Retirement with No Problem

I can’t keep up! Now it is….

sue — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:48:40 +0000

Jessica!!!!!!

Have a super duper day Jessica!!

xxxx

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Only just, then on to St Ives through the flooded fields

sue — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:13:06 +0000

Aldreth Flat Bridge to St Ives, Old West River and River Great Ouse, 10.5 miles 3 locks

It was a close call at Hermitage Lock, the river above here has only just been opened to navigation, the river is very high indeed above the lock..

Look at the marks on the wall of where the water will get to as we rise up to the Great Ouse..

And there is still a little way to go yet, very tight indeed today.

Once out we got a bit of a shock, and how pleased we were that we have cruised this river plenty of times before. It must be a very daunting sight for newcomers who don’t know where the actual river bed is!..

Believe it or not, the actual river bed is just to the left of the row of trees in the centre of the picture! To the right leads to the Marina at Earith, to the left, or straight on as you look, to the farmer’s fields!

Unfortunately just as we approached the services at Earith another boat pulled out of the marina in front of us and pulled in there. This caused us not to get away for another hour and half. The diesel hose wouldn’t stretch the length of NP, so I had to about turn to put a bit in..

About turn again and we were away towards the next lock at Brownhills. Most amazing, it was on the level, and although the downstream guillotine was up the upstream one was down, well down in fact, underneath the water! Ha, EA could have had both guillotines up so we could go straight through!..

Some wonderful birds on our cruise today.. Here a Little Egret has just got hold of an eel found in the flooded fields, then there were the Egyptian Geese..

Followed by the majestic oyster catcher..

Lucky me today, but to be honest this is one of the reasons we so love coming over to these rivers in the east, the wildlife and birds are absolutely fantastic. There is always something to see out there.

I love the little village of Hollywell, trouble is it is always so shallow I doubt NP would get in to the side…

But looking over there it looks like they have improved the mooring. Might try that on the way back. I had an appointment with the vets in St Ives later in the evening so no chance today.

So St Ives it was..

It is so lovely to be back here again. The high flood banks have gone and we have reached the real beauty of the Great Ouse which we shall enjoy for the next few days. Gosh the wind has been high again, and the flow very fast against, so it took a bit of time to get here!

Penny has now had her first vaccination, the vet was really lovely with her so she never got stressed at all.. what a good start for the pup!

We have moored by the Dolphin Hotel on the 48 hour EA mooring. I have never moored here before, it has always been full of boats, but this evening there is just us and regular blog reader David enjoying his holiday on one of the Fox Narrowboats from March on the Middle Levels..

I think we might go to Godmanchester tomorrow, the butchers there is fantastic, oh and so is the fish and chip shop!

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Phew, just what we needed close to Aldreth

sue — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:01:24 +0000

Stretham to Aldreth Flat Bridge, Old West River, 9 miles 0 locks

Once again the back canopy was up. It wasn’t bad first thing, but it wasn’t long until the clouds arrived. Once again the wind was directly in our faces. It is amazing, it doesn’t seem to matter which way we travel the wind is nearly always against! I suppose we have got used to it now, and are merrily cruising each day whatever the weather. The back canopy is a godsend though..

Still sunny though as we passed the Old Stretham Steam engine building, the last surviving steam powered engine out of over 100 in this part of the fens. On certain weekends they fire it up for visitors, we have never been lucky enough to be there at that time.. maybe on the way back..

We had a tern following us for ages watching in our wash for fish..

These birds are so agile and accurate, I’ll tell you what, he caught a fair few fish, a good feed following us for just over half a mile.

We had planned to get above Hermitage Lock today and possibly St Ives, but we found a stash of wood close to Aldreth, not easy to get.. heh, whenever is it, but we loaded it best we could on the back deck. We are down to our last bag of coal and our last handful of logs, so that was most welcome especially as there are not many trees in the fens!..

‘Tis going below freezing tonight, it is well needed.

So decisions made, as I do, and we stopped not much further along finding a lovely mooring with a hard side and a bit of protection from the pesky wind. It was very difficult you see, to steer NP in the wind and rain holding on to a couple of small branches to stop them falling and trying to dodge a very active puppy flying around the back deck!

In any case, we couldn’t really get out the chain saw on St Ives quay could we!

Oh such a tiring day aboard No Problem.. crash status!

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One million is a number I never thought I would meet anywhere!

sue — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:29:20 +0000

But I did over the weekend..

I missed it.. I was gutted last night when I looked at the stats. I knew it was close, but I had anticipated a week later than this. It is because of all the doggy posts of late, they have been extremely lookable!

So I have passed the magic mark and saw yesterday evening 1,002,836 hits on this blog since I first introduced statcounter on 15th March 2005. Heh, that day there were just 27 visits!

