A long cruise

I don`t blame Jaq for getting hot about the BA seat fiasco. I was the one on the phone and the well trained lady at the customer services was not going to give a refund. look at the last paragraph below of the e mail receipt from back in May.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
********************

A paid seat request cannot be guaranteed as it may need to be
changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after
boarding the aircraft.

In the event that we have to change your seat we will endeavour
to seat you in a suitable alternative.

We aim to seat your party together, and then if possible in your
choice of seat, e.g. If you have selected a window seat we aim
to seat you in another window seat.

If we are unable to offer you a suitable alternative seat as set
out above you are eligible to apply for a refund.

Anyway stuff them we will enjoy ourselves regardless and next time try KLM or some of the others flying the pond.
To be honest and not hide anything the lady did say she would refund in full BUT we then would have no seat reservations and would need to choose from what was available. Fantastic service, caring for the customer? I think not.
Makes me glad to live afloat and not have much contact with the big business`s out there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rant over.....did you hear about Royalty on the canals? No, click HERE. I have some inside information on the Royal Barge narrowboat. It has made an unusual long  journey over a short period and is now moored on the Ashby canal after spending a hectic weekend visiting all the family. But more on that in another blog post. The journey was unusual in that on one of the days the Royals cruised for 9+ hours  over 16 miles and 13 locks. Just to put this in context a journey previous to this was 1 mile and 1 lock.
The Princess (Jaq) has told me she loved visiting the kids and little ones but it`s good to be home, and i agree.
So a picture catch up on this epic cruise.

First all good cruise ships will have adequate sustenance for the Captain (the one who thinks he is but is not). This is bread pudding as I have never known. My bachelor bread pud always had dried fruit, mixed spice and a topping of Cinnamon. This one is Jaq`s version and contains home made Amaretto cream custard, white chocolate and topped with Almonds. Recipe available.










This Rugely town guide box was by Colwich lock on that 1 mile -1 lock cruise. It was the small plate on the top that caught my eye. Has the Canal and River Trust now enlisted volunteers from our prison population. The box was empty by the way.

Autumn fast approaches and my thoughts are when and for how long will we be frozen in this winter.

Bridge numbers are  replaced by names.

 

Nice to see that at least the shell of the old canal warehouse (far end) has been kept. New walls inside will turn it into flats (apartments) at this development at  Fazeley Junction.

 

Just before Alvecote marina I spotted this old canal basin in the trees. It was probably a loading wharf for one of the many coal mines in this area. It was very large and to the left is pictured the entrance from the canal.

British Airways Screws us for £110.00

   British Airways screwed us out of £110.00 for seats we reserved back in May. They changed the configuration of the plane, the seats we paid for are no longer available and their computer reallocated totally unacceptable seats and did NOT generate a refund. 
   It also did not generate a notice this occurred. We would not have known if Les hadn't checked our reservations. So we went online and booked new seats--the best of what was left, which are crappy and nowhere near the seats for which we paid. AND we had to pay an additional £7 for them!
   We tried to file a refund form at BA's website for two weeks and kept getting an error message: "We're sorry but an error has occurred and we cannot file this form at this time. Please try again later.! I've tried a dozen times to do so and I get the same bloody message. We called them today and were told that the seats we booked again and paid the additional £7 for would have cost us £110.00 to reserve anyway!
   And we are Executive Club members--which clearly offers us no benefits. I HATE FLYING!!!! I am so pissed at BA. I would NEVER have chosen the seats we have now or the seats the computer generated. I am going to tell the world and everyone in it what piss poor service British Airways offers. I've posted this on my FaceBook page and on BA's FB page as well which I have no doubt will be removed as soon as they read it.
   There is no such thing as service anymore in this world. Corporations treat us like cows they milk for cash and then they turn a blind eye and a deaf ear when their company causes an issue and make us pay again. 
   I love my family and friends in the United States But it will be too soon if I EVER have to fly again. A bloody coffin has more comfortable room than this airplane.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

"What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four little hours brought the sun and the flowers where there used to be rain..." ~lyrics by Renee Olmstead

   The morning after the weekend of high wind and lashing rains which flooded Britain, we decided to take advantage of a break in the weather and, like geese, begin our trek south.
   We have a month plus a hand full of days before we leave for the States. We want to spend some time with family over here before visiting family over there.

