8 July 2012

Before we left the marina to go home we walked round to the shop so that Lydia could buy an ice cream.  On the way Spud the cat was teasing me again.  He hides in the grass.  I can smell him and I can hear him but mum won't let me chase him.  It's not fair.

We also walked all the way round the marina so that we could say goodbye to the swan family.

We had a lovely few days with Jennyanydots.  Lydia says she wants to stay for a hundred sleeps!

7 July 2012

What a waste of a sunny morning.  I don't understand people sometimes.  Instead of going out and having fun mum and Lydia put loads of mats and stuff out on the pontoon and then they brushed and hoovered the floor.  I was not a happy dog.  After lunch we all got in the car and went to Fradley Junction because Lydia loves it there.  As soon as we got out of the car and walked round to the brass rubbing place it started to pour with rain again.  We waited for a while in the swan house but then mum got fed up and made us get back in the car to go back to the marina.

In the evening the sun came out again and Lydia and I played pulling up water weeds and dragging them along the pontoon onto the grass.  That was good fun except that Rosie Teddy fell in a puddle and got a very muddy foot.




waterweeds are really good fun



6 July 2012

It poured down with rain all day.  It was so boring because we all stayed on the boat most of the day.  In the evening I had a huge fight with Bingo, the Collie.  Our people didn't know what had started it but we were arguing about who was the boss dog.

Me and Lydia and the car are nearly floating away in one of the huge puddles

Thursday 5 July 2012

Mum and I spent the morning being P.A.T. dogs then collected Lydia from Nursery. We arrived at Kings Bromley before 3.00 pm and it was lovely and warm and sunny. We had a lovely time with Lydia showing Rosie Teddy round the marina. Lydia got even muddier than me jumping in muddy puddles while mum talked to the people on board NB No Direction. By the time it was bedtime Lydia had already used up two changes of clothes.

Showing Rosie Teddy around the marina



If you look carefully you can see a huge tortoise asleep inside this box teddy



the old rusty boat is just the place for pirate girls and teddies

every lady pirate has to have the lipstick right

26 June 2012

I was a bit worried all morning because the people were packing bags again and I didn't know what was happening.  Mum finally dried out the water in the bilges using my dog towels.  After lunch we said goodbye to Jennyanydots and to the swan family and set off to go back home.

Goodbye Swan family.  Goodbye Kings Bromley Marina

Mum was very happy because she had had such a lovely time.  Thank you Liz for coming out with us.

25 June 2012

There was some warmish sun today and more boats were moving.  Before we set off mum and Liz cleared the grease from around the greaser and the bilge pump and got it working properly again. 

A party of primary school children out on a trip

Mum said it was very good to see primary school children out on the towpath.. It was by Alvechurch Marina.  There is so much for children to see and learn about.

We stopped at Hopwas School Bridge for lunch.  We finally got back to the marina about 7.00 p.m.  It would have been earlier but a Black Prince boat seemed to take for ever to turn round at Fradley Junction and then we were in a queue for the last locks.  I was so excited to be back at Kings Bromley because for the first time for ages I knew where I was.

24 June 2012

When we woke up it wasn't raining but it was still cold.  There were showers as we went down the Atherstone Locks.  Liz was off the boat doing the locks and mum and I kept getting on and off to do the paddles on the other side.  At first I was a bit confused but I soon learnt that I had to jump back onto the boat quickly as it started to go down after mum had opened the paddle. 

the last lock going down Atherstone in the cold, wet and wind

We eventually moored up back at Pooley Nature Reserve.  I liked it there especially when mum played chuck it with me in the trees.  I never knew where the ball was going to go so I had to keep watching very carefully.  It was lovely and warm inside the boat because mum had lit the fire.  She kept looking into the bilges because the bilge pump didn't seem to be working properly unless she switched it on.  There looked like a lot of water around the engine and mum tried mopping it out.  Mum also got dad to use Facetime on his new IPAD so it was fun to hear Toby barking and dad talking.

23 June 2012

It was still windy but this time it was behind us and blew us quite quickly away from the basin.  We stopped at Tesco by the Ricoh Stadium.  As the afternoon went on it got colder and we moored up between Bridges 35 and 36 on the Coventry Canal.

