Flecknoe (Thinking I’m probably mad)

Monday evening’s sunset

Karen left extra early on Monday as she went to Manchester for the day.  It was a bright and sunny morning so after a few admin jobs I cleaned all the windows on the boat and took Buddy for a walk.  

I have to admit that being a house husband on a boat is generally a bit easier to being one in a house.  Saying I cleaned the windows means I cleaned four windows, four portholes and the panes of glass in the doors and cratch - far fewer than if we were living in bricks and mortar.

I’m not artistic at all but I love the colours of the red berries in the winter, especially against the bright blue sky.  You’ll probably think I’ve gone a bit mad as I am putting these pictures up but this blog is all about keeping memories.

Hips (fruit of the wild roses like dog rose).  In primary school days we used to open them up to get the seeds and put them down people's backs and called it itching powder.

Haws (fruit of the hawthorns)

We crossed an accommodation bridge and saw an old weight restriction sign from the days of steam driven vehicles like traction engines.  Accommodation bridges were built by the canal companies to allow farmers and their livestock cross the canal when their land had been cut through.

Sign on parapet together with my silhouette - a sure sign of an amateur photographer.  The 24 & 25 Vict refers to acts of Parliament laid down in 1861

The canal company here was the Oxford Canal Navigations but this five mile stretch is more commonly referred to as the Grand Union as it links the southern part of the Grand Union (London to Braunston) to the northern end (Napton to Birmingham)

Putting the sign into perspective together with the farm that uses the accommodation bridge

The sign seems in an odd place as the driver would be in the middle of the bridge by the time he got to read the warning sign.  The old warning signs can sometimes still be seen.

This one is on the Stratford canal and is at the start of the bridge where they normally are

During the morning Aileen sent me a couple of pictures of their boat being loaded onto the lorry for its trip to France.  I've included one here as she thought it was really sweet that they used a lorry in colours to match the boat!

Exciting times for Mike and Aileen