Just pottering

We've got a couple of weeks to kill before we put the boat in a marina and head off "up north" for a hospital visit and a short family holiday, so we're just pottering about here on the Grand Union. We've both been very pleasantly surprised by this canal and have been mooring in some beautiful spots in the middle of nowhere.  It's obviously a very popular canal for winter moorers as there are LOTS of boats setting up small communities, many of whom have paid for the winter mooring permits which allow them to stay in a certain area. Of course there are still the huddles of "pikey" boats that moor together and don't show either mooring permits or C&RT licences. Once we get back from our holiday at the end of November we'll be carrying on cruising properly, although we haven't yet decided exactly where we're going.

Yesterday we had a visit from our old friends Martin & Maggie who came to stay for the night.

We had a really good meal in The Three Locks pub, which as you might guess from the name is beside Soulbury Three Locks. The Hobgoblin ale was on top form too.  Maggie is a vegetarian and usually struggles finding good pub meals but we both had the butternut squash and halloumi kebabs with rocket and parmesan salad and sweet potato fries and I can honestly say that if all veggie meals were that good I might be tempted to turn to the green side..............until the next Sunday roast that is.