Now then, I have to thank you all for that, I have to thank you all for making me write something each week, or most days a week. It is a wonderful record for me and my family, and sometimes I look back at past blogs, and they make me smile to think of what has gone on during our retirement.

If it wasn’t for you lot keep looking and making me feel that I had a commitment to you all to say something I wouldn’t have that record you know?, And I cherish that.

In that time we have travelled the length and breath of the waterways.. Furthest north (in those days) Ripon (July 2004)..

Furthest south (nowadays) Godalming (July 2010)..

The distance between the two is 401 miles and 180 locks. Hey, that hat got a bit bleached on the way!

We have met some wonderful people over the years both boaters and gongoozlers I can’t possibly name them all here. We have made an awful lot of firm friends.

What a life we lead, it is just so wonderful, I am dead chuffed today with those stats, but I am more chuffed that we decided to do this for our retirement and live the dream…. Dream on…

Thank you, to each and every one of you who has read my blog,…

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A new crew member at Upware

sue — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:35:29 +0000

Upware to Stretham, Rivers Cam and Old West, 3.5 miles 0 locks

Well here you are, the first pics of the pup Penny our new crew member who I guess has just won the dog lottery!..

Meg is not overly though as you can see by her expression, her nose has been put out of joint a bit for sure. It could be that Penny is so tiny at the moment, or it could be that she now has to share pats!

I am so pleased I picked up a couple of toys when we were in Ely last, and those along with an old pair of slippers has kept her from chewing what she must not. Need to learn some other stuff too like “What is that?”..

Ahem, not to be walked on Penny! It was the bits of vegetation floating by that caught her eye. The weather has been too cold and wet today to show her that the river is not a solid item, Ill let her settle a couple of days before introducing new stuff like that!

We moved this morning in the pouring rain from the Five Miles from Anywhere pub at Upware as the mooring was rather shallow and it was a bit of a jump from the back deck to shore. At least here at Stretham just inside the Old West River the EA moorings are deep and have a good hard edge which helped the pup today.

I need to arrange her first vaccination as soon as possible, before that I can only take her just outside the boat not on pathways used by other dogs. I’ll do that at St Ives, but I might have to wait for the river above the next lock to calm down a bit. A ring to the lock keeper first thing tomorrow to see how the levels are.

Meg and I were very lucky this afternoon. I had taken her out for a very long walk and with one hundred yard to go to the boat on the way back it started to drizzle a bit. No sooner had I got aboard the heavens opened with the hardest rain I have seen in a very long time. The visibility dropped right down it was that hard.. lucky us!

OK one more pic..

All I need to do now is teach her how to tie the boat up, seems she has the idea of how to grab a rope!

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It’s Jennie’s turn, Happy Birthday to you tra la la la

sue — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:37:02 +0000

Happy Birthday Jennie! Hope you have a wonderful day! xx.

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A weekend in Cambridge in glorious weather

sue — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:13:28 +0000

Cambridge to Upware, River Cam, 10 miles 2 locks

No time to do a blog yesterday really, but we had a really brilliant day in the sunshine. Kevin and Debbie came up from Ely and met us at Little Thetford then it was onward together to Cambridge. It is such a lovely river, the Cam, but then I enjoy all rivers I suppose. It has been quite some time since we went up the Cam, in fact it was the first week of June 2006. That is the only time we did, and then we didn’t go all the way to Cambridge after being scared off at The Plough at Fen Ditton.

I recalled on that blog that we spoke to some people who warned us of the rowing eights and how dangerous it can be with a narrowboat in between them. Having thought about it that year we decided to turn back…

Not so this year, I was quite happy to do combat with the rowers! Anyway I have an awful lot more experience now on rivers. Mind there is a lot going on on this river..

Ooops, and it wasn’t that windy. One in the water so the little safety boat is now zooming down river to come and tell our convoy of two to ease up until the unlucky sailor gets the yacht back up!

Look at that glorious weather too! Certainly cheered me, was just what I needed a bit of sunshine. I loved the trip to Cambridge through the suburbs and past the rowing houses and towards the end of the navigation I spied…

But unfortunately Amy and James were not at home.. what a pity, I had been really looking forward to meeting them. Kevin gave them a knock later in the evening to see if they wanted to come join the party, but hey you two must have been away for the weekend eh?! Sorry to have missed you both.

It wasn’t that wide at Jesus Lock, the limit of navigation, and not thinking, I turned NP the wrong way round so made it more difficult for myself. My stern should have gone to the left which meant that the weir on the right would have pushed the front around.. DOH! Instead it took ages as the stern was trying to go round against the flow of that!

After mooring on Midsummer Common I took Meg for a wander to try and find a supermarket for a bit of salad to go with the lasagna that Debbie had invited us to aboard Avalon. It gave me an opportunity to have a closer look at Jesus Lock..

