Back to normal, hopefully.

Right, let's start getting back to normal. Esme and Elliot have departed.
Saturday evening grandson Jonah sent us a text, could we front up at his birthday bash on Monday, being held at Airkix, Basingstoke. All plans out the window, so we booked a hire car, well done Enterprise, once again. Monday, after some initial confusion, we set off in our upgraded car, a Zafira no less, and made it down.

It's a "Skydiving Experience" you fly on a 100m.p.h. updraught. As it happens inside a transparent tube this is the only photo' that showed anything but a flare from the flash. And no, I didn't have a flight, somehow I had forgotten to take my trainers and you can't do it in Cat. Boots, shame. Jonah and his mates seemed to enjoy it.
Yesterday was Atherstone Locks.

Very attractive at this time of year, different from when we went down on Christmas Day.

Several of the locks still have the remains of metal strips originally put there to protect the coping stones from wear from the tow lines of the old horse boats. Wet lines pick up a lot of grit and then work like diamond saws on stonework.

Above lock five there is a handy water point, many boaters seem unaware of its existence so we generally use it because a). The point at the top of locks is usually in use and b). The top one is a swine to get into and out of.

The side pond at lock six still works, one day, when there aren't too many other boats about, we'll try using it but yesterday it was boat up/boat down all the way.
We packed up between locks nine and ten and today we are having a recovery day. Well I am, Jill has spent the morning wielding the hoover and assorted scrubbing brushes.
Callisto came past this morning so we grabbed the chance to top up the diesel at 82p. Bargain.

Watch this space........

Hopefully it will get back to normal for a while.