We're loving this!

Moving off from our Stoke Bruerne mooring on another beautifully clear and sunny morning, we stopped for a slow water refill. The slowness was fortuitous, however, for it gave time for another boat to arrive at the top lock, and we descended the flight with them smoothly and easily, with two crews working the locks together. The all-male crew were moving a hire-fleet boat down to Uxbridge. I didn't quite understand why.

After a short stop at the services at the bottom, we sailed on just another couple of miles to a really picturesque countryside spot where tiny lambs bleated plaintively and geese honked boisterously, and we all basked together under a warm sun.

Sheep and geese both provided us with a lot of entertainment throughout our stay there.

Friday's best boat names were Tiny Tardis (I had a peek inside. It was just as small as you'd expect. I think something was wrong with their time/space regulator) and Nunc est bibendum - "Now is the time to drink". Since this is writ large on both sides of the boat, you have to think that the crew might be permanently drunk, but the skipper did seem to be fully in command of his craft.

It was another lazy day for me,  Cosgrove being the only lock. This is a route we've taken several times now, but we still enjoy it enormously. What did disappoint us was the discovery that GDad's has closed down. GDad's Collectables was such a fabulous emporium, and we were sure to pay it yet another visit on our return journey. That was not to be.

However, a poke around the internet resulted in finding this piece of good news...

...so we live in hope!

Just beyond an unusual scene of 14 swans a-grazing (in a field of some or other young crop), we moored at Bridge 75, northwest of Milton Keynes. The grassland either side of the canal has been developed since we last moored here, and is now a huge and pleasant park, crisscrossed with paths passing play areas for kids and benches for the less energetic.

There was frost overnight, and we woke to the sight of white-sprinkled fields. A couple of hours later, the temperature had risen, and we chugged off down through Milton Keynes. I think the town gets an unfair bad press. It's actually a really nice place as seen from the boat. It has some very attractive houses, a lot of open space and parkland, and playgrounds for all ages. The canal's treated with respect, valued, an important part of the pulse of the town. I like Milton Keynes.

We had a brief stop at New Bradwell for a visit to the Co-Op, and lunch, and finished for the day at
Fenny Stratford, right above the 11" rise lock.

Despite the chilly breeze, we investigated the village, looking for the Tesco where we could buy things we'd not been able to get from the Co-Op. Fenny Stratford is a very strange, dead-feeling place. It has no identity of its own, and has actually been absorbed by Bletchley. It's run-down and sad. It was Saturday, but most shops were closed. Many of those permanently. There were very few people about. The railway looked unused. We were glad to get back to the boat.

From our two meetings with local gentlemen, we discovered that we were moored opposite Kantara's former mooring with her previous owners. Each of them told how Bob had had enormous problems with several successive domestic generators, and this explained perfectly the issues we had with the last one he fitted before selling Kantara to us. If only we'd known then...

It wouldn't have stopped us buying her, believe me! It  would have saved us lots of pounds.

Sitting on the well-deck minding my own business that evening, I was accosted by a very belligerent pair of really quite attractive dogs. After the owner had persuaded them to desist and go away, he apologised and I asked him what breed they were. "Malayan Terriers," he said, "but I call them Malayan terrorists!"

I can't find that breed anywhere on the web.

Creative knitting!

If you read my post about G Dad's Collectables back in June, then I apologise for showing the same photos here as I did then. Grace and I paid G Dad's a return visit the other day. It's at Old Wolverton, near Milton Keynes, and right next to the Grand Union Canal.

This time, we went to their furniture warehouse as well, which was full of all sorts of fascinating, retro furniture and objets d'art. I really regret not having taken photos this time. I had my camera with me, but just got too carried away with the looking to think about the recording.

We spent several hours there, taking a break for lunch at the next-door Galleon Inn.

G Dad's stock had changed a lot since we were there last, but it was still the most amazing collection of ephemera and oddities that we've ever seen. It's not at all difficult to spend ages there. Surprisingly, we actually bought nothing this time, but we do highly recommend the place to readers who enjoy browsing and buying fascinating objects from past decades. And some of the prices are just stupidly low!

Returning from Sainsbury's on Friday, we stopped off at Kilsby village to investigate something we saw on our way out.

All of the knitting was in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Women's Institute. It put big smiles on our faces. A brilliant concept, very well executed.

Our week with Michelle - part 5

We met up with Val and Stuart on NB Bud as we moved back down through the locks, speeding our journey, and giving us good company along the way. We finally parted company with them at Leighton Buzzard, where we shopped briefly again.

We didn't see Marge herself

Passing G Dad's Collectables on our way out, on the outskirts of Milton Keynes, we promised ourselves we'd stop on the way back. This we did, mooring up right by the shop with less than fifteen minutes to go before they closed. We hurried in, frustrated by the shortage of time, then smiled broadly when we read the sign which told us that that day, Friday, they were open until 8:00pm.

Two storeys of smaller items...

and a warehouse full of vintage furniture, which we didn't get to visit.

It's a wonderful place, so full of all sorts of ephemera that it would take far more time to see it all than we had to spend. More than an hour later we went back to the boat, took her across the canal and moored her there, vowing to return to G Dad's the next day.

And return, we did, coming away each of us with things of beauty, fascination, interest. We'd left ourselves no time to look at the furniture shop, but had no wish to buy furniture anyway. Grace and I may well return by car one day.

And soon it's Saturday, and we're making our way up the Stoke Bruerne flight.

We moored above the fifth lock, between 16 and 15, a really good spot we'd not used before.

Next to us, there was a wildlife nature reserve that we'd not ever noticed before. Michelle took her friends in for their last photo-shoot. It's a lovely place to wander. We didn't see any wildlife that evening, just a few young cows who were nervous but certainly not wild.

Well, it might have been wild once

On Sunday morning, we ascended the two remaining locks and moored. Michelle treated us to an excellent, leisurely lunch at The Navigation Inn, and left for home shortly afterwards. It had been a very enjoyable week.