The day the Beacon went out

I can finally reveal the real reason we came to Loughborough back in December.

We've known Ally Myers who is one of the directors of Beacon Boats for several years, mainly from after-show sessions in the beer tent at Crick Boat Show. In late Autumn her business partner "Bugs" had a serious stroke and was unable to continue fitting out the boat they were currently working on so she got in touch with Roger on the off chance that he was available and willing to help her finish the boat. As we had no definite plans for the winter we decided Loughborough was as good a place as any to visit and stay, little knowing just how long we'd be here when the river went into flood on New Year's Day!  Ally had someone doing the woodwork and Roger helped out for a few days with the electrics and plumbing and on Tuesday this week "Bisbigliando" was finally launched.

 The new owners christened the boat with a splash of Hobgoblin ale

before Roger took them for their inaugural test cruise.

Obviously with Bugs having had a major stroke he's not able to work for the foreseeable future, so with much regret they've decided to call it a day and close the company. Just as when we closed Crown Narrowboats 4 years ago, they can hold their heads up and be proud that they have gone out still solvent, with no debts and with their reputation intact.

It was a standing joke between Ally and Roger that she was definitely the boss and he was one of her minions......so I made him a "Minion" hat which he wore for the craning.

I got the pattern from one of the crochet blogs that I follow. If you'd like to make one for your favourite little minion you can get the pattern HERE

Now that the boat's been launched and Ally no longer needs us we can finally leave the area, so tomorrow we're starting off towards Market Harborough. We would have gone today but I had another appointment back in Manchester. This time it was a surgical follow-up rather than acupuncture but having to get up at 5.45 and trudge up the M6 was a real pain. I'm really looking forward to cruising again so let's hope the wind and rain die down overnight otherwise I'll be digging the thermals and waterproofs out again.

Where has this week gone?

I didn't realise it's a week since my last blog post, I just don't know where the time has gone!

We've done quite a bit of cruising this week, travelling up and down the River Soar in fantastic sunshine. It's one of my favourite waterways, but it'll be nice to finally leave the area at the end of next week as we start making our way towards our next stop-over at Market Harborough.

We stayed a couple of nights at Mountsorrel as it's convenient for car hire for my acupuncture appointment in Manchester, a couple of nights at Barrow Upon Soar visiting friends plus we had a fleeting trip into Loughborough to sort out a few things at the bank before returning to Cossington again to take advantage of the super-fast internet speed.

Stopping for water and to dump the rubbish at Barrow Boating we noticed that their day boat was fitted out with a shrine.

They are licensed to carry out ash scattering trips which are very popular with the Hindu and Sikh communities. I think the ceremony must involve coconuts as there are lots bobbing about in the river around here.

The river level has dropped dramatically over the past couple of weeks and the flow over the weir at Sileby Mill is a fraction of what it was back in January

I still wouldn't want to moor my boat here though!

The glorious sunshine has given us some spectacular sunsets and tonight was no exception.

 

Perfect cruising weather

With the morning dawning bright and sunny we decided it was too nice to sit around surfing on t'internet and set off cruising towards Leicester.

The River Soar is really beautiful on a sunny day but there was a distinct lack of boats, either moving or moored up. Where is everyone?

We stopped to take on water at the Hope and Anchor pub at Syston but the tap was so slow we managed to cook and eat lunch and have a pint sitting outside the pub while the tank filled by less than a half. In the end we gave up and carried on.

The sun had brought out hundreds of people who were walking or cycling in Watermead Country Park and we had an audience of gongoozlers at every lock.

Not wanting to go quite as far as the centre of Leicester we turned round just below Belgrave lock and retraced our journey back to Thurmaston where we moored below the lock, beside a rusty iron sculpture.

Hopefully this glorious weather will last a few more days. Wouldn't it be great if it lasted all summer?

Out of the Black Hole

We've been stuck in an internet "black hole" for the past couple of weeks hence the lack of any blog posts. Our normal download speeds are around 5Mbps but in Barrow on Soar and Mountsorrel we were only getting a measly 0.17Mbps. To be honest, it's been a bloody nuisance as we rely on t'internet for the majority of our communication and entertainment.

The River Soar is really beautiful and I love it around here, but it goes into flood with the slightest amount of rainfall....and we've had a lot recently. The level fluctuates drastically and can go up or drop 8 inches overnight quite easily. We've gone to bed planning on moving the next day only to find the markers back in the red in the morning. We moved from Barrow to Mount Sorrel as soon as we could only to get stuck there for another week. The weather improved drastically and has been glorious for the past few days but we couldn't move as I had another acupuncture appointment back in Manchester on Wednesday and we needed to be in an accessible spot to hire a car.  I'm happy to report that the acupuncture is working and I now have full, almost pain-free use of my hands again and my feet are also rapidly improving. I was very sceptical about acupuncture but it certainly works for me!

