ST George's Day and the week around it.

 Lyme Regis with my fellow missionaries (shown below with the exception of Ted whom we are off to meet).

Peter, Mike P, Geoff, Adrian, Me, Kevin

And here he is, with  Roses presented by Kev, fresh off a bus from Exmouth.

We are staying in a big house near the sea in Lyme Regis but today, wearing our roses to celebrate St George's Day we are off to the Swannery at Abbotsbury

followed by a celebratory pint and Roast Beef with all the trimmings.

The tie regarded by some as tasteless looks rather good on Peter

Does this remind you of the film "The Odd Couple"?

Nice to see a bit of class about

Elevenses at Abbotsbury

A sparkling day as the lads pose looking
 like an ageing tribute band

Kevin, cluthching our guide to the Swannery is
 confused as he has never heard swans go "Baaaaa"

The swans that aren't nesting take up position on the path
This one is waiting for Peter.

Geoff showing some "stile"

The Swannery is beautiful and well worth a visit at this time of year during the nesting season. Try and pick a day with weather like ours though.

The Beef-30 quids worth and worth every penny

Apart from one bloke in the supermarket car park who was flying the Cross of St George the English as usual are totally ignoring their Patron Saint's Day. Not us. We are off to Lyme Regis to celebrate in style.

Whoops! We nearly forgot Ted
who has fallen in love with a swan

Ted does his Idiot Gnome impersonation-very good too

The following day we go to Branscome-lovely village with good walks and an excellent pub, The Fountain Head- http://www.fountainheadinn.com/-which was flying the St George Cross from yesterday

Followed by a walk round the Cobb at Lyme Regis

The French Lieutenant's Solicitor

Out in the evening for an Italian in Lyme Regis. It wasn't cheap but it was good

The following day (Thursday) after a Mackerel Breakfast

off to Sidmouth where we met Geoff's brother Brian (who taught me to ride a bike over 50 years ago!)

After a planning meeting in the Anchor a walk along the River Otter

I knew Ted shouldn't have had the second one in the Anchor

and nor should Adrian

 A Faewell to Ted Pint then a Chinese Take-away and copious draughts in the evening.
Home in the morning.

Monday 8th April
I wandered up to the lock this morning and was chatting to the BW (now CaRT) man who was running water through to the lower pound . Being English we talked about the weather (I wonder what foreigners talk about?) and I mentioned that rain was forecast for later in the week.

Pump action

He said "We've got more water than we need already" We laughed at the fact that a year ago we were so short of water in the cut hereabouts that nobody could go anywhere.

The canal was stopped at Newground Bridge

Navigation was stopped for three months and a minimum level was maintained by frequent pumping back above the lock at Cowroast.



Now we are oversupplied with water-possibly because we had plenty during what was laughably called last Summer-but also because the pumping to the Aylesbury Arm is limited since the collapse of Lock 12 thereon.

 http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/work-starts-to-repair-the-aylesbury-arm

So all this water has to go somewhere and here at Cowroast we have plenty. The level of the canal is splendidly high.
The stoppage on the Aylesbury Arm has caused problems for friends of mine who are the wrong side of the collapse. They want to get out to go on their travels during the Summer but more importantly want to get out to come to our St George's Party on 27th April.
There is rumour that CaRT are contemplating a lift out of boats at Aylsebury, putting them back in at Milton Keynes but we wait for more news.
Preparations are now in hand for the St George's Gathering and I know as I write that all my friends are rifling through their priceless collection of boating and associated goodies trying to decide which to auction on behalf of the St Francis Hospice and which to hand down to their offspring.
Last year we made £400 on the auction alone and anything approaching that will be great. Pam and I are also doing a raffle for the Mission in Uganda so we are poncing good quality prizes for that. Pam's aim is to raise £500 and she is about a quarter of the way there. Mike G and his lovely wife Judith kindly coughed up a tenner which has been added to the fund. Much thanks

10th April-2.30 p.m. And the shower is finished-at last. Just need to fit the curtain and a door. Next week maybe.

