The Sun Has Got His Hat On!!

Sunset over the meadows at Eynsham

Hip, hip, hip HOOORRRAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!  Wow!  Summer has arrived and we are happy bunnies as we find ourselves on a luxury cruise of the Upper Thames with our own pool next to our suite!!  First though, back at Fenny Compton…….  We had a lovely meal with Jill and Alan, Jill is a great cook and had done us a thai curry with accompaniments, although she almost tried to palm us off with microwave rice…..really Jill…….. tut tut…….  It was lovely to see them and their son Ben who is always pleased to be forgotten about as we chat away and he scores some extra time staying up.  The next morning we headed off for Cropredy, an uneventful day that started in shorts, increased in layers as the day went on and ended up in full waterproofs.  There was a queue at the first lock but then we all spread out a bit and we were just following one ahead of us, but with the locks being narrowguage and everyone helping everyone else out, we got through quite quickly really.  At Cropredy I went for a run and Mike popped to the wee shop for some bits and pieces.  There was no signal on the telly, as there hadn’t been at Fenny either, so we watched a dvd instead, glad that we had stocked up on our last charity shop visit.  Next stop was Banbury and we headed off in the morning, straight through the lock at Cropredy and then caught up on a queue further on.  As I waited for a boat coming up, I could see rain moving across the field.  I ran inside, got my waterproofs on by the time which the rain was coming in the closed windows (they leak if the rain is at a certain angle).  Mike was already sprinting back to shut the front doors and help close the shutters.  It was pretty miserable and stayed fairly wet until we reached Banbury.  We’ve been to Banbury before and enjoyed it.  They’ve made the most of the canal running through the town and there are good moorings and shops of every shape and size.  We decided to have our 48 hours on the town moorings and take the opportunity to go to Screwfix and  Homebase as well as do a big food shop at the Morrisons.  Again, as before, there was no tv signal so we got a couple of new DVDs in  HMV to watch, two for a tenner – we won’t spend more than £5 on a DVD, and that’s top price.  Yorkshire and Scots – a good combination for tight purse strings……

We continued on down the Oxford on Friday, with no real plans except that we were now being met by Angela on Saturday for the night.  We made loose plans with her, but, as with all good plans, they started to crumble slightly when we went further than intended and then couldn’t get a phone, internet or tv signal  (not that the latter would help in terms of updating Ange!).  So we kept going, pulling up every now and then to let me walk along the roof in some form of worship to the god of mobile phone signals to try and get my message to Ange to go.  At one stage I had a very quiet and civilised tantrum and told Mike I was fed up, had had enough, just wanted a bloody signal so the message would go, so we could moor up, so I could go for a run and have my tea and go to bed.  Mike apologised and said he just couldn’t do that for me…. Bless.  Finally, a clearing across the fields and my message went.   We tried to moor up, but it was too shallow, so continued on, finally stopping eight hours after we set off above a lock.  I can’t remember which one and I don’t really care.  I went for a run, and we had our tea.  It was a beautiful night and the rural mooring was lovely, looking across vast fields with hills in the distance.  Sometimes you just get such great views from your kitchen window on a boat.

 

First queue of the day - still beats the M6 anyday.

This was about three minutes before this.........

Okay, enough water already.  Please turn the tap off!!

Mike finds a little furry friend to help on the lock

South of Banbury is The Pig Place where you can visit the pigs.  Then eat them :(  The sausages were excellent!

One of the diamond-shaped locks on the Oxford - heavy gates and very slow.

Just in case we were worried we'd taken a wrong turn.....

Another queue but at least it's warm and sunny!  The dayboat behind was full of a bunch of very nice young people, one of whom, a girl, started being sick.  I offered seasick tablets and explained that one of our friends (Fran!!) gets seasick on the boat if it rocks around too much.  She said yes please, but when her mum came to collect it from me, she whispered, "Is it okay to take if you're pregnant??  She hasn't told the rest of the family yet!"  It wasn't, so she'd just decided to say they were out of date when there were whoops from the group, "Ah..... I think she just told them....".  But I knew first!!!!!!!  Mwuahahahahahahahahahaha..... I hope she still managed to enjoy the day on board!

Some of the bridges almost shaved the top of our chimneys, but we only had to remove them on one - not this one!

I got my next phone signal at 12.20 on Saturday as we made our way to Thrupp.  With the signal came Ange’s reply from the previous night saying she would make her way to Thrupp and see us there.  We had a lovely cruise through some of the most beautiful countryside, made all the more lovely by hot sun and knowing that our friend and some fine food and drink at the Boat Inn were waiting for us at Thrupp.  Sadly Ange was only with us overnight and headed off on Sunday.  I say sadly because it was sad for her that she couldn’t accompany us down the last stretch of the Oxford and onto New Territory for us – The Upper Thames!!!!!!   

