The Farewells Begin!

Spring is in the air so it is the time of year when the 'Continuous Cruiser' (who winters in a marina) leaves the marina and carries on with their travels around this wonderful country. 

We have made some really great friends this year during our stay in the marina, friendships which we feel that will be lifelong.

The upside of people leaving the marina is that we all go out to the pub to say our farewells!

But firstly a pic of the three cats looking cute yesterday ...

Our first farewell do was held at The Three Crowns last night.

We had a good turnout of all the usual suspects but missing were Andy and Sue from Festina Lente, who have gone back to The Isle of Man for a couple of weeks.

From the left .. Sally, Bev, Joan, Jim, Elaine, Ray, Diane, Me, Gordon, Roly and Rob ...

Joan, Jim and Elaine ...

Joan and Jim are moored up next to us on the marina, lovely couple with a wicked sense of humour and great neighbours.

Elaine and Dot ... 

Dot is a person of many talents, great cook, lead-lighter extraordinaire, great smoker (of food products) and amazing jam, preserve and wine maker - also possessing a very quick, Irish wit and brilliant sense of humour!  

Next we have Roly and Bev, nearest the camera, and Rob and Sally ...

You couldn't meet a nicer couple than Roly and Bev and they are Welsh!!!  (Not that there is anything wrong with that).   Roly is the marina man-with-the-van ... he has helped all the boaters here with pickups of coal, gas and even people.  Plus Roly likes a drink which is always a bonus - and they are both always up for a laugh!

Ray, Diane and me.  What can you say?  They are the most lovely couple you could ever meet ... even though they hail from Melbourne!!  Diane was, and still is, Elaine's personal nurse for which we are eternally grateful.  Ray has got me a ticket for Man Utd vs Liverpool next month for which I am eternally grateful!   They have also both been walking the dogs for us when he have our trips up to Manchester - we (and the dogs) are sooooo grateful for that!  I am sure we will meet up with them when they have bought their Dutch barge and are motoring down the Canal du Midi! 

I had to take a pic of my Giant Éclair because it was so big!  I used my finger for a reference to show how large it was...pity it tasted a bit ordinary.

So that was the first farewell over with.  We are doing it all again today with 'early doors' at The Exchange ... we all have loyalty cards and are going to cash them in for copious amounts of beer and wine!

A funny one to finish with ... the boat next to Jim and Joan left today to go cruising.  When he arrived in the marina a few months ago he smashed into their boat whilst he was docking.  Today, as he was reversing out of the dock, he managed to take a couple of planks of the dock with him ... and today is a perfect, calm day!

Watch out for NB T*****, peoples!

Up The Downs

We were up very early this morning and arrived in Manchester at 07.30!!  Following Elaine's appointment we realised that we had miscalculated our departure to Europe as we won't be able to leave until May now ... not quite what we had planned but there you go!

We arrived back at the marina at the time we are normally getting up!  We met up with Ray and Diane (NB Ferndale) and had a nice breakfast in the marina cafe.

We have decided that we will have to do some trips in the motorhome, plus volunteer to help some of our boater friends navigate some of the larger lock flights ... it is sending us a bit crazy hanging around the marina!  Thank God for the nice people we have met this year and the Exchange pub!

This afternoon we decided to take the dogs to one of their favourite places ... Downs Banks.  It is only about a ten minute drive from the marina and is a lovely place to walk.  What is amazing is that it is a national park that welcomes dogs, horses and push-bikes, all of which are an absolute no-no in Sydney.

We had a lovely stroll ...

... crossed the raging river ...

... Bombo was in a hurry as he doesn't like getting wet!

Its a First!

Being a Monday it is usually the traditional Aston Marina boaters get-together, today it was taking place at the Three Crowns pub. 

The 'first' is that I said NO, not today!  It was not that we didn't want to socialise or have a beer, it's just that we are getting closer and closer to leaving the marina and I keep putting off jobs to go to the pub etc. 

So needs must, I  removed all the fittings, cleaned up the walls ceiling and woodwork and masked it all up.

I then repainted it in exactly the same colour as we had a spare few litres in the cavernous forward hold.

After I finished painting we went and bought some dog and cat food.

Once back onboard I refitted all the fittings and the freshly washed curtains.  I don't mind saying it looks rather good!  It actually didn't look too bad before, just had a few annoying marks on the paintwork.

Elaine spent much of the day sorting out clothes for warmer climes and putting them in the motorhome, she also sorted and tidied up some of the many other storage cupboards. 

An early 5.00 am start tomorrow as we are off to Manchester again as Elaine has an early morning appointment.

Budget, What Budget?

(Caution ... boring, anorak blog follows ... El)

Firstly back to last Friday where the usual suspects from Aston Marina went to The Exchange for early doors (16.00).  There was nothing unusual about that, but somehow we ended up leaving The Three Crowns at 23.30, and I still don't know how that happened!  I do have it on good authority that one of the lads ended up driving the porcelain bus in the night, but as it was on a boat it was probably a plastic bus!

