Mink!

Well it's been another lovely day! Bright sunshine and blue skies yet again but still quite windy. Charlie was a bit wind-swept sitting on the roof but this is his favourite place on the boat and it takes a lot to keep him inside.

The bulbs in the roof garden have just about finished now so it's time to start looking for replacements. Last year I grew tomatoes as well as flowers and herbs but we got tomato blight and didn't actually manage to eat any of them. I'm not sure if I'll try again this year, we'll have to see how things pan out.

It was time for a 1250 hour service so Roger did that this afternoon. Just after this photo was taken we had the excitement for the day!

A black mink jumped the three foot gap from the bank straight into the engine bay right in front of Roger. It must have had a real 'oh bugger' moment and jumped straight out again, ran along the off-side gunwale and disappeared. We're not sure if it went up and over the roof or into the water. Chico went berserk, he hadn't seen it but had heard the commotion and could smell it. Charlie just slept right through it all, that's the draw-back of being deaf I suppose. You can read about mink here. They have been known to cause lots of damage when they get inside boats which have been moored up for any length of time with a window left open for ventilation.

Later we took Chico out for a short walk to the shop in Mossley and then adjourned to the pub for a pint or two in the sunshine in the beer garden.