Looking back from the Lock Entrance of the Duke's Cut to the Oxford Canal

We’ve been told many times (a lot by the same people – Toby and Sue) that the Upper Thames is the best of all the rivers in Britain to navigate.  I must admit, two days in and I’m finding myself agreeing!  We feel as though we are truly on holiday; boating, swimming, kayaking through the most amazing English countryside and in the most amazing weather.  It will really feel like a real UK holiday on Friday if the rain forecast comes to fruition………  If you don’t believe me, take a look at these…

Our mooring on Sunday night was on a meadow above Eynsham Lock, where we found Quaintrelle's sister Baleine and her lovely skipper and crew Sue and Toby.  (I hope I've got that the right way round....)

Quaintrelle and Baleine catching up

We had a lovely couple of hours in the setting sun catching up with Toby and Sue and checking out the best moorings on the Upper Thames!

Toby went in for a dip - his second of the day.  Sue said he was skinny-dipping, but I didn't like to look too closely to see if she was joking.

We're new to these waters, so we do what we're told. "Come in!!!  It's lovely!!!" said Toby.  Mike obliged.

As if the mooring,  river and company weren't idyllic enough already, a barn owl did a fly past a few times whilst searching out his supper.

 

On Monday we had breakfast out on deck as the sun burned off the clouds then set off for a few hours cruising, passing through our first lock of the day, Pinkhill Lock.  The locks on the Thames are manned and today, these guys had the best job in the world!

Passing through Newbridge

First time I've seen a hot tub afloat!!

Two more locks later and we found another tranquil spot for the night.  Now, time for a swim - it's boiling!!!

And if it's good enough for Toby........

Spot the white bits!!!  (And the tattoo ;) )

Today's mooring was slightly shallower than yesterday's which lent itself perfectly to a bit of DIY on a hot sunny day, where Mike could reach parts of the blacking he normally can't.

Having done a run together in the kayake I settled down to do the blog and Mike went off on his own - but he got tired!!!!  Thankfully someone was willing to give him a tow.  I told him he should have left him where he was........

So the sun has got his hat on right enough and so have we – will it last…????

Cruising the Contours of the Oxford Canal

The electrician came to look at our solar on Wednesday morning – batteries were fine, solar panels were fine, a quick look at the connections showed that the input from the panels hadn’t been wired up to show on our State of Charge display.  So it turns out that it has been working and our batteries had been topping up from the solar, but we just couldn’t see it!!!  (Which had been suggested by Richard in Nottingham a few weeks ago, and we kind of pooh-poohed…..)….  Anyway, it was quickly remedied and I now check the state of charge and solar output every few minutes as it’s very exciting to see your battery levels go up without running your engine.  That sounds very sad, but at least it’s taken my mind off my toilet obsession…….  We decided to stay a couple more nights at Weedon to get the varnishing of the shutters a bit further and on Wednesday afternoon we received some visitors.

 

Beth, Dave and Mike enjoying a wee jolly on the GU

As it was quite a nice afternoon we went for a couple of hours cruise south through the Northamptonshire countryside before coming back to watch the football in the evening.  As we moored up Mike’s phone rang, it was his first love, Fran, but instead of answering he gave it to Dave to answer amongst much chuckling.  They then proceeded to wind Fran up that he had got their numbers mixed up/rung the wrong one, so when he then rang Dave’s phone, Mike answered and the fun continued – poor Fran… I don’t know why he’s still friends with him, they’re so mean sometimes.  Anyway, Fran was stuck in traffic heading for Luton airport, so popped in for a quick beer to while away a half hour or so.

Mike looking adoringly, as always, at Fran

Jim and Ali were joining us for the football, so we had a full house!  Earlier in the week, I’d suggested we cook the chicken we had for tea on the Wednesday as it would feed the four of us; us and Dave and Beth, to which Mike replied, “They’re not staying, they’re just coming for the afternoon.”  As Dave put away a beer, it became clear they weren’t driving home.  “Are you guys staying??” I asked.  Dave looked at Mike, “Yes – is that okay??”  So I thought they were staying, Dave thought they were staying, Mike clearly missed the point…..  As the match became more and more disappointing we decided it was better fun trying different snacks on the local swan family.  Jim discovered they liked the jalapeno crisps best, and the babies like popcorn.

 

Mind your fingers!

Popcorned baby

Thursday morning saw us none too crisp and the day was spent quietly.  By Friday we had itchy feet and decided to head off.  Jim gave us the pump out of all pump outs with a couple of huge rinses and letting it all run until the tank was clear.  Unfortunately whilst filling the tank for the rinse, the light on the gauge didn’t come on to show it full, and we only knew it was when water started coming out the airvent at the side of the boat, destroying the charcoal filter in the process, making it the most expensive pump out we’ve ever had.    I also popped out with Ali to see her dad’s paintings as I’d been looking for a ‘boaty’ picture for the boat.  He has 2-300 at his and his wife’s house in Long Buckby and though there were some with narrowboats and canal scenes, I eventually plumped for seagoing boats in a stormy sky which reminds me of Cramond harbour.  You can see some of his pictures here http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/Windsor-Morris/artwork/41196?return=Windsor-Morris/artwork/all

Or contact Windsor via this site if you’re passing Buckby and would like to see more – they really are beautiful and varied in content.