The Blue star is the R. Sow. The blue dot marks part of the diversion behind Shugborough Hall; the black star is the R,. Trent; the yellow bar highlights where all three join just above Essex bridge. The red circle is the green meadow which is flooded in the pictures below.

   We woke to sopping wet towpaths on the Trent and Mersey adjacent to Shugborough Estate, where the River Sow curves around behind it allowing a diversion of some of its waters to flow directly behind Shugborough Hall, curving closely 'round and then joining the flow of the River Sow as it meets the nearby River Trent just after the weir above Essex bridge. 

Swollen R. Trent and flooded path from Essex Bridge. The green far right is the Trent's usual bank. 

    Merging of the R. Sow, left & the R. Trent  just before Essex Bridge at Shugborough Hall.

   The two rivers flow together in different colors--the Trent being darker and muddier as it carries away soil from swelling over its banks.The River Sow flooded Shugborough Park and its lovely green meadow. 

Swollen R. Trent, foreground; Shugborough meadow flooded by R. Sow, background.

   As we continued on we passed these two lovely boats breasted up together like lovers. Les said he is sure Roger Fuller also built NB Hadar--Jo and Keith Lodge's boat.

Ilford and Azalea. Azalea was built by Roger Fuller.

   Away we go southward, around the forested high ground of Cannock Chase. A pair of Swans glide past with their rapidly growing juveniles in brown feather.

A family of swans with forested Cannock Chase retreating in the background.

   The spires of Rugely power station appear in the distance, marring this lovely landscape. 

Rugely Power Station provides electricity powered by coal.

    As we enter the town itself we pass terraced gardens built down sharp hillsides to the canal. Stopping just after bridge 66 we moored up and walked over to Morrisons supermarket for a top up of our supplies.

Steeply terraced hillside back yards look down on the Trent & Mersey canal as we cruise through Rugely.

A tiny birdhouse and its larger cousin--the canal side Gazebo.

This back garden is a tribute to Charlie Chaplin!

As we pass on through town, the steep hillside gives way and back decks are  nearly even with the canal.

 I love this back garden with small green rooms

The gate's open and the kettle's on--what kept you so long?

As we cruised out of Rugely we passed a huge house for sale--with an adjacent indoor swimming pool!

    Mooring up for the night on the far side of Rugely--out in the country, we slept through still more rain. The next morning we started off late, apparently we both needed a lie-in to replenish our batteries. Through sullen, weeping skies we reached Fradley Junction where the Trent and Mersey canal meets the Coventry Canal.

Double rainbows appeared in the sky as we moored up outside Whittington on the Coventry Canal.

    I brought NB Valerie through the locks, turned and brought her through the swing bridge onto the Coventry, where we moored up. After a stroll through the Fradley Reservoir we walked back to our boat, ate lunch and decided to carry on southward to stop at Whittington just outside Lichfield.

A Visit From Nev!

"A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet.” ~ Will Rogers 

 

   I hadn't met Nev Wells in person; we grew to know one another through our blogs. Nev and his wife Rachel own NB Waterlilly.

   I found his blog as I searched the 'Net for single handed boaters back in late 2009. I was immediately captivated by his profile picture: Fradley Junction at sunset. It is beautiful and emotionally evocative--the kind of picture every good photographer wishes to take. As I read Nev's posts I was touched by his honesty and gentleness. I enjoyed his observations on life in general and people in particular. Every now and then I left comments to let Nev know his writing reached out and touched me all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.

   Nev knew Les in passing and followed his boat blog. When Les and I fell in love I wrote a blog about our story So this is Love. Nev began following, commenting as he read and our online friendship grew. 

Nev and Les in front of NB Valerie

   We missed meeting up as Les and I cruised North last March, so Dear Sir and I were thrilled to connect with Nev at last, inviting him and Rachel aboard NB Valerie. Nev came for coffee and carrot cake today and we had a great visit.

   We've both been employed in academia and have an understanding of university campus life; his wife is working on a Masters degree in Nursing--a difficult and sometimes grueling undertaking not for the faint of heart. She loves interacting with people and she's very good at what she does which is saving lives and helping people heal. I've several friends and acquaintances in the States who are also nurses and who teach for nursing programs. Nev and Rachel have traveled to the States so we share common ground there as well. 

   We had a lovely chinwag about living aboard and Les and I shared some anecdotes regarding our cultural differences.

   Nev in person is just as he is on his blog--honest, gentle, smart, funny, introspective. And I love his hair cut; I had one like it not too many years ago!