Now that is a bit different. The lock gate beams are beautiful in the way they curve. Upstream from here are the punts that can be hired to get to what they call the backs, passing some of the Universities on the way. I would have liked to have done that, but nobody else was interested! Shucks! I mean it wasn’t as if I had asked Vic to punt me (ha, can you imagine that!) I would have been very happy with wine in hand to be chauffeured by a straw hatted good looking fella!

Great night out on Kevin and Deb’s boat last night.. I don’t know how we manage to find so much to talk about!

Mr Tesco delivered some groceries at Chesterton this morning on our way out of Cambridge, and then we had to wait an hour or so as there was some racing on the river, some 40 rowing eights going flat out past us before we dared venture downstream.. Glad I wasn’t on the river while that was going on!

Trip back then today just as enjoyable as yesterday stopping at the Five Miles from Anywhere pub close to Wicken Fen. No time for a wander this evening as it was quite late when we got here due to the delay. If the weather isn’t too bad tomorrow that is where I will venture.

Absolutely great weekend that was!

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Just fantastic through to Cambridge

sue — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:56:30 +0000

Little Thetford to Cambridge, Rivers Great Ouse and Cam, 14.5 miles 2 locks

‘Tis late and we have enjoyed the welcome of an evening onboad Kevin’s and Debbie’s boat Avalon. Moored now in Cambridge, we have had such a fantasic day…

That from Kevin says it all…

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Twiddleee Thumbs, but we do go shopping to Ely

sue — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:37:05 +0000

Little Thetford to Ely and back, River Great Ouse, 5.5 miles 0 locks

I thought the wind had died down a bit this morning when I decided to take Meg on a long trek along some lovely paths that I have taken before, but as I walked away from the shelter of the bankside mooring I realised that the wind was still very high along the Ouse valley. There is one thing I hate when walking and that is the high wind!..

Big skys again here in East Anglia..

Thought I would take the new phone out today, and I am very pleased with the few pictures that I took. I would like them to be 600×400 size, but it would only size to 533×400. I shall have to look and see if I can get the original sizes changed so they end up a bit wider..

There are lots of these crossings over the Peterborough to Cambridge railway line, none of them are controlled so care is needed..

I’ll tell you what, while I am writing this blog I am getting bombarded with bugs.. need to close the windows. I guess that might just mean a nice day tomorrow!

Done it.. but now I have squish marks on the computer screen!

We needed some bits from Ely, milk etc.. There is a bus at the top of the road here in Little Thetford, but I would have to wait in Ely for a hour for a bus back so we decided to go shopping by boat!

Anyway it served a couple of purposes. Batteries were charged and water tank filled, about turn and we were back at Little Thetford just 10 minutes after I would have been the same had I bused it!

It was nice to meet up with Jim and Carolyn over here for a few months from America enjoying our waterways. Late this afternoon they joined us on the mooring. Not seen them since we got stuck at Thrapston back in April.

We don’t normally move at the weekends, but the weatherman has promised a bit of yellow stuff tomorrow, so we are going to Cambridge! I am really looking forward to that because it is one of the places I have never been. I know we have spent many summers over here in the fens, but we never managed to get to Cambridge.

I am waiting to hear from Kevin to see if we are going in convoy with his widebeam.. now that would be fun!

The River Great Ouse above Earith is still in flood so is closed to navigation still.. I am hoping that will change next week so I can collect mail from St Ives and get on with our summer cruising program!

Hopefully some action pictures tomorrow of NP on the move then!

Edit: Ah ha! Managed to get those pictures the size I want. Also been in contact with Kevin, yes a convoy it is tomorrow.. Look out Amy, here we come!

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Just a quickie..

sue — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:32:10 +0000

Moored Little Thetford, River Great Ouse

Got my head stuck into something tonight.. Only just pulled myself away to put a quick blog post up for you.

I have had a very good day today in the Office, most paperwork has been filed away, phone calls completed and meetings arranged.. phew a big brain offload!

In my patch today..

From Peterborough Evening Telegraph

I know when we went south the other day passing on the train the River Nene was way above the embankment, and I could see the boats looking as if they were in the middle of the river, some 10 to 15 feet from the bank. This is what happens when the boats drift on to the land, then the water goes down tipping them over.

What this boater should have done is put some poles alongside his boat to stop that from happening. Thankfully we have only had to do that once ever!

But what boaters have been talking about more than anything today is the guilotine RSJ put across one of the locks on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (pics here on Narrowboatworld) in response to a young lad who was killed when he fell off his bike into the water. Maffi explains more..

“….Do BW have no idea how boats are operated? Did they ever think to go and sit at the lock for a week or two and see how boaters negotiated the lock? If they had done so they would have given proper consideration for those that pay to use the canal and less to people who trespass upon it….”

Very dangerous indeed, you may not be looking forward for a split second when approaching a bridge.. Chas was doing that one year..

Teehee… Actually he was gently reversing!

Oh it was a bit more than a quickie.. didn’t you do well!

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