Still on holiday.

I am sure you are all on the edge of your seats awaiting the update from the scintillating travels of the Great Holiday day whatever.  Somerton Deep is as picturesque and exciting as ever.

I am enjoying my holiday so much I am bursting.  Today I boated up to Banbury. It was a veritable success. I didn't meet any boats on the over grown bits, so I have spent very little time removing oxford foliage from my hair.  I saw Nev's old boat Waterlily, and then I arrived in Banbury.  

On mooring up I had some tea, relaxed and then spent 4 hours putting down my new floor - heaven knows why it took so long, especially as I ran out of wood.  When I say new, I of course mean from pallet wood salvaged from the skip (yes yes, all permissions obtained before hand). 

I am so tired everything is looking a bit blurred. 

I haven't done any organ practice for days. My toccata is going to be VERY rusty unless I find somewhere tomorrow - so that's the mission...before the invasion of the young people.

long awaited photographs: Barton Abbey

Here they are....

Holidays Day 1..2... whatever

Time to dust the old blogger scape down and get blogging about my holidays.  HOLIDAYS! A REAL HOLIDAY! I LOVE holidays and I am loving this holiday. Once I recovered from carrying too much shopping down the towpath in one go (first world problems for which I am very thank fun) I was off.

I pulled the pins, bribed my friend heavily to get them to open the lift bridge for me, and there I was sailing off in to the distance. Tiller, blue skies, long thin water.

I was so chirpy by the time I moored up I thought I would pass out with delight. I sat in my chair staring out at Somerton meadows listening to bird song and watching cows frolic. Good heavens.... cows can frolic.

The whole relaxation in a chair thing lasted forever, for me - 20minutes if I recall - it was bliss  but then I did some jobs with the plumbing.A new kitchen tap to be precise.

Somerton Meadow is exquisit for such jobs.

I had a frightfully decadent lie in (not long enough according to the four legged companion) and tomorrow I will move on. Today however, I went on a trip with a friend!. We went to have a look at Barton Abbey Gardens. We stumbled upon the place a few months ago when I  wanted to visited the churchyard - it was such surprise visit. Despite living nearby this gem of a place had gone under my radar. The gardens were open as part of the RGS and were well worth a visit.  It was a beautiful setting, and I rather liked the greenhouse mechanisms.

Pictures will follow, but I am on a wind up 02 internet which has a different role in life that which I thought it had.

Tomorrow the dog and I head northwards.  When I get there I have some flooring to do.

Happy Birthday Maffi!

New Chimney

There is nothing like a new chimney to shake of the cobwebs of the old blog. 

It is that time of year again and the chimney maker and I headed up to Alrewas yesterday to see the old mucker to give him his shiny red pride and joy. 

Maffi's long romance with red is embezzled in my memory (and several layers of paint ago on the boat when he was left unattended near my boat once) so I was pleased to see his big smile when he saw it.

We left him staring at it.

In other news I have painted my chimney.

Shipton Chimney comes tumbling down

Not doing the beans.

Once again the annual trek to do the broad beans has involved staring at the mass and rejoicing. They are not ripe.  We even came a week later to show willing, but still they are not ripe.    Unfortunately I got my weekends confused, so not only are the beans not ripe, but I am missing one of my favourite boating events of the year - Braunston!  One of our team is gallivanting around London, but the other has made it and is busying around post-script hand in for her course.  It is great to catch up and hear about life in the city.

without beans to menace I had a go at trimming the hedges -

The strawberry crop is HUGE so we are busy working our way through pans and pans of strawberries. When my hands stop vibrating I will freeze some and make sorbet (that's when I work out how long it will keep) with the others.  Until then they can sit in my fizz 

Pottering about in the van

This weekend see's me on the shake down whatsit of 'The Van'.  I won't be the first (or last) person to be inspired by a play, let alone Alan Bennett, but when I saw 'The Lady in the Van' I was inspired.  That, combined with taking tea in Graham's van and the great Hymer introduction, I was hooked. Some say 'Lady' has a long way to go, but there is no doubt I have the van nailed.  It's a white panel van called Patch.  We are going to go everywhere together (expect when I am going everywhere together with two, or no, wheels). Boots has taken to dining in the front cabin while I admire the view and google for strong wall magnets. I was going to build cupboards, but I think I will just magnet everything to the wall.
So, here we have the view.....

Or not...I can't work out how to do it....such is the fresh air!