Today has been an eventful day. We were reading ‘Diary of a Boat Woman’ blog last night and found out that NB Hadar had moored around Shardlow at the weekend so we really hoped that we would see them at some point today. We had only set off by about 10 minutes, just gone under a bridge and guess who we saw heading towards us, NB Hadar! I gave them a wahhhhh on my klaxon and a wave. Jo & Keith are like meeting celebrities as they are very well-known on the waterways with their narrowboat HADAR.

It was lovely to see them as the last time we saw them was a few months ago and before we had the boat painted. I hope they think we have done it justice. Great to see you two if you are reading!

The sun was still shining this morning and their was a gentle breeze which was most welcome after all the hot weather we have had. I stood on the side of the boat watching the world go by. I think I counted 9 collie dogs this morning, none as cute as Wish I might add 😉 but there is one thing for sure every Collie dog was so loyal to their owner I think that’s why we all love them so much.
 

First two locks of the day were Weston Lock and Aston Lock which is quite strange because where we used to travel around Stone to Great Haywood where there are also two locks with the same name. We have also come through Shardlow lock where I really wanted to moor because there was a pub and the chips from there smelt gorgeous. Unfortunately there was nowhere to moor so onward we went.

RED Light warning…………this was new. They are not traffic lights which mean stop, you actually can carry on but it was a warning to say that the River Trent was in flood. There was still nowhere to moor until we got as far Derwent Mouth Lock No.1 which is the first lock on the Trent Mersey. There was a spot just before the lock for us to moor and we were lucky as other boats passed us and realised they could not get through the lock because of the flood warning and so they had to reverse.

Took a walk to see how far the red warning signs were. We were out for an hour and during that hour the water levels had dropped, by a whole inch!! Not in the orange yet. Some people were very brave and decided to carry on. I wanted my first trip on The Trent to be a pleasurable one, memorable also but not in the way to risk life or limb!!

Heading back to the boat there was thunder rumbling in the distance, just sounded like Jungle drums, not that I have ever been to the jungle but try use your imagination a little.

More rain to come so we have decided to stay where we are for the night and look at the boards in the morning. Lets hope they are not in the red tomorrow morning.

Anyway, I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon reading my book ‘ Just Imagine’. It is an excellent read for anyone, especially if you are thinking about living on a boat. It is about a couple who run a B&B, but no ordinary B&B, it is a Dutch Barge………Barge & Breakfast!

I am really enjoying being on the boat. It is where I feel my happiest. Can’t wait to be doing this permanently 🙂