Herself (muttering): “If I had my way we'd be halfway to Bristol now!”Himself (likewise): “Hmmph....... There be dragons!”
Well, as you can gather from the above, we are finally on the move again, shaking the dust of Bath from our feet. Note dust, not mud! And it appears Herself has not convinced him that navigating down rivers in late winter could be fun.
The weather turned we have had some great sunshine and already the solar panels are earning their keep. A two day break away from the boat leaving domestic batteries at 30% charge and returned to find them fully charged. Wonderful.
And a lovely two day break it was. A train ride to Gloucester to see friends near Ross on Wye. Ringing of course at Monday night practice and the bonus of a trip to Hereford to see the Mappa Mundi and the chained library in the Cathedral. Another tick in Herselfs list of must-sees.
Now our friends have this lovely multi-fuel stove which was burning brightly with some well seasoned logs. Herself, forever observant of such things, notes the beautifully clear clean glass of the fire's doors and enquires how this is achieved. “Well” they say “wet piece of kitchen roll. Dip it in some of the course ash from the fire and rub it over the glass. Cleans it beautifully and keeping the fire drawing well keeps it clean.” Well on the boat keeping the fire drawing well means sauna conditions but himself, with a huge amount of scepticism decides to give it a go and........ easy! Accumulated gunk comes off like magic. No hard scrubbing........ simple; tzch! Chuck out the ceramic hob cleaner and scraper; they worked but not as easily as this.
On our last Sunday in Bath we accompanied the Bath District Ringers to Wells to ring for evensong at the cathedral.(another one not to miss). Heaviest ring of ten in the world I believe, tenor a mighty 56cwt. Front bells, long length of unguided rope and somewhat skittish but an interesting experience. A fond farewell from our ringing friends at the Abbey and after last night dinner, a final stock-up from Tesco Express on Bathwick Hill and we are cruising, retracing our steps eastward. (Perhaps that should be wake). And lo, as we set off, the clouds did gather and the heavens did open and the dampness (and mud) returned. But that's boating! First night at Dundas Aqueduct and now we rest at Bradford on Avon for the weekend. No need to hurry. The Caen Hill flight is closed till the 26th.
The problem with Bradford is that TV and radio signals are awful below the lock and as usual all berths above are taken. A “Freeloader” solar powered re-charger for iPods, mobile phones etc purchased from Oxfam in Bath is set up and put to use. The normal iPod charger does not draw enough current to keep the inverter active so the iPods have been flat for a while. As she wanders around the boat, plugged in and singing along in some strange oriental key, foot tapping and the occasional gyration added in, himself is heard to mutter, “I knew there was a reason I hadn't done this before.”