   Rachel couldn't come as she had exams for which to study but we sent Nev home with extra carrot cake to fuel her studying and we look forward to seeing them both some time in the future.

   To quote another boating friend named Mo, "Aren't boaters lovely?" Yes, yes they are; I am thankful for the welcome and acceptance I've received in this floating community along cut.

   It is a unique fellowship with folks across a wide spectrum of employment, personal experience, lifestyles and cultures who all enjoy life with a narrow boat in it somewhere.

   We also share a deep appreciation for British canal engineering and the beauty, thrill, and privilege of traveling this country seeing the best of it in a manner that provides real opportunity to really take it all in and relish the moments, people, and places we experience; to breathe it in and make it a part of who we are--not just a person or place to be collected, categorized, photographed and forgotten in the pursuit of the next event.

   A lifetime of surviving out there in that other world left me stressed and clenched--body and soul--always waiting for the next crisis to strike. A year in England, married to Les and living aboard our boat has unclenched my fists and my spirit.

   I know happiness now in a way I've never experienced it previously. No longer a brief emotional state brought about by external happenstance, true happiness shines inside me like a light. It is the reflection of how I live my life each day, having found the place I belong at last, feeling extremely fortunate to share it with my very best friend. 

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 This life is so relaxing with no particular place to be at any given time unless of course you have yourselves committed to something. I have never in my life had a camera in my hand as much as in my time afloat. Thousands of pictures both sides of the pond have gathered on discs. Recently after taking 985 pictures off my laptop I had this idea to sort the discs into some kind of filing system. Should I sort them by canal, year, animal, vegetable or mineral. I could not decide and after the 3 days of them sitting on the table Jaq gently suggested it might be a winter project. Look at the picture right that is everything going back to 2006. Maybe i should start sorting them onto disc from now but how? Suggestions!!!!
Anyway while looking through the 300 or more still on the lappie i decided to blog some. Every blogger must have the same problem of what to blog or more to the point which pictures to use. I can pick a disc from say 4 years ago and without captions after just a few pictures I can recall/re-live that year of cruising.

 

Stone is a small town in Staffordshire on the Trent and Mersey canal. The picture shows almost the whole of the pedestrianised high street with perhaps a 100yards behind me. Just here in this one street there are 7 charity shops, U.S. readers know them as thrift shops. They are at least a good supply of books so I`m not complaining.

Stone is said to have got it`s name from the pile of stones on the graves of  King Wulfhere`s 2 sons back in 665AD. They died at the hands of their father following their conversion to Christianity.Religion and death still walking hand in hand 1347 years later........sad......when will we all learn.  It`s hard enough at times living our own lives so why try and live  life for others.                                                                The canal came through Stone in 1771 after Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley signed a document that brought about the Trent and Mersey canal company. Brewing and shoe making were a big part of Stone`s history. The picture on the right shows our floating home going through Star lock. Jaq is at the tiller/helm  while I am in charge of the lock gates. The lock is named after the pub and part of it was here long before the canal arrived.

   

Solar lights by the mooring rings in Stone

          

Leaving Stone we were on our way to meet Sally and Joe at Sandon so we spent a couple of nights at Burston a tiny hamlet, U.S. this is just a few residences,  a short walk up from bridge 86. No shop and a half mile walk over the railway bridge to a pub on the main road. A lovely walk in search of a post box and a sit in the evening sunshine on one of many benches around the pond. I just love finding these little gems along the canal as we seek out the quieter moorings. Stone was ok for a couple of days to stock the cupboards but being moored in a long line of boats is not our thing.

 There is always so much between blogs that is never revealed. Those discs in the picture top of page contain hundreds of blog posts.  

 A fairly recent un- published picture that might be a blog subject by Jaq sometime during the winter as she looks back on her new life afloat. 

 

Evening Geese at Tixall Wide...

 

 

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting 

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

It's a Bird, It's a Plane--No, it's a Balloon and there is an American on Board!!

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” ~ Robert McCloskey 

NB Bobcat--what a beauty!!

 Last Saturday dawned clear and bright--the sun was out although the long term forecast indicated Britain would catch the tale end of hurricane weather--high winds and lashing rain to come. We made the most of the sunshine and cruised for a bit, filled up with water, dumped the rubbish, ran a load of laundry and finally moored up in a lovely, quiet spot. 

