Day 78-84 – Mon 2nd Oct – Sun 9th Oct

Monday 2nd October Our first morning in the marina and we have a few jobs to get stuck into and one of them is Chris cutting the lockers out of the bow. A few reasons for this; one is that the lids are metal and so heavy I cannot even lift them and two, they take up way too much room so the idea is to get rid so we can store stuff like a pushbike but also bags of coal and logs for the winter which means when we don’t need them in better weather we can use the space for the chairs to chill out. The third reason is that due to the weight distribution we cannot fill our water tank to the max as it takes our bow down into the water which then fills up the gas locker with water which isn’t ideal so we are hoping getting rid of the weight of the lockers is a win all around – we will see! We also take advantage of being in the marina to do the washing as they have a launderette although it’s more expensive than the last marina – £6 wash and £4 dry. At Mercia it was £3.50 wash and £1.20 dry so a big difference, it’s also more expensive per night to moor here and whilst their facilities are lovely they don’t have all the amenities at Mercia Marina. They are very friendless and helpful here though. We have a Tesco delivery arriving tonight as well some Amazon items arriving tomorrow. There are certainly perks to having an address. We still need a lot of stuff due to the fact we are still doing up the boat and wanting to get the outside ready for winter. We probably have another month where we will have the weather and the temperatures for painting etc.

Tuesday 3rd October : This morning we decide to tackle another job, as why only have one messy job on the go when you can make life living in a small space so much harder by deciding to sand the worktop in the kitchen and revarnish it. ((Oh my heart bleeds for you Peachy!)) This meant, of course, moving everything out and onto the dinette. I can confirm it doesn’t take too many things out of place for a boat to look very messy and it stresses me out living in an untidy mess but it’s a job that needs doing. There is method in our madness though ((I beg to disagree)) as we are going to visit Lichfield this afternoon whilst we are in the area so the varnish can dry and the smell dissipate whilst we are out.

We discover the transport isn’t that great from Kings Bromley Marina, the site itself is lovely and they have made many upgrades especially in the facilities since we visited last year but you have to walk quite a way to get to the bus stop on a busy road so we book a taxi which is obviously more costly. Lichfield is a lovely city. It’s what I would say is more like a small market town but it officially a city. It has some very notable people who lived there. Here is a link to have a nosey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield. It reminded me of a mix of York, Cambridge but the size of maybe Newark in the centre. Some very beautiful buildings. We had a wander to the cathedral and unbeknownst to us the Gaia was there! Well worth a visit if you go. Wandering done and food eaten we headed to Tesco to get a couple of bits we had missed off the shopping list. Taking advantage of getting some heavier items as we are getting a taxi back. It wasn’t the cheapest day out but as it will be a while before come this way again we wanted to make sure we see as much as we can.

Wednesday 4th October : Today it’s cleaning windows day! ((It’s about time Peachy. Your windows are disgusting!)) I know! Every time we go through a lock and I’m checking out the boat I think how disgusting they look. It’s not the glass. How to explain… there is a pane of glass which sits within a sill, like a top opener but the lip is effectively outside so open to the elements and it’s full of like greeny, slimy stuff ((You are gross!)) also, on the inside it has like a gulley/channel where the water from the windows drops into and then through little holes drains outside, except these are blocked. It’s a little bit like cleaning caravan windows. As we have been doing so many jobs on the boat they were one of the jobs I just never got around to. But today I rolled up my sleeves. ((People, they were disgusting! And I mean disgusting!)) Alright, yes it wasn’t the most pleasant job. It took me about an hour to do each window but I was rewarded the next morning when the bedroom window which starts to have  condensation on them this time of year but now you can clearly see where the window is clearing a bit like when you put the blowers on in car to clear the windows. ((Alright, we’re not that interested! You cleaned your windows do want an MBE or something!)) I know it may be boring to you but sorting out problems like this make the boat breathe better and ultimately will make the windows last longer. I’ve still got the other side to do when we are moored up so I can reach them ((Oh joy. I look forward to that!))

The workshop also gets another coat of varnish and once dried that should be all sealed and sorted for a while. We also finished clearing the bow and are well chuffed with the space. Still a lot more to do but Chris needs some grinding wheels to take it back to metal which we will hopefully get in Rugeley. It’s a good job we tackled it though as it was rusty. I reckon a couple more years without treatment could have caused us to have some welding done but it should be okay now once we have brought it back to life.

