From hero to zeros

A day of highs and lows if ever there was one. Today we have driven to Market Harborough, one of our favourite towns on the canal system. The purpose of our visit was to watch our youngest son Luke play rugby. We set off in plenty of time so that he could get some driving practice on the way, which meant a lengthy but scenic route from Derby as we couldn't use the motorway with him being a learner, but we eventually arrived unscathed. 

We had some time on our hands before kick off, so Louise and I took the short trip to Foxton Locks with Jasper and had a pleasant walk and dodged the showers. We really enjoy the location when we are cruising, but have never really taken the opportunity to have a good look around and it was nice to be able to do so today. There were a few boats moving and we couldn't resist the temptation to open and close some lock gates to help others through the locks. A coffee and a sausage bap were welcome refreshment at the cafe at the top of the flight before we headed back to the rugby club.

View from the top of Foxton Inclined Plane

Even a bit of blue sky making an appearance

What a treat we had in store. Playing on the adjacent pitch to Luke were Market Harborough Vets against Olney Vets. Not the vets that fix your dog or cat, but rugby 'vetrans' for which you must be above the age of 35 to qualify. On any other day not a fixture which would normally catch your eye....just a bunch of ageing blokes rolling around in the mud you might think. But today the pitch was graced by none other than our 2003 Rugby World Cup winning captain, Martin Johnson. He had turned out for Market Harborough and although not as quick as he used to be, it was fantastic to watch him involved in a game at grass roots level. Oh how we could have done with him in his prime today in Cardiff !! Ten years is obviously a long time in sport as today his side lost 10-0.

The great man himself

Lukes team faired much better with a decent victory by 21-13 before we retired to the clubhouse in expectation of a Grand Slam performance by England. Jonno left half an hour before kick off - maybe he feared the worst was about to happen, but not even he could have predicted the outcome as England were comprehensively taught a lesson by the Welsh. Our eldest son Liam was actually at the game in Cardiff where he is at university. At 5pm, when the game kicked off I was very envious, but in light of the result I'm now very pleased I only had to suffer it on the TV. What a deflating end to what was otherwise a lovely day.

Not quite the weekend we planned

With a forecast of blue skies and even some sunshine over the weekend, we decided to head of down to Kings Bromley this weekend and bring Blue Moon out of hibernation. We arrived early on Saturday afternoon with the intention of heading out of the marina and enjoying a meal at The Old Peculiar at Handsacre. First, we had to at least partly fill the water tank and refit the water pump which I had removed over winter. Unfortunately, having connected the pump and turning it on, it just kept running and running.......problem !!

Water was running from the taps after clearing the air in the system, but after a while, the pressure relief valve on the calorifier was kicking in and water was flowing nicely out of the side of the boat....well at least it wasn't flowing inside I suppose. No signs of any leaks around the calorifier, but to get to the valve and check it means dismantling the bed. Our trip to Handsacre was now abandoned.

We have wonderful neighbours at the marina and we all muck in to help each other. The conclusion after much head scratching was either a faulty valve on the calorifier or a problem with the pump which was just a year old. We eventually settled on the pump and the pressure switch within as we had unusually high pressure on the taps. So the pump was disconnected and then we all decided to head for The Swan at Fradley for a lovely evening meal and a few beers......result.

As we didn't have use of the water system, we decided to return home for the night and were through the door of Midland Chandlers at Willington at 10am this morning, leaving shortly afterwards with a replacement pump under warranty. The replacement pump connected, we switched on and hoped our collective diagnosis was correct. What a relief when the pump switched off - problem solved.

We spent the rest of the day doing some spring cleaning and I changed the fuel filters. Very happy to see no trace of the dreaded diesel bug after winter. Everything seems ready to go, just a shame we couldn't manage it this weekend. At least next weekend the stoppages at Woodend Lock and Haywood Lock are scheduled to have finished, so let's hope for more good spring weather and no more technical gremlins.

Good service fails to deliver

With seven weeks to go before we set off on our first proper trip of the year, we thought we ought to complete the tasks we set ourselves at the end of last season and do something about replacing our mattress. So this afternoon we headed off to Mexborough to The Edwardian Bedding Company to see if they could meet our requirements. Very helpful and knowledgeable in the store and we left having ordered a made to measure split mattress. If you are looking for a mattress for a boat or similar, they are certainly worth a visit.