22 June 2012

Today was Toby's birthday so mum sent him a message from me.  It was raining and very windy with some bursts of incredibly heavy rain.  Mum and Liz were absolutely soaking by the time we got to Hawkesbury Junction.  By the time we arrived in Coventry Basin it had stopped raining but was still very windy.  Mum and Liz took me into the city centre.  I had never been anywhere like it before but they said that I was a very good boy.  As the afternoon wore on I got more and more desperate because there wasn't any grass so where was I supposed to wee and poo?  Eventually mum found a lovely little garden down by the bridge at the entrance to the basin and it was perfect for me.

I  wonder what the man is saying to Liz

I stayed close to mum but I didn't like it very much

We walked round the basin and looked at the other boats.  There was a statue of a man called Brindley.  It was so big and black and still that I got frightened and growled and barked at it.  Mum didn't seem bothered so I just stayed close to her.

Sailing through the narrow bridge into Coventry Basin

It stayed dry but very windy all the time we were moored in the basin.  The people cooked and ate the goat for their evening meal.  They said it was like lamb but tougher and needed cooking for longer.  We had a very quiet night.

21 June 2012

When we woke up mum and Liz decided to stay at Market Bosworth for a while because they had managed to get BTFON.  They spent ages on their computers.  I wanted to get off the boat and play.
We eventually stopped at Stoke Golding for lunch because mum wanted to buy some mooring rings and new rope from the Chandlery there but it had closed because there wasn't enough trade.  After lunch we stopped at the farm shop by Bridge 23 again and this time they bought some goat!  The butcher actually got the carcass out of the fridge and cut some chops off it.  At the end of the day we moored up by Bridge 14 just past Hinkley. Jennyanydots kicked Liz into a clump of nettles.  Her arms were badly stung.

Today was the first time we all got properly wet.  The weather gods weren't smiling on us today.  It absolutely poured down with rain but mum and Liz enjoyed seeing the steam powered boat NB Tixhall steam past us and then moor up behind us.

20 June 2012

Another absolutely glorious day. On the way to the end of the canal we saw a boat called The Water House. That was what mum and dad were going to call their first boat. We had to go through a tunnel to get to the terminus. Mum and Liz were a bit anxious about it because they aren't that keenon tunnels. I was a bit scared but I was a very good dog and did exactly what mum told me to and just lay down on the deck. When we got to the end we moored for lunch and ate bacon butties. We walked up to the new part of the canal and I was so happy because I was allowed to go swimming at the new slipway. On the way back I played with a new friend called Jack. We moored up for the night back at Market Bosworth. Mum was happy because she was able to walk up towards the village and post some post cards. She has never been able to walk well enough to do that before. It was such a lovely evening we all sat out on the deck until after 10.00 pm.

The work being done to restore the Ashby Canal.  Apparently this new bit is leaking and they can't find out why so it is being lined with stuff similar to the lining on the Montgomery Canal.



"Do I have to get out of the water now?  I want to stay longer"



19 June 2012

We woke up to a beautiful day with warm sunshine. After getting water at Hinkley, lunch at Stoke Golding we went shopping at a lovely new farm shop just by Bridge 23. I couldn't go into the shop and was really upset when mum tied me up outside. All day mum and Liz kept checking for something called BTFON but with no success. We were heading for the Battlefield Moorings but when we got there there were notices saying that it was closed. Apparently now that it has been discovered that all the Battle of Bosworth stuff is in the wrong place King Richard's memorial stone has been moved and so the farmer has stopped access to the canal across his land. We moored up on the other side just before the Shenton Aquaduct.

Battlefield Moorings - closed in March 2012

Liz and mum

18 June 2012

We had a lazy morning and set off after lunch in the sunshine.  Mum and Liz were really excited because we met President and Saturn coming through Anchor Bridge.  They were on the way back from the Jubilee Pageant on the Thames.  Mum and Liz were both annoyed after the boats had passed because neither of them had a camera with them to take a picture. 