 

Thursday 5th October :

We were supposed to leave today but decided to stay. Chris has come down with my cold ((So kind of you for sharing!)) Well, you cannot really avoid each other on a boat! But it’s also because of doing all these jobs the boat is a bit of a tip so I set about making it ship shape ((I think you’ll find it’s a narrowboat not a ship)) we also fill with water ahead of leaving tomorrow and put all the tools away again.

In the afternoon I decide to finally make banana bread. I’ve only been promising Chris for nearly 25 years. I’m pleased to say it was amazing but I don’t think I will be making it very often as it must contain a billion calories per slice and also it’s so tasty I want to eat the whole thing! Maybe if I do make it again I will make less. Whilst its cooling we have a little wander up the canal but don’t go far as his cold is kicking in and his ankle hurting. ((so nothing at all to do with the fact you wanted to get back as fast as possible to eat it?)) nope, absolutely nothing at all to do with it.

Friday 7th October : Cruising day! We finally leave Kings Bromley and I must say Chris executes the perfect meaneavours out the marina even when the wind picks up and right at that moment we have boats converging from each direction of the canal as we leave the marina but we make it out and off we go. It’s a five mile cruise with no locks so we can just relax and enjoy the scenery. It’s a very windy stretch and we go over 3 aqueducts but due to the nature of our position in the canal we cannot really see them. There is some lovely countryside and old warehouses and factories and by lunchtime we arrive at the visitor mooring at Rugeley.

This is another marker for us in our journey. We stopped here briefly last year on our summer cruise and always said we would stop overnight on our next journey. It’s like time has stood still in Rugeley but in a nostalgic way and we love it, although Chris read the market might be closing which is such a shame. We plan to go in tomorrow and have a good old nosey around. I need some jigsaws as well as I have run out! ((Someone call the emergency jigsaw line!)) not that I’ve had time to do any ((OH my heart bleeds for you. It really does. What a hard life you have.)) I’ve been doing a lot of promotion for my  thriller book Power of Nature and on Thursday I finally past 50 reviews on Amazon which has always been a milestone for me and it was great to finally achieve it. Hopefully this means it will encourage more people to read it! I also have an online zoom interview about my book on Sunday, which by the Power of Grayskull ((only people as old as you will get that Peachy!)) I will have had my interview by the time this blog goes out. ((also He-Man never went back to the past I don’t think!)) I just hope my wi-fi works! One of the reasons we are staying here for a few days!

Right, it’s 9.30pm and I’m going to switch my laptop off and listen to my audio books. The nights are drawing in as we say here. Sunrise is now around 7.15am and increasing by a minute or 2 a day and sunset at 18.25 and decreasing by a few minutes a day… winter is coming people! Although when we cruised this morning it was warm and lovely to see the autumn colours starting to show.

Miles/Distance:  5.5 (Kings Bromley to Rugeley) Locks: 0

Saturday 7^th October : Chris has succumbed to my cold and stays in bed for most of the day – a week to the day since I had to do exactly the same but I have my online author interview tomorrow and I need to read my book Power of Nature so that’s me for the day. The questions they are going to ask me are pretty generic as you never want to give away the plot lines as you want to encourage people to read the book but as I kept getting all these fabulous reviews and literally cannot remember most of the plot I decided it made sense to be prepared. It’s a nice evening so once i’ve finished reading my book I sit on the stern writing my notes for the interview and enjoy it as the weather is due to change soon and it will be a bit chilly on the stern.

Sunday 8th October : Chris is sick of being in bed so we have a little walk into Rugeley as we had a planned to go yesterday and we are moving on tomorrow so it’s the last day to do it. Like many places there are too many empty shops but we mange to get everything we need and sit outside Costa and enjoy a coffee watching the world go by before heading back to the boat so I can do my author interview. I’d felt nervous all morning, I’ve done them before but it still makes me nervous and as always, there is the problem we might have with the internet. So far it has been pretty good here.

All goes well and people even asked a few questions which is always nice as it means they have engaged and are interested ((funny that, I never ask you any questions)) to celebrate we have another wander into Rugeley and Chris treats me to a couple of drinks which go right to my head! Late in the evening we are treated to some bats right outside the windows which are amazing to watch. We really are so lucky to be so close to wildlife.

That’s it for this week. At the end of next week we will have had to decide which way to go! We change our minds by the minute!
until next week… x
P.S. sorry if there are any formatting errors. It doesn’t seem to like it when i transfer from word into here to edit and it will take a brainer person than me to figure it out ((I’m saying nothing!))