What a way to spend a day.

Today is my 60th birthday! How did I get to be that old? I don't FEEL 60! Well,ok, when my knees are giving me jip, I suppose there were times when I feel older...but  I'm not ready for old fogeydom yet. I can remember when being 30 sounded positively ancient...as Sandy Denny asked "Who knows where the time goes?"  But what better way to spend the day than on our boat, on the canal. It's been very windy but at least it stayed dry. We certainly met lots of boats along the way. Hire boats,just setting off on their canal break,  day boats full of enthusiastic people who forgot to tie them up, and didn't notice they were half way across the cut! Plus there were plenty of people taking their boats out for the first time this season. So the canal not as quiet as we've been used to of late, but it makes it interesting. And now my other half is cooking me a nice dinner and opening a bottle of wine. No better way to spend the day. Apologies to friends and family who can't be with us. We'll celebrate later in the week.

are we having fun yet?

Didn't it rain?!

So after a day in the marina, me and my gammy leg finally set sail this morning with Mike doing all the running around (no change there, I hear him mutter!). Of course, as soon as the bow of the boat exited the marina , the rain began. Not just little spit spotty friendly rain, oh no ! Big, fat,soak you to the skin in two minutes rain! But hey, we're out on the boat and heading off towards Stone after a six week enforced no boating hiatus, so who cares? And it didn't stop there. We passed through bands of rain and brief spells of sunshine when we steamed gently. So May is the new April, I have a new knee and we're back in business. Moored up for the night beyond Sandon lock and at the centre of a typhoon. Ok, slight exaggeration, but very windy. Woodburner alight, wine opened and stirfry on the horizon. Woohoo!

What a week

What a week to be in hospital having a knee replacement when we could have been out on the boat! But the deed is done and all appears to have gone well. Home within 6 days and all going well..so hopefully not too long before we can get back to the boat, even if it's only in a sitting around capacity!

More of the same...it can't last..

Woke up to  mist on the water at 7.20 a.m. As the sun began to burn it off, the first boats of the day went past, more boats than we have seen in the last three days put together. It was noticeable that several of them made no change of engine noise and NO they were not hire boats! It seems that some private owners do not know that they are supposed to slow down near moored boats, even if they might assume the owners are still asleep. Later when we were underway, I noticed on several occasions that oncoming boats made no course corrections as thy headed towards us, but came full tilt down the middle of the canal. I often tell non boating friends that ,on the cut, the age of chivalry is not dead. After today's experiences I'm beginning to think it's not very well!

Oh what a beautiful morning....

Had a brilliant couple of days up the Coventry canal and along the Birmingham and Fazeley. Haven't had a chance to do much blogging as my dongle, though dangling cannot seem to keep me in connection with the airwaves. Keep getting half way through typing only to be disconnected and lose it all. Ditto! ditto! which is frustrating,,,wonder if o2 was not such a good choice? Maybe I should try another provider.

Making the most of it!

I'm going into The Royal London hospital in Whitechapel on April 18th for a TKR or total knee replacement and  so spending the last two weeks of my "freedom" on The Great Escape seemed like a spiffing idea. So here we are back at Great Haywood aboard our home from home and very nice it is too.  Had a very filling meal at The Clifford Arms: their signature dish of local ham , egg and chips. Ham slices thick enough to sole your shoes with,  runny yolked egg and crispy, hot chips accompanied by lovely slices of proper crusty bread and butter...oh and a very acceptable glass of red wine. Mike's got the woodburner going and we are seeing how long we can stay awake! We've made it past 9.30 p.m. which is a result. It seems as though our bio rhythms re-tune as soon as we come aboard and we need to sleep when it's dark, and get up....well, whenever we feel like it! Some bits and pieces to sort out tomorrow and then we will be off. I'm already trying to work out how I can get up and down the steps with a gammy leg. The thought of missing so much of the spring and early summer cruising time almost put me off having the op but I suppose common sense will have to prevail.