Spring is here as well. The sun is out and the daffs are winning. Able to start painting outside without the paint freezing on my brush. Marvellous.

11th April. Oh well it was nice while it lasted. Rain all night and dreary morning so no painting today.
But planning is apace now for the Big Adventure Llangollen Summer (BALLS). My neighbours, Roy and Annie, on Panther and I are planning the trip to Wales during late July through to October.

Roy and
Annie (one of the two best lock workers in the world)
(Note who is carryng the most bags)

They have already done the outline plan so my next job is to try and drum up some crew for the various stages. My knees aren't what they were so any help will be invaluable. Most of my usual crew are meeting up in Lyme Regis in 2 weeks time so I will have a chance to do some recruiting. Get them rocky in the local pubs and drop the old King's shilling in their mug-sorted.

Cleaning my teeth this morning I saw my first rabbit this Spring. Good to see him as they are kept company by this fellow. I've seen this mink half a dozen times now but he pays me no heed. I know they are little buggers but he is beautiful.

And as far as I'm aware he doesn't eat marquees and paint brushes. No news from Lord Rothschild yet. Might be on holiday.

Glis Glis, Racehorses and Mandarins

So that was Easter. The clocks went forward, the Spring has sprung. And it's snowing. Nothing too arctic but snow all the same. A few boats about-even the odd hirecraft. Mostly families making the best of the Easter hols. Mum, Dad and a couple of glowering teenagers looking like they wished they were in bed or at least in a centrally heated bedroom with the laptop.

Talking of technology can you guess what this is?

It's attractive, curvaceous and tactile. And it has a screw in it! And every man wants one.
Yes you've guessed it.

It's a bottle opener.
Pam brought it back from Uganda and I love it.
Despite my best efforts to cut down on the gout- inducing beer I have found it necessary to road test my new acquisition frequently. It works very well. At first I thought it was a gavel and could certainly use it as such-or a pipe substitute to be drawn on in times of stress or contentment. Hey ho. Time to test it again.

I am still struggling to finish the inside of the boat so that as soon as some decent weather arrives (it's snowing as I write) I can start on the outside. 

At least I am ready to paint when the call comes. I have just invested a tenner on a couple of new brushes. Some may not be aware of the local pest round here called a Glis Glis. They eat wiring, plastic and as I discovered yesterday, paint brushes. No, not the handle just the bristly bit.

Many years ago Walter Rothschild, who later became the second Baron Rothschild, brought the first six Glis Glis to England in 1902. Nobody knows exactly how, but they escaped (probably freed by the Dormouse equivalent of the SAS) into the wild from the Rothschild home at Tring Park. They were, apparently favoured by the Romans because they were, and presumably still are, edible.
They ate the roof of our marquee a couple of Winters back and I am still hoping the Rothschilds will pay out for a replacement but they seem reticent. Short of funds I expect.


Whilst the weather is too cold to paint a little gardening is possible Remember the Builder's Bottom mentioned in the last post? Well here it is. Installed on the moorings with flowerpots added. Not sure what flowers to plant  but suggestions will be many. I had to tidy up the jagged edges on the legs before planting. I fear the boat passing by complete with kids on roof might have been somewhat alarmed by that sight of yours truly working away with a hacksaw on somebody's leg but it had to be done. How I suffer for my art! An Arts Council grant must surely follow. About as likely as getting a few quid off the Rothschilds.

But gardening has turned to painting by Friday with progress at last-it's only been a year-with the shower. All the trims are undercoated and tomorrow the job will be finished.

WRONG!

24 hours later and the undercoat is still tacky bordering on wet. The weather ( and I'm sorry to keep banging on about the bloody weather but it is so perverse) is brilliant and by lunchtime is really Springlike. Painting for Britain now and whilst I've had to adjust the timescale for finishing the inside of the boat I am at least within spitting distance of the end of the tunnel- to mix my metaphors.

