Spring's Sprung in Sharpness

Hi, nice to see you again.

Spring has finally arrived here on the Gloucester & Sharpness canal.  It was so warm and sunny yesterday that we ate lunch up on the "poop deck" and I dug my sandals out and painted my nails!

Now that may seem like a strange sign of Spring to you, but when you take into account the fact that I spend the winter months in thermal socks and either Doc Martens or sheepskin slippers it certainly shows how the temperature is rising! If it carries on like this I may just have to unpack the shorts and t-shirts.

We saw more traditional signs of Spring on our walk today.  There are daffodils and primroses everywhere.

Our visits into Gloucester Dock have been curtailed for a while as it's being dredged in readiness for the Tall Ships Festival in a few weeks.

 That's one of the reasons we're here in Sharpness, although the main reason is that it's just so pretty and peaceful here. There are very few boats about and hardly any dogs so Chico likes it here too as he gets lots of long walks without any agro.

Wandering down a lane towards the estuary at Purton we came across The Pub

It looks deserted but there's a sign on the gate that says it re-opens on 7th April so we'll pop back and check it out.

Just past the pub is a very muddy footpath which leads to the estuary.

The tide was out. It's stays out for a very long time too.

Roger's been carrying on upgrading the boat both mechanically and electrically and we've now got remote heating controls so that we can phone the boat from the pub to switch on the heating. He's also fitted some secondary double glazing in the bedroom and lounge which has helped cut down on the condensation. The silver "bubble wrap" insulation that I told you about a while ago has made a tremendous improvement and we no longer have any problems with damp under the beds.

I've not been totally idle and have done a bit of varnishing in between crocheting this jumper for my granddaughter.

Oh and I made myself a bag.

I hate handbags as I can never find anything in them so this was just large enough for my purse, phone and train tickets when I went to London last weekend to meet up with the ladies from my cancer support group.

Fancy meals out in London are alright, but a custard donut takes a lot of beating..........

We had a great time catching up with each other, eating and drinking and doing daft touristy things.

It's been a busy few weeks. As well as going to London I've also had a couple of trips back to Manchester for check-ups.  ALL CLEAR!!!!  yippee...........

That's all for now, but I'll leave you with our view from the boat as the sun just starts to set.

Bye for now, look after yourself and come back soon