    As we moored up I realised NB Bobcat was moored behind us! Finally after a year of passing each other with a wave and a smile on the cut, we had a chance to share a cup of tea, a piece of cake, and a good natter. Kath is a lovely woman. Short, shiny hair frames her fine face with sparkling eyes and a gorgeous smile. Kath's laugh is throaty and warm; she has many stories to tell of her life aboard NB Bobcat, and we enjoyed our chinwag.

   Settling in, we thrilled to two swans sharing a bit of towpath with a pair of ducks. A Heron flashed across the canal, wings spread wide, and a Kingfisher darted and weaved amongst the bushes near the water. Our spot on the canal appeared to be idyllic.

Les with his binoculars

One balloon...

   As I began to consider what to fix for tea, a shout came from Les, who was outside setting up the satellite dish. 

   "Balloons Jaq, come look--quickly, hot air balloons!" I looked out the hatch of NB Valerie and sure enough a large, multicolored hot air balloon was rising slowly above the meadow on the towpath side of our boat. Les dashed inside for his binoculars and I grabbed for my camera. He stood out on the towpath down by the hatch doors and I took up a position standing on the bow locker, arms propped on the boat roof, snapping pics.

   Ever so slowly the balloon rose with a large basket attached, holding a fair sized group of folks. Les had his binocs glued to his eye sockets, repeating rapturously, "Wow! Oh Wow lookatthat!!!!" Suddenly another balloon rose on the far horizon of the meadow and began a slow ascent. As I snapped pictures Les danced around the towpath in rhapsody, switching his view from one balloon to the other. As the first balloon was almost directly overhead it fired up to gain height and I said "I wonder if the first balloon will follow this one."

2 balloons....

   With his binoculars glued firmly to his face, Les said with utter amazement in his voice: "Jaq did you hear that? That balloon overhead is so close I can hear them talking. There must be an American on board, I'm sure I heard a voice say, 'I wonder if the first balloon will follow this one,'" affecting a flat, nasally American mid-western accent.

  Stunned, I looked down at my husband as he danced around the towpath in paroxysms of delight and wonder. "Les...Les...Les??? Honey that was me you just heard. I said I wonder if the first balloon will follow this one--and I did not say it like that" as I mimicked the flat, nasally mid-western tonality he gave his American balloonist.

   Les looked at me for a moment incredulously and we both burst into hysterical laughter, folded over, holding our sides. For an hour after both balloons disappeared across the cut I would mimic him and we would start laughing afresh.

   "No honey there was no American on board the hot air balloon--it was the American on board your boat!!" (And I don't talk through my nose either!!)

 

I spent the first 32 years of my life there!

Air fares are cheap

Reading the title of this post you might say "no way". Just recently i received an e mail from British Airways asking for me to sign a petition to stop the UK government increasing the APD Air Passenger Duty. We paid £65($98) each.
Now looking at the rates chart on the left from the Customs and Excise site the mileages in the first column state that the 4799 miles to Seattle should be band C £81($121) but it appears the capital city of a country is used for calculating so Washington DC is 3670 miles band B. Surprised they didn`t charge per mile all the way.
Anyway back to the `Air fares are cheap` title of this post.

Our trip in November consists of five flights, 3 internal and the 2 across the pond. As you can see below the extras £377( $565) nothing to do with the airline, apart from fuel surcharge, add up to almost half the price of the flight. I suppose to be fair fuel price is out of the airlines control as much as the other charges.

 The total mileage of our trip is 8171 at a cost of £764($1146) each. Looking at this  per mile it works out at 9.5pence(15cents) and you get fed. Just think if the taxes etc were zero this per mile cost would almost be halved.

Now a train journey Crewe to London is 158 miles and the cheapest ticket as you see on the right is £26($39).
Now we have a price by train of 16.4 p(25cents) per mile and no food.
So there you are cheaper by air.
Just a bit of fun on a Sunday morning........just a thought but I wonder how much by narrow boat. Looking back at my post on fuel consumption my figures are £1.18 ($1.80) per hour. So very roughly at say 3.5 miles per hour the cost by boat is 33.71p (50cents). You must of course remember that includes our hot water and electricity generation and I get fed as we travel!
As I said just a bit of fun but by all means comment if you want to, i`m all grown up and can take it.

