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Sunday 28 May

The Bank Holiday weekend started with rain yesterday.  Reports from the Crick Boat Show were of a very muddy car park in the fields so we weren't looking forward to that for our trip today.  In the end our problems started before we got there.  The road for the last mile and a half from the motorway to the boat show was closed because of a fire in a local factory and had been since the previous evening.  There was nothing on the internet travel news before leaving home and we heard nothing on the radio travel news before arriving.  The last mile and a half took a 10 mile detour and nearly two hours.  At least the car park wasn't as muddy as the previous day.

We were rather disappointed by the show.  It seemed rather crowded but that was because there wasn't much space for visitors between the stands rather than there being lots of visitors.  Some of the stands were professionally laid out with helpful staff but others were just a pile of wares on an old table with someone sitting reading a paperback book in a deckchair and making no attempt to sell anything.  We left by early afternoon.

Rather than heading home to Bristol we travelled further east to Thrapston to meet Sue, Vic and Lucy on No Problem and Chas, Ann and Molly on Moore2Life.  It was nice to see Lucy who was quiet and subdued after her ordeal with her broken back leg but really very well under the circumstances.  We had originally planned to help with a lift home from the vet's hospital for Lucy but poor communications from the vets meant we were a day too late.

It was lovely to everybody again and to discuss the latest news.  We sat at a picnic table next to the boats moored on the Nene.  It is pronounced "Nen" to rhyme with "pen" as we were upstream of the bridge at Thrapston - and is pronounced "Neene" to rhyme with "queen" on the downstream side.  In the 90 minutes we were there we watched the boat rise over 20cm (8") and then lower to the original level as the water flow on the river changed.

Saturday 6 May

Not quite so sunny today but looking out of the kitchen window at breakfast time there was a squirrel on the bird table.

And I was pleased to see both of the blackbirds still rushing in and out of the honeysuckle on our garden back fence with food in their beaks to feed their young.  A magpie was taking a strong interest in them yesterday but it doesn't seem to have put them off.

And then the post lady brought the latest version of our narrow boat plans from our preferred builder.  They look a great improvement and we're getting close to what we want.  There were four pages of helpful notes with suggestions for further improvements.

Now we need to spend a little time looking through the plans and continuing to refine the design.

Thursday 4 May

Today was a complete break from the planned meeting in London which was cancelled at the last moment allowing me to swap my planned day off from Friday to Thursday.

Today I was up just as early as a working day but this time I was heading via Birmingham to Northampton.  Then a bus ride to Milton Malsor and a short walk across the fields to the canal.  This was the day that No Problem and Moore2Life were descending the Rothersthorpe flight from the Grand Union Canal to the River Nene.

They had done the first few locks before I got there and John Sinclair was already helping them but an extra pair of hands is always helpful. 

The weather was the best so far this year and I really enjoyed the day.  We moored the boats together for a picnic lunch.

And today was Sue's birthday so I was able to wish her a happy birthday in person.

It was lovely to be able to chat to Chas and Anne on Moore2Life and to see Vic and Lucy again.  Lucy's behaviour is wonderful as she trots along the towpath keeping pace with the boat and looking after herself.  She never rides on the boat when there is a towpath.  Then she amazed everyone at the last lock on the Grand Union Canal when she got on the boat and sat down without any commands being issued.  As there is no towpath on the River Nene she has to ride on the boat and we can only assume she remembered this from last year when No Problem made the same journey.

I left them at Northampton to make my way back to the station to catch the trains home.  Thank you Sue, Vic, Chas, Anne, Lucy and Molly for a lovely day.

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