It was however a most fantastic night, out with some really good friends who we are going to miss dearly in the next few weeks when we all start going our different ways.

That's my wallet on the table ... it was a lot thinner at the end of the night, never mind live and let live, the budget starts next millennium!

Saturday was a chill-axing day.  Elaine's brother came over for a chat and to sort out computers!  In the evening we couldn't be bothered to cook so had a Chinese takeaway, plus we popped into The Exchange for a quick pint whilst waiting for the takeaway.  

Today (Sunday) we decided to take a trip to the Great Central Railway at Loughborough where they were having a Steam Gala Weekend.

Elaine was so excited she had had trouble sleeping Saturday night.

(Hmmm ... bit of artistic licence there ... El)

Off we went, passing this sleeping truck on the way! 

When we got there, we discovered there were a lot of locos in steam plus a few diesels as well ...

King Arthur Class 777 Sir Lamiel ...

LMS Stanier Class 8F ...

Brittannia Class 70013 Oliver Cromwell ...

There were also a plethora of anoraks ...

... for some reason they are attracted to Elaine! They enthral her with stories of their Walschaerts Valve Gear and their Klychap Blast Pipes! (It's all true ... they also all love Sam! El)

OK more pics of steam engines ...

Filling the tender with water ...

The star of the show, the newly restored 9F Cock O' The North ...

This magnificant machine was built in 1959 at Swindon and was withdrawn for scrap in 1965....six years later!  Luckily it was saved from the torch ...

A Pic for Carol (NB Rock n Roll) ...

We had to go for a steam train ride while we were there ... here is Elaine enjoying her tuna sarnie ...

(The best part of the day ... plus the great coffee!  El)

Sammie took a selfie ...

The boys enjoy steam trains as much as Elaine ...

There she is again, such a beautiful machine ...

Bombo enjoyed the trip ...

A pic for Roly from Aston Marina ...

... and that was that another wonderful budget breaking weekend!

Mini Cruise

Today was another very mild day for mid February, in fact it was so nice that we went for a mini cruise.

As we were getting ready to set sail, our resident swan turned up for his breaky.  I had nothing to give him so the bugger started eating my foam chain covers!

Our first stop was the fuel wharf, where we took 206 litres of diesel ... the tank hold 226 litres ...

Exiting the marina ...

The boat won't go round the exit onto the main canal without a quick bit of reverse and a couple of seconds on the bow thruster ...

We were off in the blazing sunshine, oh it was lovely ...

A couple of hundred metres later we turning into the marina entrance ...

It is a nice, spacious marina with plenty of room to manoeuvre ...

Now, where is our berth?  It was here 30 mins ago ...

... and that was our (expensive) mini cruise over!

We then got cracking on smartening up the boat.  I sanded back and primed some small rust patches in the cratch whilst Elaine gave the interior of the boat a good clean, plus made up a mega veggie stew for dinner ... none of this 5 a day nonsense, more like 25 a day!  She also cooked a chook for the furry ones but I was allowed to have the good bits to add to my stew.

We then moved on to the motorhome.  Elaine made a start on moving a few things from the boat to the van, sorting out the beds and giving it a good clean whilst I fitted and checked out the waste pipe fittings and gas fittings purchased yesterday.  We also cranked out the awning for the first time ... it is pretty impressive and should give us plenty of shade from the hot southern European sun.  

Before we head off to Europe we have a few excursions planned in the motorhome.  We are off to darkest Luton in a couple of weeks to catch up with my family, then we are off to a remote farmhouse near Hadrian's wall with a few of the the Aston Marina boaters.  Finally we will be visiting London, coz we like it there, before crossing the Channel hopefully early April.

Excellent Birthday

Today was my birthday.  There are only another 3102 days to my retirement, or should I say to when I get paid a pension!

This morning we drove down to the NEC at Birmingham where it was the first day of the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show.

We have the Motorhome so we wanted to buy all the bits and pieces we needed, or thought we may need for our European trip.

So what did we buy..... campsite voucher book for Europe, Brit-stop book (lists free sites for motorhomes in the UK) , a very big extendable brush for cleaning a big motorhome, 2 x very nice comfy reclining chairs, 1 x u-beaut gas BBQ, waste drain hose, gas hose to connect BBQ to van external gas point, 13kg gas bottle securing brackets and a set of  acrylic glasses ... so when we spill our wine at least they won't break.

Oh, and we also bought a collapsible trolley with wheels ... a boxy thing to carry all the crap except the reclining chairs back to the car ... the reclining chairs are being delivered (free of charge)!

Elaine with stuff.

We had lunch at the show courtesy of 'Brownhills' as they were the company we bought the motorhome from back in October and we are consequently members of their 'club'!

It was a really good show, we were so glad we went and got all the gear and info under one roof.

We were at the show for over six hours!  Luckily our resident nurse Diane from NB Ferndale picked the boys up from the boat and took them for walkies during our absence.  Thanks again and again, Diane.

