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.