 new sides, a new base and a new top!
First couple of days is always spent cleaning and shooing out the spiders and earwigs (its also daddy long legs season) but the boat stays so remarkably homely we soon settle in. Back to the slow pace of narrowboating. All good as my sis would say.
Loaded all our stuff back on to the boat yesterday to start our journey down to Oxford and the Thames. It's a joy to be able to throw open all the doors and windows after our last trip in miserable weather, evidence of which is still around: hats, scarves and gloves lying where we left them.
This time we hope we won't have the poor old squirrel stove roaring quite so much - it's on it's last legs anyway after 13 years good service, the top looking even more out of line than when we left. Another bunging of holes and gaps with fire cement to help it limp on through one more winter then we will have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. It's a shame we can't just slowly replace the seperate bits that are no longer functioning (like Trigger's broom in 'Only Fools and Horses' ) as not all of it is 'broken' - we could then say we've had this log burner for 14years, it's just got 4 new sides, a new base and a new top!
First couple of days is always spent cleaning and shooing out the spiders and earwigs (its also daddy long legs season) but the boat stays so remarkably homely we soon settle in. Back to the slow pace of narrowboating. All good as my sis would say.