As it was my birthday we were going to go out for dinner but when I remembered Man City were playing Barcelona I decided I would buy an Indian takeaway instead, nipping in for a quick pint at The Exchange whilst we were waiting for it.

All in all a most excellent birthday, except the result of the football match that is!

Monday Arvo at The Exchange

As I mentioned yesterday the marina management have locked us out of the cedar huts, so instead we went to The Exchange pub.  It is not as close to the canal as the other Stone pubs, but they are such a friendly bunch there ... how many pubs would let you bring your own food!!

It is also dog friendly, in fact one of the barmaids is a dog!

We had a very good turnout - 13 all up, plus 2 dogs ...

Diane went veggie for two minutes and ate 2 bits of a carrot ...

We get the prime position in the pub, in the bay window, watching the world go by ...

Once again another lovely day with some very special needs people ...

Tomorrow we are off to the big Motorhome show at the NEC in Birmingham.  I want to sort out an Alarm for the motorhome plus suss out ferries, camp-site passes etc for the forthcoming European sojourn!

Big Bertha Lives Again!!!!!!!!

Big Bertha is the name of my laptop!  Why Big Bertha?  Well, because she is big, she is also very old, but I love her!  It is so much easier to use than Elaine's whizzbang little laptop.

However, last week BB died ... refused to do anything.  She wouldn't start, wouldn't stir her fat arse no matter how many times I tried!

Luckily, last Wednesday, Elaine's brother Trevor came for a visit.   Trevor is very clever ... he is a Bio-Medical Engineer and fixes hospital machines that go ping!  He tried a few things on the boat for BB but decided she had to go back to his place where she would be admitted into Intensive Care. Long story short, BB is very much like Elaine and has responded very well to treatment!   I have her back and she is like new again ...

BIG BERTHA HAS BEEN REBORN!!

So now I have to try and remember what has happened over the last five days while I havn't been a-blogging !

Hmmmm ... not a bloody lot because the weather has been atrocious!

Last Wednesday there was a break in the rain so we took the dogs for a walk along the towpath at Meaford, the reason being that it has a brand new u-beaut mud-free towpath!

Check this out, what a lovely mud free muddy towpath ...

The railway also passes very close to the canal and I am pleased to report a 100% response from the train drivers who sounded their horns as we waved to them!  This practice goes back to being a trainspotter in the 60s-70s!   Some of the older drivers probably recognise my anorak! 

Elaine is somewhere underneath all these clothes ...

The cows were grazing in a strange spot that day ...

Artistic shot of a bridge ...

Just to make fellow boaters jealous, another shot of the MUD FREE towpath ...

Can't remember what else happened, so another couple of pics of the dogs....

Sammie looking very cosy amongst many cushions ...

Bombo doing cute ...

Oh, I remember a bit more of what went on last week!  On Thursday night we went to the flicks at Stoke to see 'The Wolf of Wall Street'.  It was a really good film ... it was funny because it reminded us of a couple of people we know who are obsessed with money.  If you like a drug-fuelled, corruption-laden, sex fest, this is the film for you.  The F word is mentioned a record breaking 506 times apparently ... not that we counted them!  The leading lady is an Aussie that used to be on Neighbours ...

The gorgeous Aussie Margot Robbie

On Friday it was the 'hardcore boaters' of Aston Marina 'early doors' at The Exchange, which was as always a great afternoon/evening.

Talking of Aston Marina, our Monday boaters' 'meeting' was in jeopardy because the marina management have padlocked the cedar huts and made them out of bounds.  No probs, there is always a solution ... we are now going to The Exchange pub instead!  As a bonus, the landlady doesn't mind if we bring along our own nibbles as she doesn't do food on a Monday day time.  One door shuts and a bar door opens!

On Saturday we headed off to Macclesfield to visit Elaine's dad and pick up BB.

On Saturday night we went to the most fantastic Thai restaurant we have been to in the UK (Maliwan Thai, Sunderland St, Macclesfield, Ches). The restaurant owner is a bit of a character and is a South African, not that there is anything wrong with that.  So, if you are in Macclesfield and like Thai food this is the place, check it out here.   It is in walking distance from the canal, for those arriving by boat, but you do need to book as it is very, very popular!  

The whole Macclesfield family went ... Elaine's dad Burt, brother Trevor and the glowing northerner herself, Elaine ... 

We stayed in Macc overnight and drove back to the marina this afternoon. on a most beautiful sunny day.  What a difference sunshine makes ... they were all out, walkers, cyclists, motor cyclists, convertible car drivers with roofs down etc.  The marina was buzzing with activity with people poking their heads out of their sardine cans to watch and admire this strange glowing thing in the sky ... there were even a couple of boaters on the pontoon lazing in their deck chairs, I kid you not!

A big thank you to Diane from NB Ferndale who came across today to jab Elaine with Heparin for the last time!

So that's it, we are up to date!  I will finish up with the star of the blog ...

I GIVE YOU ... BIG BERTHA !!

An oldie but a goodie!