Autumn Equinox 2012

"Fall Equinox/Mabon is a time of thanksgiving, assessment and transition. With the heat of the summer waning, this is the season when our ancestors gathered their resources and prepared for the coming darkness." ~Vanessa Timmons

   Today we exist in a moment of balance; night and day are of equal length. Tomorrow the days begin to shrink and the nights are longer than the days. Thus the wheel of the year turns again, bringing the autumn harvest season to the top.
   This is a moment to stop, take stock of life, look inward, considering the blessings and challenges we've experienced on our life journey. It is time as well to consider what questions, challenges, issues, dreams, talents, loves, and desires we will choose to take with us into Winter's solitude to germinate in the darkness and bloom next spring.
   Last night brought b-r-r-r-r cold temperatures to our floating home. This morning as I sat bundled in my nighty and summer robe I could see my breath over my cup of coffee. Dear Sir started a wood fire in the stove for me, and we drew the curtains throughout the boat to let the warm sun inside. (One of my favorite sounds in this cruising life is laying in a warm, clean, fluffy bed on a sunny morning listening to NB Valerie stretch, creak, and wake up with the sun.)

   While Les walked up to the village of Weston for a Daily Mail weekend paper, I cleaned out the wardrobe. Folding and packing away our summer duds, I shook out our cold weather clothes and filled the cupboards and drawers with layers of warmth. We got under way, moving through a couple of locks, stopping at Great Haywood Marina for two bags of coal to see us through until the end of October. We meandered on down to Haywood Junction where Les suggested I visit the Canalside Farm Shop while he filled up with water, dumped the rubbish and emptied the loo cassettes.

© Canalside Farm Shop, 2012

   Off I went, expecting a small shed like place with a cold locker full of frozen meat cuts, some free range eggs, and a limited bit of fresh veg.
   Wow! What a surprise! I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I took my time, looking at all the delicious fresh cheese, fresh meat cuts, jams, candies, breads, a very good selection of veg; basket in  hand I made my selections: two gammon steaks, a medium pork pie, a small bag of plain sea-salted crisps, a small cello bag of meringues, a pot of double cream and a punt of extremely fresh, just picked Stafford strawberries.

   We finished off the last of the pot of minestrone soup I made for Sally and Joe's visit last night. Les and I will celebrate this holyday (for witches anyway) with a lovely meal of sauteed gammon, egg, chips, and tea. For dessert we will enjoy strawberries in sherry with minted cream on top.
   Back on board with my treasures, we decided to turn right at Great Haywood Junction and moor up at Tixall Wide. A lovely spot was available near the widest part of the canal.
   Tixall Wide is one of my favorite places on earth. Martins dive and swoop across the wide, watery expanse, dragonflies dart amongst the tall grasses at the edge; cattle graze contentedly in nearby fields. Buzzards ride the thermals in the bright blue sky, the autumn sun cutting a shallower path across the clouds in the late afternoon. Fish barely break the surface of the water, bubbles giving them away as rings move outward toward the shallows.

 Oooh ahh missus--dodgy footprints has your Les and I'm watching him!

   On shore ducks lay in the grass sunning themselves. Two swans seem to be nesting--although it is too late in the season for it--just nearby. The male waddled down to inspect his new neighbors. This forty two pound bird hissed warningly at Les as he tried to leave the boat for an armload of firewood! Deciding there was a need to surveil us closer, the cob chose to hang about the towpath at our bow, pulling in wads of grass with his beak through hisses and snorts, occasionally stretching his neck up and peering inside our boat.
   It is hard to believe but the weather forecast for the next few days is barely above freezing in places, rainy with high winds. In other words autumn storms a-comin'.
   I am thankful for this day drenched in sunshine as nature slows, stills, breathes in and exhales, preparing for the wheel to turn again toward winter--a time of reckoning, a time of limits. But for now we celebrate the ripeness of fruit, grain, and berry; the fullness of the harvest and the larder. There will never be more than there is right now--in this moment. 

Praisesong For Her

She is a tree in a circle of stones. 

She is a crossroad at noon.

She is the moon on the ripening grass.

She is a hill on a night without stars.

She is a tear of the sun.

She is the moon on the ripening grass.

She is a hawk in the circling sky.

She is the eye of the hound.

She is a deer by the river of glass.

She is a berry of red mountain ash.

She is the seed of bright grasses.

She is a stone in the river of glass. 

She is a sigh as time passes. 

                                        ~Patricia Monaghan

 

Autumn Song, By Libana