Almost any time on the cut is good

With the weather the way it is, we took the opportunity yesterday to come out up the canal a few miles, to do some remedial work to the various knocks and scrapes Kantara's hull suffered over the past months. The damage is largely to the rubbing strakes, and being knocked and scraped is what it's there for, after all.

We did the usual thing of coming up to the straight stretch just above bridge 27, working on the port side of the boat, winding just past bridge 28, and returning to the same spot to work on the starboard. The weather's beautiful, and so's the mooring. There are no roads within hearing distance, nothing to cause light pollution, so last night was still, silent and starfilled. The moon was full, and very bright. We awoke to a lovely morning, a little misty to start with, the sun burning through before 9:00. We'll finish the work today, and probably be back in the marina tonight. But there's no hurry, so we may decide to stay out for more of the weather and scenery.

We watched yet another surprising film last night. The box the DVD is in bears lots of fulsome praise, but they all do, don't they? I was prepared to be disappointed. I wasn't. The Holiday is a romantic comedy with a good cast, and some nice touches in the story. A good 'un! I'm not a great fan of Cameron Diaz, but her character reminded me a lot of Ali McBeal, so she did all right in my eyes in this film.

"Two women trade homes only to find that a change of address can change their lives. Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda realizes the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have never met, and live 6000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place. They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance."

We'll be back this way again on Friday. Jane and Michael, old friends of ours from St Albans but now living in Hillmorton, will be visiting, and we'll probably be having lunch with them where we're moored now. On Sunday, the kids are all coming to see us. A belated birthday celebration. But six eating on the boat wouldn't be comfortable, so we'll be having lunch at The George. Oops, I'd better ring them now, and book a table!