Unfortunately, on the other hand, delivery proved to be a bit of a nightmare. We wanted the new mattress to be delivered directly to the marina on a Saturday, as we are both working in the week. Not a problem we are told, but the price...........£85!!!! Had we wanted a midweek delivery it would have been £60, which is still steep enough. I will add that is set by the courier and has nothing to do with the shop itself. Needless to say, we passed on the offer and will make the one hour drive back to Mexborough to collect it ourselves.

A little piece of history.

Many years ago I used to play on the site of the disused Derby Canal which now forms part of the A52 between Derby and Nottingham, known locally as Brian Clough Way. I don't go back far enough to recall boat traffic on the canal, but I do have an interest in the history and the route and, along with many others, hope that one day it can be restored in some way shape or form.

Sorting through items at my Mums the other day I came across some old school books she had put away for safe keeping in an old chest. She kept absolutely everything, but on looking through some of the books, I came across this entry which I wrote aged 9. I've never been any good at artistic things, but I am quite proud of the picture of the 'Chaddesden Queen'.

A bit of a history lesson !!

A sad start to 2013.

We spent the New Year with friends, but in the back of our minds we knew that Johns Mum was very poorly and so our celebrations were somewhat subdued.

Sadly, on Saturday afternoon, she passed away with us both at her side. She has battled her illness bravely and with dignity for some considerable time and despite knowing that the inevitable is going to happen, it is never easy when the time comes.

Over the last few years she has found so much happiness on the waterways when out with us and only wishes that she had found the pleasure it brought her a few years earlier. She took great interest in our travels and comfort in the fact that we gained so much enjoyment from it. 

Needless to say, she will be greatly missed.

'Mum'
16.5.1924 - 5.1.2013

A Quiet Christmas

Blogging has taken a bit of a 'backseat' over the last few weeks, partly due to the lack of boating  activity, the build up to the festive period and the regular trips to hospital to visit John's Mum. As a result, our Christmas has been a quiet and reflective one for the most part, although over indulgence on Christmas Day feels like it has taken its toll.

Following on from my last post a fortnight ago, Santa did bring me a new bike so that I can get into training for the charity bike ride in May and I've bought a 'turbo trainer' so that I can do some of the training at home - it enables you to 'ride' the bike and go nowhere !!

Much of our time has been spent at the hospital lately, and Christmas Day was no different. John's Mum had surgery two weeks ago to relieve some symptoms and is now back in the Nightingale Macmillan Unit. 

Mum enjoying some homemade trifle.

Although she is still very weak, she managed to enjoy Christmas (despite having to have a blood transfusion) and the staff in the unit are just the best. We had carol singers on Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner and crackers and the atmosphere has been tremendous thanks to the hard working and caring staff, together with volunteers. It makes you realise that there are still an awful lot of good people out there and me even more determined to do this ride.

This will probably be our last post for 2012. Blogging was new to us this year and it has been an enjoyable experience and enabled us to meet folks that we never would have met and hopefully many more that we are still to meet - maybe out on the cut in 2013.

Too good a chance to miss

Last Sunday was beautiful and the lure of the boat certainly won the day. The lack of boating activity is taking its toll, and so we decided to head down to Kings Bromley for a little 'therapy'. By the time we arrived about 9.30am, the heavy frost had almost disappeared and beautiful blue skies were overhead.

We did a bit of pottering about and chatted with our neighbours for a while before we decided to head off to the pub for a 'liquid lunch'. The short trip up to Handsacre and 'The Old Peculiar' was just lovely. We passed one other moving boat and the trees in their autumnal colours and the sunshine were just magnificent. We would have quite happily swapped today for many of our 'summer' days in the rain.

The trip back was just as pleasant (if not too short) and Louise decided to walk off her 'lunch' and take a few snaps. 

Beautiful Autumn Day

Unfortunately we also discovered a possible problem with the heating in that our Webasto heater seems to want to cut out after working for a length of time. Hopefully it will just need a service, but unsure as to whether it's a job I want to tackle myself or not - I feel a bit of research coming on !!

On the theme of heating and after talking to a friend over a pint the other night, he gave me a bag of wood briquettes to try in the multi fuel stove. He has used them to good effect in his much larger stove at home as is well impressed. He says they burn for a long time and give off good heat. They appear to be compressed sawdust and could be an alternative to smokeless fuel. Has anyone any previous experience of these - good or bad ?? Maybe some trials over the next few weeks will be in order.