Mum was really pleased with me.  She has always wanted a dog which would lie sensibly on the counter like this

We stopped for lunch after we had turned onto the Ashby Canal.  Mum got excited again because two Hotel Boats passed us.  Mum asked if they did trips through London and if dogs were allowed on the boats.

Hotel Boats sailing past on the Ashby Canal near Lloyds Bridge at lunchtime

At the end of a beautiful day we moored up just after Bridge 12.  My people were happy because they hadn't needed to wear fleeces all day.  I played on the towpath and they ate their meal outside on the deck.


Liz eating delicious bacon pasta



17 June 2012

We stopped for water and rubbish at Bradley Green and then moored up for lunch below Atherstone Bottom Lock.  At the first lock when we were ready to go NB No Direction, which moors at Kings Bromley just by the bridge, was coming down.  They took a photo of us in the lock.  Mum was really really pleased because it was the first lock she has been able to do for years because of her knees.  The photo shows that her new knees are working well and her other problems sorted.  It just started to rain as the boat was in the lock.

photo taken by NB No Direction

Mum and Liz were surprised at how quickly we got up the locks although we did meet quite a few boats coming down.  At tea time we moored up near Mancetter and down came the rain.

16 June 2012

We woke up fairly early and left Kings Bromley Marina before 8.30.  It was very windy and mum struggled to get Jennyanydots out of the marina but after a bit of dodgems we were on our way.  The weather forecast had predicted heavy rain but it was just windy.  We had lunch at Hopwas but as we set off again the wind got stronger and stronger.  Liz was on the tiller but was having a hard time keeping the boat from bumping other boats because of the wind and the trees.  It blew so hard that the mooring rope was blown off the roof and the man in Piston Broke got really cross with her because he said she wasn't looking where she was going.  I wanted to stand on the counter and watch what was going on but mum made me lie down in case I got bumped off the boat.  We moored up for the night in Pooley Nature Reserve.  Mum and Liz took me for a lovely walk through the woods before we went to bed.  We didn't get wet because the rain came when we were all tucked up inside the boat.

15 June 2012

At last, after nearly half the year had gone, me and mum met Liz at Knutsford and drove down to the marina at the start of our first proper trip for absolutely ages.  I had to stay in the car while the peopke went shopping at Tesco.  After all the unpacking was done we all had an early night.

Spring time 2012

After four months away from Jennyanydots the full crew returned at the beginning of March.  On this first visit since mum's latest operation the glass in the door of the fire cracked and the engine wouldn't start.  Good old RCR fixed the engine and mum took the door back home to get new glass fitted.  On the next visit a few weeks later it was just mum, me and Lydia.  I was naughty and ran off over the bridge and nearly got hit by a car.  Mum was very upset because she should have put me on the lead.  Lydia loved playing pirates on the rusty boat.

Our trip to Tixall Wide.

We paid a few more weekend visits to Kings Bromley Marina, mum and I even went out by ourselves and moored on the towpath near Handsacre.  Then on April 12 Liz, Annabel and Lydia joined me and mum for a trip to Tixall Wide.  Lydia was so excited to go shopping by boat when we stopped at Rugely to stock up the fridge.  We moored up there for the night and the next day we went up two locks and eventually arrived at Tixall Wide.  I was a bit puzzled by the locks but I soon remembered what to do and this time I didn't fall in.  It was lovely at the wide place.  Annabel took me for a walk and I went swimming.  We had a barbecue and watched the swans nesting on the other side of the wide.

In May dad and Toby came with us to the boat and we all took Lydia back to Tixall Wide.  Lydia also wanted to go to Fradley but there wasn't time to go by boat so we all went by car from the marina before we went home.  We took dad and Toby for a walk round the Fradley nature reserve.  Lydia loves it there.

