Lots of Lots!

I haven’t blogged for a while so to my avid readers around the globe I apologise. There has not really been any reason – I just haven’t got ‘round to it!
Last Saturday He went off to an auction in Market Rasen. There were over 1400 lots laid out in the car park of the Racecourse which were sold in three simultaneous auctions. There were hundreds of people there. It’s called a farm collective sale and there are two a year; the lots comprise just about anything from a garden rake, through farm equipment and machinery to cars, vans and vintage tractors. He says that apart from being able to buy a few things ( some of which I suspect he didn’t know He wanted before he went!) it was good entertainment and an opportunity to meet a few folks he hadn’t seen in a while.
So what did he buy? Well he came home with a selection of weights ( the kind used on large farm scales for weighing potatoes and the like) and half a barrel! I really don’t know what to say but He seemed pleased so we shall see what he does with them. Quite eccentric I would say!
On Sunday He spent the day clearing out the garage so that the youngest one, C, can have a 16th birthday party in it next weekend. I was sorry to see that He threw away the placards from my peace camp some years ago! It’s all clean and tidy and I await with anticipation to see how He copes with an army of 16 year olds next weekend!

The world did not end last night ...but the Homework got done!

I’m pleased to report that the world didn’t end yesterday! It wasn’t foretold that it would I hasten to add (that is some date in 2012 I am told) but it had the capacity to. What was this world event that shook the globe and sent millions into a frenzy. Was it President Obama’s address to the UN or some terrorist event? No. ….FACEBOOK CRASHED! Not once but several times and in the UK was “out” for most of the evening causing anguish amongst millions of teenagers ( and adults) and no doubt a massive increase in the usage of other social networking sites and the mobile phone companies dealing with a surge in text messages. I imagine that the ether was so full of Tweets that the birds couldn’t hear themselves think. Mind you the homework got done.

The irony in all this is that is that the movie The Social Network is about to be released in the US and there is a scene in which the network has a near meltdown as an investor threatens to pull out and the servers are threatened with being closed down whilst Jesse Eisenberg, playing a young (!) Mark Zuckerberg, fights to save his dream. But is it irony? Some might say that the real world shutdown of Facebook yesterday has drawn significant attention to the movie.

Incidentally Mark Zuckerberg (26) was recently named by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s richest men worth $6.9billion based on the value of his shares in Facebook. According to my bear brain though, if Facebook doesn’t work then those shares aren’t worth anything!

Locked Out....a boating term?!

He and L went off last Thursday to get the boat back after the bottom blacking. They took the train to Long Eaton and having dropped all their gear off on the boat which was in a dry dock they went to the pub for a meal and a couple of drinks. Very tired they went back at 10 o’clock and as he tried to open the door lock on the boat the key sheared off in the lock; the language was quite choice. Fortunately the Dry Dock was in the same building as a workshop and after some rooting about He found some tools with which to “gain entry” otherwise known a breaking in! Phew.
Next morning the boatyard owner had to cut off the padlock with an angle grinder. After that they set off for home and after a 9 ½ hour journey they arrived in Newark just as it was getting dark. Nik was waiting for them outside the Barge Pub (appropriately) with a pint in his hand!
Next day they left at 8am and got to West Stockwith at 4pm where after refuelling they spent the night moored up outside the Waterfront Inn. The final leg back to the home mooring was done on Sunday morning in pouring rain. A good time was had by all.

In the Dry Dock

Flooding the dry dock

Bottom Blacking!

Now that the title has got your attention, I should perhaps explain that this is not another example of cruelty to bears, but a ritual which has to be performed on narrowboats from time to time.

Last Thursday he and I set off from Clayworth in the afternoon and travelled down the Chesterfield Canal to where it meets the Trent at West Stockwith. Early on Friday morning we headed out of the lock onto the Trent and 5 1/2 hours later we arrived at Cromwell Lock near Newark which the limit of the tidal river. After another hour and a half we moored up in Newark itself where She and C joined us. We had a leisurly cruise up the Trent on Saturday to moor up for the night outside County Hall in the city centre. On Sunday we carried on to Trent Lock on the Erewash Canal. In the afternoon She, C and I went home by car whilst he stayed on to see the boat safely into the the dry dock the next morning.

We are off again later today to bring the boat back, this time with L and Nik.

Lincolnshire Wolds Railway

On bank holiday monday a couple of weeks ago we went to the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway at Ludborough near Louth. A fellow blogger had given me the idea when I read her blog.

It's only about a 3 mile trip but none the less enjoyable. The locomotive that pulled our train was only a year older then Him. Tee Hee!The name was amusing as well!

A visit to the Dales

Last week they took themselves off to Malham in Yorkshire for a couple of days. I went as well but they didn't let me out of their hotel room! They did quite a lot of walking around Malham Cove and Goredale Scar. They had a good time and by all accounts ate well in the pub where they stayed. Their visit coincided with the Malham show which they went to and greatly enjoyed; He was amused by the Longest Dandelion Root competition and also the quest to see how many items beginning with M in a matchbox!

The trip continued

On Sunday he got up early and set off at 0730 down the New Junction Canal. As he didn't have a crew (apart from me) he had to do all the Lift Bridges and Locks himself. By lunchtime we were in Thorne where L and her boyfriend Nik joined us. He was grateful for their help.

We got to the Vazon Railway bridge near Keadby by about 4pm only to find that it was out of order. This bridge is now unique in that it carries two railway tracks across the canal and slides diagonally to allow boats to pass. Anyway, we had to wait for Network Rail to fix it and eventually got to Keadby at 8pm.

We then went home for a day and returned to the boat on Monday night. Yesterday (Tuesday) He and C went through Keadby Lock on to the tidal Trent to West Stockwith where he made a bit of a mess of getting into the lock. He says he misjudged the wind and tide but when He shouted "Hold on" I knew it was time to hide. We made it and after five more hours we reached out home mooring at Clayworth where we were picked up.

River Trent - M180 bridge

Chesterfield Canal

Birthday!

It's his birthday today which I suppose means it's mine too. Well I arrived on his birthday in 2002 so that's the closestI have to one!.

We woke up in Leeds whee they gave him presents before we set off. We arrived at Lemonroyd Marina about lunchtime where they all left leaving him to carry on alone with the boat. We ended up at Southfied Junction on the New Junction Canal. A bit of a long day.

Back in Leeds

We left Skipton on Monday and arrived in Leeds on Thursday afternoon. It was a pleasant journey and here are some photos He took along the way.

Skipton

We've spent three days in Skipton and liked it very much. They have been to Bolton Abbey, shopping, eating out and generally mooching about while I looked after the boat.
These are some pictures of Bolton Abbey.





To get there they went on an old Diesel train. It should have been steam but unfortunately that wasn't working.