On the days we haven't been able to move we've been taking Chico for lots of long walks in the glorious sunshine.

It's been perfect drying weather too so I've been catching up with the laundry and the whirly-gig has been wizzing round in the breeze.

The weirs are still very high but the level is dropping so today we moved to Cossington where we were amazed to find the internet speed like lightening.

This was the mill -race on the lock approach at Silby Mill. The current was quite strong, but not as strong as when we came up here last week to get a pump-out. When we needed to turn the boat around to go backto Mountsorrel we just stuck the bow into the flow from the weir which then spun us quickly 180' without any need for any engine power.

Spring has definitely sprung. There are many trees in blossom and snowdrops are everywhere.

There are even daffodils and primroses in the hedgerows. It's just beautiful!

So here we are, moored just above Cossington Lock.

The sun shone all day and after we moored up we went off exploring the surrounding area. There are miles of marked footpaths both up the canal and also over the fields and around the many fishing ponds. The fields are still very boggy after the floods but there are signs that things are finally starting to dry out. You can see how high the river level rose by the amount of debris that has been deposited on the towpaths.

We may move on again tomorrow, or we may stay here another day. I've got lots of things I need to do on t'internet while the connection speed is so good, so that may be the deciding factor. I've been getting itchy feet all the time we've been stuck, must be the water gypsy in me, but now that the cruising season is well and truly underway I can't wait to be on the move again.

River levels are still up and we're still stuck

I don't need to tell you how bad the weather has been over the past week. At times the waves were so high on the canal that it looked like a mini Severn Bore!

We're still moored just outside Loughborough and although the weather has improved a lot the red light was still on when we walked to Bishops Meadow Lock yesterday and the EA website says levels are rising again this morning.

That doesn't seem to have stopped 2 boats from coming through though and as one of them was a hire boat I'd be interested to know a) does the hire company know they are travelling on a river in flood and b) is their insurance valid?

Until the red lights go off we're staying put, even if we are starting to get a bit stir-crazy!

There are signs of Spring bursting all around us. Several trees along the towpath are starting to blossom, the moorhens are fighting to claim their mates and a pair of swans are building a nest opposite us.

Loughborough is quite a handy place to be stuck as it's easy for us to hire a car every week to make the 2 hour trip back to Manchester. I'm having acupuncture treatment for nerve damage caused by the chemo I had last year. We'll just have to plan our travels carefully for the next few months, once the river is open again, to make sure we can always get a hire car. Enterprise Car Hire are very good as they will pick us up and drop us off again although that service isn't available here in Loughborough due to the extensive road works in the town centre. They're pretty reasonable too and we've been getting a good car for only £25 a day.

Until river levels drop and we start cruising again I won't bore you with the trivialities of life here on the boat. The blog may be a bit erratic but hopefully normal service will be resumed again soon.

One should have bought a boat!

Where's the Royal Barge when you need it?

Potato Cakes

One of my favourite breakfasts is toasted potato cakes but the ones sold in supermarkets are pretty tasteless so I make my own. They are easy to do and freeze well so I usually make up a big batch. You can also make just a couple by using up any leftover mashed potato.

Whether you use leftovers or make fresh mash specifically for the purpose the first thing you need to do is weigh them

You then need to add a quarter of that weight in self-raising flour. I had 696g of potato so added 175g flour. 

The main thing to remember is to use COLD mashed potatoes because adding flour to hot ones makes the potato cakes very doughy. If you added salt to the potato cooking water there is no need to add any more, if not you'll need to add half a teaspoonful now.

Mix the flour into the potato until it all comes together

I use floured silicone paper so the dough doesn't stick to the work top and press it out until it's the thickness of a pound coin. You could use a rolling pin but it isn't really necessary. I used to cut out circles of dough, re-rolling the trimmings to get the most out of the dough, but nowadays I just make large ones and score them into sections. The amount of dough I had was enough to make 2 large potato cakes.

You can cook the potato cakes in a flat bottomed frying pan or on a griddle iron but I use my chapati pan.

Whatever type of pan you decide to use you need to pre-heat it until you can just hold your hand about an inch above the surface and feel the heat.

Cook the potato cake in the dry pan, don't add and fat, for about 5 minutes and then carefully turn over. I slide it onto a plate and then tip the uncooked side back onto the pan and give it another 5 minutes.

Cool the finished cake on a cooling rack and then cut into individual portions. They freeze really well and are lovely served toasted with a bit of butter or fried and served with bacon and egg.

Enjoy!