The April Showers are a bit early!

More glorious sunshine again today, but interspersed with heavy showers and even hail at one point! Must be nearly April.

The river level has dropped back to almost normal, all the markers are well in the green and the weir at Freemans Lock is barely trickling.

Leicester City football ground is right beside the weir and lock

Which numpty decided where to put these bollards on the lock moorings at Whetstone Lane Lock?
If you tie a rope round them no-one can get past. Maybe it's a new anti-cyclist initiative?

We didn't see another moving boat all morning but just as we'd finished having lunch at Whetstone Lock a Canaltime hire boat arrived. They'd been moored in front of us at Castle Gardens but had had a late start as they'd been into town for breakfast. There were 2 couples on board, 2 sisters and their husbands, and we paired up and shared the next 4 locks. One of the couples was really interested in our boat. He wants to buy one and retire but can't persuade his wife to give up work.

They were really nice people and very competent steerers having had several boat holidays before. I still can't believe how few boats are about. We've only seen 3 moving boats since we left Loughborough.

We moored up just below Double Rail Lock in a beautiful spot overlooking the fields. The Canaltimers carried on their way. In true hire-boat style they wanted to get as many miles done as possible before it got dark. Unfortunately, not long after we'd moored up the heavens opened again only this time it was BIG rain and hailstones so their trip wouldn't have been very pleasant.

In between the showers I've been tidying up my flower pots. The pansies are still going strong and have been flowering non-stop since July. The dwarf tulips really are dwarf....I didn't expect them to have virtually no stems, but I suppose they're perfect for the roof as they won't get bashed when we go through low bridges.

I've also been getting stuck into a new crochet project. I'll show you when it's finished.