At the end of May mum and I spent another weekend in the marina getting the boat ready for the first proper trip in a few weeks.  She finished the cats cabin crochet she has been making for years.  I spent a lot of time splashing in the stream with Bingo but didn't really get to play with Lewis and my other doggy friends at the marina.  When we left to go home the boat was clean and tidy and all ready for Jennyanydots's  trip to the Ashby Canal in June.

memories from summer 2011

A beautiful evening at Tixall Wide

First boating experiences

Fradley Nature Park

Dad's helicopter

Leaving the IWA Festival

Head chef at Burton on Trent

President and Kildare at Common Lock

A good polish for Jennyanydots

I love swimming

Thinking about Jennyanydots

It's a cold grey February day in 2012. Mum has been in hospital again and is three weeks into a six week recovery period and she's not supposed to do anything energetic. Remembering last summer is allowed though.

In July 2011 we didn't get to the boat very often. Ivan came with us one weekend and spent two days polishing Jennyanydots. She looked really good. Towards the end of the month mum and I spent a few days getting the boat ready to go to the IWA festival in Burton on Trent. Dad and Toby came down later and on 27 July we set off for the first adventure of the summer. We moored above Common Lock at Fradley but the next morning were stuck and it took a while and some help to get Jennyanydots to move. Maybe she knew what was ahead of us! At Branston Water Park we met up with Adam and Lydia who had brought Annabel down to join us and then we set off again for our Festival mooring.

We had a good time at the Festival and mum said that we were all very good. On the Sunday afternoon we left our mooring to go back to Kings Bromley. Dad got off the boat to go back to the site to collect two prizes we had won in the Draw - a gas barbeque and a thing for charging the battery. They were very heavy. We picked him and the big boxes up as we travelled back towards Branston Lock. At tea time we moored up opposite to the Happy Girlie Hens between Alrewas and Common Lock and Annabel, Toby and I were able to play on the towpath because there was only one other boat we could see.

Dad woke us up very early on Monday 1 August. He said he didn't feel very well. Things got very worrying after that. Mum stood on the towpath in her pyjamas ringing an ambulance and then gave the phone to Annabel. Mum tied me and Toby up on the deck and was calling to passing boats for help. Annabel was very calm and sensible and kept talking to the ambulance control and checking on Dad. Mum and a kind man from a passing boat moved the boat to the lock mooring for Common Lock and three ambulance people climbed across the lock to get to Dad. They said he had had a heart attack. Then a very noisy helicopter came and more people helped make a space in the hedge and all the ambulance people carried Dad away, put him in the helicopter and it flew away. Lots of people stopped to help Mum and Annabel take the boat up the locks to Fradley where Carl and Liz were waiting for us. They helped us get the boat back to Kings Bromley. On the way Adam and Ivan found us, travelled with us back to the marina and then took Annabel to go back home. Mum locked me and Toby in the boat and drove off to Derby Royal Hospital to see Dad. Mum, Toby and I stayed on the boat on the marina for a few days while Dad was in hospital. He is fine now.

Mum is so grateful to all the people who helped us. Big thank you to all of you.

On 8 September Mum and I packed up the car and went to call for Liz and then we set off back to the boat. We sailed up to Shugborough on a beautiful afternoon and then the next day moored at the widest part of Tixall Wide. I was a very good guard dog and wouldn't let anyone come near my ladies. We all went back home on 12 September.

Lydia came with Mum, Dad, Toby and me to the boat for her first sleepover on 22 September. We sailed to Handsacre and moored on a nice stretch of towpath. We had a barbeque and Lydia and I played for ages. She was very good and sensible and I was good too. There was a Hog Roast at the marina on 24 September but Mum, Dad and Lydia wouldn't take Toby and me.

At the beginning of October Mum and I spent a few days on the boat on the marina. on 26 October Mum took me and Lydia and Liz back and we had an exciting trip down to Fradley. Lydia had never done locks before and she absolutely loved it. We stayed at Fradley because the weather wasn't good but had a lovely time in the Fradley Nature Park.

My last trip down to the boat was on 3 November when Mum had to go because RCR were doing the boat engine service on 4 November. Mum spent the next day packing everything up and draining the water tank and making sure everything was sorted for the winter.

That was our last visit to Jennyanydots for 2011. Mum has kept saying what a horrid boating year 2011 was. Once she and Dad are properly recovered from their ailments Mum is really looking forward to having some proper trips in 2012. She has her fingers crossed and I have my paws and tail crossed too.