Our only plans today were to get some food in for the animals and buy a length of hose for the hose reel, as our hose won't quite reach the filler when we are moored in the marina stern first. I was then going to start cleaning up the outside of the boat whilst Elaine was to make a start on thinning-out the cupboards and winterizing the wardrobes.
First I must tell you what happened when I took the dogs for their morning walk. I let them off their leads on a grassy knoll behind the boat, when I noticed another chappie walking his lab puppy. Sammie spotted the dog and went running over for a play. The man spotted Sammie running towards them and shouted, "STOP" and held his hand up in front of him (Crocodile Dundee style). Sammie stopped in his tracks so I went over to lead him away. The chap announced that he was a dog trainer and that Sammie was in a dangerous attack mode! I replied he is a lover not a fighter, but did mention that he may try and shag his dog to death! We had a brief chat then I left, realizing that he was a nutter!
So off we went to go to Stafford to get our bits and pieces, got in the car and ... nothing ! The battery was flat on the little Citroen ... bugger! Before I left for Oz last November I signed up for a basic breakdown service on the car with 'Green Flag', so I gave them a ring expecting to get the runaround and 'ah-but-you-didn't-read-the-policy-etc' but it was an amazingly efficient service ... within 30 mins 2 chaps arrived in a bloody big breakdown truck, jump started the car and checked the charge rate which was all good! (They were actually from Mannings, who sub-contract to Green Flag).
We decided to go straight to Halfords and buy a new battery, the old one was the original one for the car and was 10 years old. Halfords went all smoothly as well ... "Do you want us to fit it as well?" "Be rude not to", I replied!
Once that was done we finished out little shopping trip and came back to the boat where it proceeded to absolutely piss down. Today is a nice day not to be boating. Elaine got stuck into the cupboards while I sorted out the hose and filled up the water so we could start to catch up on our washing.
Tonight we shall venture down to stone and pay a visit to the 'Spoons in Stone.
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