Llangollen Canal First Episode

Had a great start to our 'holiday' on the Llangollen, Be warned this is the first instalment of the photos for this canal. Got a new camera that takes video so I have added a video giving an idea of how we spend our evenings when we are moored in a nice quiet spot.

 

The lower end of the Llangollen is mainly farm land, woodland and some pretty meres. Here is a selection of photos.

Adrian's favourite view

A mere (not Windermere)

Woodland view

  

Leaving Jarrett in the marina

Adrian driving Whippets for a change

Blue Tractor !!!

Nice building Ellesmere

Cows in the garden

More cows

Hairy Cows

The cows are coming to get you

Italian cows?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small furry cow?

Mrs Bucket is alive and well!

There are a lot of hire boaters on the Llangollen many of them very inexperienced. This pair of Aussies were actually very sweet and grateful for some help but someone should have told her that she looked stupid.

Keep tuned in for Part 2 coming soon - and yes it will feature a big scary aqueduct. And just to keep you interested Part 3 will have live steam! 

Drink More Wine!

Spring has sprung

We have just had a wonderful afternoon sitting on the towpath at  Coole Pilate   - north of Audlem still on the Shropshire Canal. Between 3 of us we demolished 5 bottles of wine and most a box of Cheese melts. Enjoyed the company of Phil and Judith and sat looking at a very wide sky and watching the clouds. Its surprising how little we look at clouds now we are all grown up.

We have the next batch of homebrew bubbling away in the bucket and will soon have some wine on the go. The homebrew shop in Market Drayton has been great fun and we have spent lots of pennies there. He told me about a website about wine  and when I looked it up - good news - drinking wine is good for you, See attached link. /www.winewire.co.uk/2012/03/27/how-to-reduce-dementia-drink-good-wine/

We have had a row with British Waterways contractors about strimming too close to the boat - less than 3 feet from where I was sitting! Hopefully our moan has had some results.

We have enjoyed the new scenery and have dropped down the locks at Adderly and Audlem and are now on the Cheshire plains. The weather could have been kinder but its still fun.

This is a photo of the Wrekin. There is a saying here if you can see the Wrekin it is going to rain, if you can't 

see the Wrekin its already raining.

Yes we did get wet.

How many locks!

Our back garden

Our drive to the shops

Primroses are still here

Easter on a new canal

.Well we finally found the courage to turn the corner at Autherly and go up the Staffs and Worcester. 

We decided to join in the canal world forum 'banter'. This was a gathering of boaters over the Easter weekend at Calf Heath. This was a banter with a difference as it was also to celebrate the marriage of Dave and Jan. It was such a fun weekend. I was very impressed that the toast to the happy couple was in beer (served in champagne glasses) and the wedding 'cake' was actually a big round of cheese. Fortunately the bride did not throw the bouquet as this was an iron windlass decorated with roses and castles. As the evening wore on some brave souls found their guitars and we had a great time singing along.

 If it had ended there it would have been fine, unfortunately we ended up going back to the bar on Sunday and after many drinks started off with the singing and dancing again. Monday was therefore a duvet day. We rose bright eyed and bushy tailed on Tuesday with the intention of moving off up to Penkridge. Unfortunately we were persuaded to have a quick drink of sloe gin with Tracey and Ray off Billy Whizz. Several sloe gins, damson gins and butterscotch schnapps later Ray played us some beautiful Flamenco guitar and we ended up back in the bar again. We eventually got to Penkridge, stayed for a day or two then turned round and ended up back in calf heath for another boozy evening with Phylis and Jim who we knew from over-wintering in Gnosall. So in retrospective, the Staffs and Worcester was great although our livers now need to recover.

Proper wedding outfit.

A fine toast

Purple beard and new teeth

You put your left arm in

Mmmmmm beer

How many boaters to change  a light bulb

Billy Whizz - of course!

As spring has reached the land it has been wonderful seeing everything coming to life but it has been strange going past fields that were brown for so long in winter and then became green finally resulting in a whole yellow landscape of oilseed rape.

Spring lambs - Italian Greyhounds

TRACTOR !!!!

Adrian on Jarrett

Yellow

More Yellow

Italian Greyhounds = they're not whippets!

Went to the UK Toy Dog Championship show with Bob last week, Long time since I walked a show ring and I didn't do Bob justice, still he looked a star and got a nice blue rosette for second. Here is the evidence plus a photo of a real champion dog!

And here are a few photos from the album just to prove how energetic and hard working Italian Greyhounds can be.

Working flat out

Harry - Number one son

Three brothers

Ivy - little mother to all

Lucy in the sun

 

 

Fred also sun-bathing

Sleeping Beauties

Its a hard life

Whoopee - all the dental appointments and doctors visits are done, so we will be starting our summer journey soon - although the Easter weather is not looking promising. In the meantime, life has been one hard slog - cruising, chatting, sleeping, sitting in the sun, drinking and dancing and sometimes working on the boats!