Mind you if you were in a tunnel and assuming you didn't fall over and break your leg or anything you could get to a distance from the exit where you may, assuming you indulged in such foul and ill mannered habits, spit at the end. I do hope however that nobody bigger than you is entering the tunnel at that moment. Should this be the case and they take exception to your horrid spittiness and they are of a violent nature then you may well not reach the end of the tunnel at which you have spat. 

In any event I knew I would not reach the end of any tunnels today because the Grand National starts at 4.15 and I need to be in front of a screen to watch my selections fall over, turn round, get bored or just slow down. To the Lamb where I was able to watch all my horses do all of the above. Pam got the third and won £9. She bought a round of drinks to celebrate and it came to £9.20. This is no way to make a living. I have in 66 years never won a brass farthing on the Grand National. I do not anticipate this not being the case for at least a year.

The great news is my old friend the Mandarin duck is back. With his mate. I am fascinated how year after year the two of them, and she stays very much out of sight, turn up and mix with the other ducks-usually in the harshest of weather-and never a cross word between them. Mind you it would be a clever duck, Mandarin or otherwise that could do a crossword-sorry...

but it's great to see them.  As it was great to see everybody today who shared in my losses at Aintree but buoyed me up with various draughts of magic elixir.

Tomorrow is another day (Anne of Green Gables)

Easter

YIPPEE!
It's Easter weekend.........



and it's very cold.

Copped this swan on Maundy Thursday. He/She (I didn't get that close) seems to be happy that he/she has a long weekend swanning about.
Normally this weekend I would hope to be doing a bit of painting, tidying the mooring, maybe even planting a few flowers, perhaps some veg.
No way Jose.
It is cold. Very. As I've already mentioned.

Picked Pam up from Heathrow early Good Friday and she is understandably missing the Ugandan sun big time.

A few more people have turned up at the mooring but nobody looks like sunbathing. The coldest Easter since records etc and it feels like it.

Clocks forward and Easter Sunday at 7.30 (6.30 in old money) brings a sparkling frosty day By lunchtime we are back to cold and gloom but, nay bother, by then we have had an Easter Egg Hunt, a walk at the wonderful College Lake nr Tring and the Roast Lamb with all the trimmings is in the oven.

Warmer

Grandma's found hers

Found one!

Very warm

Hotter

Eggsactly!

On the moorings people are still trying to tidy moorings and tart up their boats but it's cold work

Some watching

Some working

This looks ominous

whilst the flowers fight for survival

The bravest so far this year is this bluebell which has made it between the paving slabs and survived all that the Winter could throw at it.







Whilst all at Cowroast are preparing for the Spring the folk moored on the Aylesbury Arm on the wrong side of Lock 12 have a problem.

The lock collapsed on Maundy Thursday and I aint no engineer but that's gonna take all Summer to fix. If the good people at Aylesbury and Red House moorings want to escape the Arm for the Summer I hope CaRT can arrange the option of a crane to get them on their way.

College Lake

Superb lamb for Easter Sunday Lunch....I could easily embrace vegetarianism if vegetables tasted of roast lamb. Yumyumyummy!
On Easter Monday after some more shivering on the moorings the girls each bought me a pint in lieu of an Easter Egg for which much thanks.
Here comes the Berko Mafia now advancing on the Lamb pub to do just that-all we are missing is Ollie and Joe-good luck at the Quack today Ollie and hope you had a good Easter in Cornwall Joe.


Returned to the mooring to find some villain had inverted my gnome! No respect some people. But don't worry, ROY, my CCTV will reveal the culprit and the gnome shall be avenged.

Add-endum
An interesting addition to the skip in town-a large bottom. Intriguing. Either it was frozen off someone in the recent chilly spell or perhaps it is the original Builder's Bottom. Watch this space.