It's shiny....................!!!

Well the ice did melt at last. Once it gets to four inches thick it is surprising how long it takes to thaw. Some bright spark had heaved two great blocks of concrete onto the ice, presumably in an attempt to break it and those blocks sat there for a week or more after the thaw started before they finally disappeared to the canal bed. Since then we have had alternating periods of cold,sunshine and wet; some snow that did not settle and just one morning last week when we had a thin skin of ice on the canal. During the big freeze our neighbours (the ducks) were very enterprising. There is a section of shallow canal surrounded by weed which they use as a public bath-house-cum-bar for ducks. It never froze because they took turns in swimming around to keep the water moving and ice free. They are very entertaining except when they start a bar brawl in the middle of the night!

Friday 29th January on chilly but sunny morning we gathered at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking to lay my Dad finally to rest. A pleasant spot we will return to later in the year with the family when his headstone has been erected. The tortuous drive through the lanes of the vast cemetery confirmed why the journey had not been possible in the heavy snowfall. It was a weekend on which we had already planned a trip home to attend the Ringers' annual dinner so an extra day's car hire and all was well.

All this ice and snow has meant an inevitable delay in the winter works on the canal. Caen Hill locks to Devizes will not now open until 27th March instead of the 13th. So we will stay in Bath for another fortnight before we start the 2010 cruising season. Preparations for departure are gradually being made; cruising plans formulated. A new tele aerial, as winter gales and constant putting up and down in the crusiing season have had their toll. The new one equally large, rather than a neat good looking job a girl would prefer to grace her boat; although she has come to the view that good reception for her daily dose of "Countdown" is worth the sacrifice of some elegance. Avon Rose is booked in at Bath Narrowboats for a pre-season service and battery check. We're also having the stern gland repacked (the seal that stops water seeping round the edges of the prop shaft where it comes through the hull if you're wondering).

Mooring lines and the centre rope are beginning to fray and to get past their best. Fine for mooring in the winter on still water, but when we start cruising and we start to put real loads on them we don't want the risk of a line parting at a critical moment. So himself decides to do his home work and source some new rope and whipping twine on-line. Fore and aft mooring lines he decides to go for 16mm three strand artificial hemp, similar to the current ones. Our centre line, the one we use when lock working to control the boat, is a braided rope which means it is a smooth line that will run freely round a bollard and won't snag when you use it to slow the forward motion of the boat. So himself finds a nice white, double braid, 16mm,polypropylene mooring line, UV resistant with excellent abrasion resistance. Perfect for the job. But yes dear reader, you have spotted his fatal error; herself had not been consulted. "I can't have that! It's shiny!" Hang the technical guff, breaking strains and all that abrasion stuff. A girl needs to be seen with a rope that looks good. "It'll have to go back!" So what does himself do? Right again dear reader. What he has always done over the years. A polite "Yes dear," and then ignore her.

The bulbs are coming up in Sydney Gardens. In less than three weeks it will be the vernal equinox, the official start of spring,and in four we're into "Summer (Daylight Saving) Time". Our winter hibernation is coming to an end, but the wet and mud persists. Soon it will be time for goodbyes and this year some thought for the question that is starting to raise it's head. "Do we want to spend another winter on the cut?"