Saturday Lunch

After my Mum left yesterday afternoon Roger went back to the Anglo Welsh hire base to see if they'd had a delivery of diesel yet.  The guy he spoke to didn't know what Roger was talking about.  It turns out they'd had diesel all along, but the girl who had been on reception was on her own and didn't want to/couldn't sell us any.  We reversed the boat back and took 100 litres.  At the moment it's 85p domestic rate and they do any split.  We're aiming to fill up at Wheaton Aston when we pass in a couple of weeks as it's still the cheapest in the region.

We're moored right beside the caravan park at the Cotton Arms.  It's a good place to moor, not only because of the pub but also because you can use the caravan site's rubbish disposal and Elsan facilities (if you have a cassette toilet) and the moorings here are always busy.

This lunchtime we've been to the pub.  It's quite well known amongst boaters for its Lunch Club on Wednesday and Saturday and we've been before.  They do 2 courses for a fiver with a choice of 3 starters and 4 mains which change every week.  They also serve this menu on Wednesday evenings and their other main menu also looks good.  If you're in the area it's definitely worth a visit, but be sure to book if you want a meal in the evening, especially at weekend, as they're regularly full with boaters and caravanners alike. These are the menus for the next 4 weeks. Double click on the photo to enlarge it.

April showers

Yesterday's weather was typical April showers and we got wet a couple of times.  We carried on down Grindley Brook locks to moor on the visitor moorings and paid a visit to the Horse and Jockey pub which had been recommended on a couple of other blogs.  The beer was good and the menu interesting but we ate on the boat as we've planned on eating at the Cotton Arms in Wrenbury on Saturday.

Today we've had heavy rain, hail and thunder.... oh and brilliant sunshine as well.
At Quoisley Lock there was a stall selling hen's and guinea fowl eggs. I've never seen guinea fowl eggs for sale before. They're smaller than hens eggs but larger than quails eggs.

Beside Marbury Lock there were hens eggs and an assortment of jams and marmalades for sale.

When we got to the Anglo Welsh hire base at Wrenbury Mill we called in to pick up some diesel. Our gauge is showing absolutely empty (although we know we still have enough for a couple more days) but  unfortunately for us they didn't have any.  They're waiting for a delivery, so until that arrives we're going no further.

My Mum's coming to visit tomorrow. She's disabled but we've managed to moor right beside the path to the caravan park which will mean she's got easy access to the boat.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m ashamed to say I forgot to get Roger a card.  Normally this wouldn’t have been any big deal as he hardly ever bothers but this morning he presented me with a lovely card and told me he had a surprise arranged for later in the day.  We set off up the 4 Hurleston Locks, battling the gusty winds and low water level in the pounds and stopped at the top to fill up with water. The engine had been making strange noises so Roger had a look down the weed hatch to see if anything had got caught round the propeller. This is a very rare occurrence for us as we have a prop-protector blade fitted which normally cuts through anything that gets caught, but we’d picked up a load of knotted plastic rope attached to a polythene sheet and that was just too much for the blade to cut through. You can see from the photo how the blade was chopping through the sheet but the knotted rope was just too tough and had to be yanked off.

We normally only cruise for between 3 and 4 hours a day and had planned on being at Wrenbury tomorrow (Weds.) so I was a bit put out when he insisted that we carry on to Wrenbury tonight.  9 locks and 1 lift bridge later and I was knackered! The wind had been increasing steadily all day making it hard work trying to stop the lock gates being blown open before I could get the paddles raised to fill them. We eventually moored at Wrenbury and he told me to go and get “dolled up” as he was taking me out to dinner.  What a lovely surprise.  We went to the Dusty Miller pub and had a really good meal, complete with champagne cocktail, red rose and chocolates.