Ducks and a poem, including notes on Old English.

On our last day on the G.U. we passed steam tug Adamant. She's definitely an impressive looking beast. Actually she is a replica of a steam tunnel tug, the hull is made from the stern ends of two B.N.C. "Joey" boats with a new cabin and counter. The steam plant is a Cochrane of Birkenhead two cylinder compound from the end of the 19thC. The boiler is of the vertical fire tube type built in 1986.

After negotiating Wigram's Turn we moored out in the country near Flecknoe for the weekend.

Lovely moorings but absolutely no 'phone signal and therefore no internet. I'm getting as bad as the kids, no mobile and I start twitching, missing my daily dose of Facebook etc.
The stretch of G.U./Oxford between Wigrams and Braunston Turn must be the busiest on the system, a continual stream of boats all weekend.

Didn't seem to put this little family of though, every time we poked our heads out of the side hatch they headed for us like miniature speed boats. Sorry kids, no bread, it's not good for you. they did love Rice Krispies though.
On Monday we managed, by dint of standing on the roof, to raise enough signal to contact the local dentist, both of us being in need of dental sorting, and fix up an appointment. So we moved down to Wigram's Turn Marina, expecting to stay for a few days. It turns out that the course of treatment is going to last for several weeks, usual routine, a succession of appointments. So it looks like we will be here for a while.

Amongst the surfeit of Mallards around the marina we have a Tufted Duck and her solitary duckling, it really is the scruffiest looking duckling we've ever seen.
Yesterday, whilst shopping in Southam we purchased some eggs, described on the carton as "Happy Eggs", which gave me pause for thought and, from some deep recess of the mind, there sprang a poem, possibly written by Chaucer.

"How sad ye life of ye new laid egg,
His fate is dark and dire.
For he cometh out of the frying pan
And goeth into ye fryer."

It should be noted that "y" is not a Y but actually "Thorn" an Old English character pronounced as "th".

Watch this space...