Oh my goodness, what a rubbish few weeks it has been. With being so poorly I have not been out for the last 2 weekends and it has just been work and sleep. Still not 100% but I felt a better enough to go out on the boat for a few hours. The sun was shining and it wasn’t cold and the water was calm………perfect day for boating. We arrived at the marina with Wish and it was idyllic so we started the engine and off we went.

We only went down to Sandon and turned around then moored up. It was so good to finally get out of the house and away from work. Just the sun being out makes such a difference to the way you feel. Only a few boats past us but the most hilarious thing happened……..only hilarious because there was no disasters…….anyway, I was saying the funniest thing happened…..a boat went past us so fast that we banged against the moorings quite hard. I could not believe they didn’t slow down. Anyway a few minutes later Roy shouted out “look where the boat is!” the other boat had gone past us so fast that it had pulled one end of the boat away from its mooring hooks and the whole of the boat was on an angle across the canal with the front end still tied in. Super Hero to the rescue (Roy) went and got the back ropes, walked to the front with them, jumped off and pulled her back in. It was funny! Thank goodness no other boats were going past.

I decided to “drive” back to the marina as I need to get used to the controls for after the boat is painted otherwise it will be coming back with more scratches than what it went with. Anyway, into the marina I went, slowly but perfectly (ha ha Roy) and then it was time for me to go into the mooring spot. We have moved places at the marina and this is the first time I have had to get into a mooring spot with another boat next to us……….not a bump, nothing, I just slowly did it, lined her up and much to Roy’s gob smacked face I drove her in perfectly. I acted very calm but inside I was thinking ha ha showed you I could do it, not being competitive or anything like that 😉

We were only out for a few hours but it was so good to get back out in the fresh air again.

Anyway, back home we went, out for a Chinese meal and then back home again and watched “Skyfall”. All in all a good day.

Sunday morning (today) , I was shattered. Had to get up though as I planned to go and get Roy’s Valentines present, a bit late but with me being ill it did not matter. Off to Evelyn Booth’s at Lockside Antiques. I had planned to get him a three belled terret for the boat. It is really nice. We got a little carried away and ended up buying some rosettes on horse buckles and a ribbon plate also. Roy has spent the afternoon putting some of them up but my camera went flat so I did not get to take any pictures. Anyway, we had a lovely time at Evelyn’s. We met her husband Graham and it was like meeting 2 celebrities. We have heard and read so much about them both and their boat ROME, we found them both fascinating. Evelyn makes me laugh with one of her famous sayings although I promised not to publish it. RHS…..and no it does not stand for Royal Horticultural Society. It is Evelyn’s & mine secret code 😉

They both showed us around their boat ROME. It was amazing! It was the nicest boatman’s cabin I have ever seen in real life. Out came the camera. Evelyn and I talked about the different canalware and Graham & Roy were talking about engines. It was fascinating to see. Graham had done the complete fit out himself 20 years ago. It was something to feel very proud of. We had only gone to collect the terret but we felt we had a day out. Coffee and great company and lots of talk about the canals, looking at all the antique canal ware and then the guided tour of the boat, it was fascinating.

I would have paid for a day out like this. Many thanks Evelyn & Graham for your hospitality. You made us feel very welcome.

All in all this weekend has done us both good. Lovely to get back onto Foxglove.

We left the boat tonight looking out across the marina thinking I wonder what colour we should have her painted. I have got a few ideas! It would mean a complete colour change for Foxglove………big risk to take. We shall see!