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December morning mist

Well, it's been a while. I post this at 0740 on a Saturday morning, a time I never thought I'd see at a weekend at home, rather than at a training weekend. This is a usual occurrance now that Pete is Chief Running Water for the northern Grand Union section for the Canal and River Trust. We wake at 6am every work day and once a month, he has weekend duty.

Today, he covers the canals from Hawkesbury Junction in Coventry where the Oxford canal ends and meets the Coventry Canal, through Hillmorton, bypasses Braunston, onward to Watford flight and Foxton, perhaps taking in Market Harborough, finishing up, after Kibworth flight, at Kilby bridge on the outskirts of Leicester. Tucked into all that is a peek at reservoirs at Saddington, Welford, Sulby and Naseby. Oh, and today he investigates the paddles at Cosford. By the way, he  l o v e s  this work. Countryside views as work, not lifestyle leisure, canals as challenging conundrums, water levels as puzzling management. Happy boy.

We see more of each day and are both enjoying this new world. Clearly travelling with Bella had been reduced, but with my new studio in Braunston, I can't say I'd want to be too far away. With a number of new paintings finished since I've been there, this is a creative time for us both.

We have gentle plans to travel to Braunston for Christmas, but the weather will be the decider on that front.

In the meantime, Bella stays tucked up in Hillmorton Wharf (Blue Haven Marina's new name) and we both venture to new places.

Bella had a weekend as goods transport

The new Studio! | Elizabeth Gray King

We used Bella to move the studio! A lot of effort, the use of planks and most of Bella's floor space used, but hey, we've got a home which can double as a moving van. Great fun!

Back at Hillmorton, three boat lock flight and a Bank Holiday weekend traffic jam!

We came back to our home mooring today, setting out to a cloudy but dry day. Around Norton junction, in to the Braunston tunnel, we arrived at the top lock to be ushered in beside two tiny boats, nose to tail. Storm, the first boat, was a deep draught large engine tug, first used to pull horse drawn boats through tunnels in the years of transition from horse to engine. Laura was a BCN Tug 10, once one of a small fleet of day boats to give day trips around the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN). A lovely bunch of boaters and much hilarity made the descent of these six familiar locks quite a fun trip.

We made our way out of the bottom lock to a teeming canal, packed with hire boats, experienced crews and novices alike and it seemed everyone and their cousin who had a boat. It looked just as busy as a festival weekend! We pulled alongside Wells Fargo for a chat just before the Oxford cut north from the Grand, then pulled into this much loved home stretch.

What a hoot. We just passed Bridge 80 (undergoing serious and welcome repair) and slowed our way in at the tail end of quite a traffic jam! A southbound hire boat managed to get itself across the canal and with all the traffic both ways, the boats kept piling in. No crashes, but a few friendly nudges, a crew member on the bank with the centre line and some helpful hand pushes meant that the heap soon unjammed. But then the boat behind us ran aground and the jam built up again!

We were welcomed back to our mooring by some delightful Moorhen chicks squeaking hello and we now have a very happy Josie.

Just made it!

Here we are, looking through the wet to Welton Hythe Marina, just north of Norton Junction, still in the Grand Union Leicester section. We set out this morning and covered 7 locks and 20 miles. All day we saw the clouds move and somehow managed to be in the patches of sun. Only when we cruised by Crick did we catch any drops at all and it was over in moments. We spotted threatening clouds after Watford flight when we were considering whether to moor up or cruise on towards Braunston. Rapidly scanning the bank for a mooring, we managed to tie up, walk Josie and pour the drinks before the heavens opened. This is what we call smugly moored.

Kicklewell Spinney again

Here we are on a delightful late August evening. After we both returned from work today (E, London; P, Leicestershire waterways), we untied from our beloved Foxton Top mooring and moved to the towpath side to fill up with water. We set out fully just before 6:00 and moored up here, a new favourite, by 7.

Time to put on the oven for Friday pizzas, fill up the oil lamps and let the Chianti breathe. Lovely.

Our temporary swan neighbours

So, we're sitting beside Bella in our deck chairs, look up and see...a swan family! We've seen this family before, but never out of the water and near so many people. There are several privileges to having this patch of earth as our home for a small while, but this one was utterly unexpected!