After Fish and Chips Friday lunch with Jim and Ali, we headed off, southwards first to fill up with diesel at Stowehill, then winding and heading north to join the Oxford canal at Napton. 

 

Local resident on the GU near Bridge 26

We stopped at the bottom of the Buckby Flight to pick up some stuff from the chandlery and wait for someone to pair up with.  Two boats arrived and in a mix of communication, we ended up letting the first one go up alone while we waited for the guy on the second boat to go to the shop.  He took longer than the five minutes he said and Mike started to get very agitated, to say the least, and finally just went into the lock and was about to start going up when the guy reappeared.  Mike wanted to go without him anyway and catch the one in front two locks up now, but I said we shouldn’t, we should wait.  So we fell out and the guy had to do the flight of locks with Mr and Mrs Grumpy.

At the top lock, Mike was back in full charm mode with the young female presenter of a German TV crew who were having a pint in the The New Inn – all his bad temper wiped away by a pretty face and tight body…… I looked like that 25 years ago…..  Anyway, I wasn’t amused, especially as he was so immersed in conversation that he didn’t hear me shouting to take the rope and I was bouncing around in the lock while the other guy came in.  We moored up at Norton Junction (again – seems like only last week we were there – oh wait – we were!) and I went off for a run, although it was very hot and running was quite hard work.  When I got back to the boat, Mike was making the tea but had noticed that the chicken was sizzling a bit more than usual.  I suggested turning the heat down, but he had it turned right down, and the dial on the door was showing over Very, Very Hot!!  We switched it off realising that the thermostat had gone.  Everytime we seem to leave Weedon having got everything broken fixed, something else seems to break within 24 hours – very frustrating.  As the oven is working, we just have to switch if off when it gets too hot, we will keep going until we can organise someone to come out and sort it.  On Saturday, after bacon butties and coffee we headed off through the Braunston tunnel where we passed four boats, one of whom had a crew member on deck unhelpfully shining a torch into the faces of the oncoming drivers.  I asked him not to do it, but when we buddied up with the boat behind us to do the locks on the other side, he’d done the same to them!!  We locked down with Tiggerish Moments (Tasha, you’d have loved their Tigger artwork), stopped at Midland Chandlers for some paint, then backed up and turned off to the left on to the Oxford canal.  We’ve been looking forward to doing this as it was our first trip when we set off two years ago.  It’s a really pretty canal and we were looking forward to doing it now we are a bit more experienced – we’d be able to enjoy it instead of sh!tting ourselves!

We moored near Napton (Bridge 111) on Saturday night having arranged to meet up with Karen and Neil and Buddy the dog from Chalkhill Blue.  They met us there and then we cruised on for a bit to The Folly pub at Napton.  It was completely rammed when we got there and we ended up at the end of a long, long line of boats, on a wild bit of towpath.  Unfortunately it was so busy at the Folly that they weren’t taking any more walk-ins for food, but they were having a charity do in the garden and there was a bar-b-que selling burgers.  That would have to do.  Three pints in, we would’ve eaten anything.  Someone, and I’m sure it wasn’t me or Mike, suggested a last, fourth, pint, which seemed like a good idea at the time but not so hot the next morning.  By the time we stuck our heads out the door, we were the only boat left, as everyone else had raced off to try and beat each other up the locks……  We went on to get water at the foot of the flight, had breakfast and then headed off up Napton locks.  It’s a lovely cruise, with beautiful scenery and the warm, sunny day made it most enjoyable.   

 

Mike doing Lock 13, near the herd of buffalo

The Napton water buffalo keeping their distance from boaters with cameras this time!!

Cow photobombing on the right :)

We went all the way to Fenny Compton, with the last mile or so taking an hour as we caught up on a boat which was making its way on tickover, which was really very frustrating.  Not that we race along the canals, and this one is slower as it winds and is quite shallow, but you can go faster than tickover.  The last 10 minutes of cruising was done in a heavy, sudden, cold shower of rain, but slow boat finally pulled over at Fenny for water and I passed them and pulled into the very last space in Fenny Compton.  As we moored up, the chap behind came out to say hello and remarked we were lucky, someone had just moved off 10 minutes before.  I’d forgotten the stress of busy canals!  In the evening, our friend Alan rang, and we met him for a quick drink at the Wharf Inn and they’ve invited us for food at theirs tonight.  It’s been a bit cooler today and just as I got another coat of varnish on the shutters, torrential rain appeared for three minutes, followed by clouds and sun.  We did have an exciting start to the day though with a visit to Lee San for some spares for our self-pump out kit.

My recurring nightmare where I'm bursting for the loo but none of the cubicals have doors is brought to life!!