Left at 10:30
arrived at 15:30.
Today is Samuel Jacob
Alexander Taylor’s 6th Birthday, our one and only Grandson. It doesn’t seem that long since he was born,
at home to a very happy mummy and daddy and family, time flies so quickly. He
was the first of three home births, making Sarah in particular very happy and
setting the trend for two more, ‘home made’ Taylor babies, Claudia now 3 and
Isabella 1, making the Taylor tribe of children 6 in all, Charlotte, Amelia and
Sophia the older girls being the first three on the scene. Happy Birthday Sammy Granny and Grandad hope
you have a lovely party with your Disco Bouncy Castle and that you get lots of
lovely cards and pressies. We rang the
tribe and gave our Happy Birthday wishes to Sam, he did ask why I had asked to
speak to him, he was busy opening his pressies and working out how to play
monopoly, I reminded him that it was his birthday and he said oh yes, thank you
for his pressies. Mummy and Daddy had
bought him a big boy bike which is red and black and really cool!!! The weather is cool and cloudy and there have
been a few boats by, hire boats mostly.
Derek has mended the ‘Joker’ valve in the loo (named appropriately don’t
you think) its the third we have had to replace?? We are mooching around this waterway till
later on in the week when Niamh comes, our other granddaughter. A hire boat came to fill up with water but
there is a little cruiser in the way, its been there for a while now, the
hirers don’t seem to give them much hose, it wouldn’t reach, so Derek told them
where the next tap was. We set off after
removing a tree from the bow and met a flotilla of hire boats. Back over the lake aqueduct, the Heron was
still there, in the distance, maybe its not a real one, its in exactly the same
place as before.?? It was getting
wetter and wetter, I hoped it wasn’t so bad at home for Sams big day. I went back into the body of the boat and
prepared tea, a pasta dish in a creamy sauce, thought we would want something
warming after the wetting we are getting, its not cold though 20 in the
cratch. I went on the back of the boat
and had a little drive, after making a drink and snack, elevenses! Along the water there were quite a few Hire
Boats still, hope they packed their wet weather gear, most of them are on the
back driving with shorts, top, flip flops and umbrella. At the hire boat place
before Tardebigge, it was full of boats, some getting cleaned and other people
in theirs sheltering from the pouring rain. We went through Tardebigge tunnel
and there were quite a few boats moored up, one on the bin/water point, we
turned in the winding hole, the guy had gone by the time we got back to it, got
rid of 6 bags of rubbish, topped the water, had lunch and Derek said lets go
back to Hopwood, he thought it was a bit dismal here and it was only 1 so he would
fill a couple of hours up going back to Hopwood?? Think it must be boaters logic but hey ho we
will be nearer to Birmingham for tomorrows outing. The Tardebigge tunnel is more impressive than
I thought, it is in places just carved (or blasted) out of the hillside and is
very craggy,it is especially good looking into the still water, making large
dark cave like reflections in the water, it is as the kids would say really
cool!!! Just after the boat hire place
2 Black Prince Hire boats that had just come up Tardebigge locks were having
fun and games, one had been right across the canal and as we patiently waited
for him to get back on track, another one pulled out of a mooring, there was a
lot of pushing on poles going on?? They
both got off in the end and are just in front of us. It is very tight at this hire place, moorings
on Towpath side, then a poly tunnel dock on the right hand side plus lots of
hire boats, moored in blocks of 2s and 3s, so it does take a bit of manoeuvring.
It was a long slow journey back to Hopwood, the Hire boats in front were very
cautious, one decided as the rain pelted
down, to moor at the side, then the other was consulting a map so we
overtook!! We passed by the hire boat
with the stag weekenders crew who had moored behind us a couple of days ago,
wanting lunch at the pub at Hopwood. We
had chatted to them and they were lovely guys, the brides dad and bridegrooms
dad were with them to keep order but they were all really pleasant and not
rowdy at all. They had asked Dereks
advice about going into Birmingham and said we would probably see them when
they came back from the real stag night there?
Well they were all fit and well, no one worse for wear, all standing,
they passed us taking the boat back for this evening. We had a joke or two as we passed by and
swapped best wishes, the Dads said they had a great time (especially in their
sailor suits!!) Derek told me that bit later on. We got back to Hopwood, same spot facing
other way now, for 3 35, very wet, mostly Derek and hopefully able to watch the
White Queen on tele tonight, the guy with the black labs was back there on a
different mooring, he has been moving up and down here for a while now. Derek found out that he was picking his wife
up from the Train/bus station and heading down the Stratford Northern Canal as
the Wolverhampton arm he was going on is shut due to a lock side
collapsing. His wife is coming to help
him, as she had to go back to work for a while.
We sat around, Derek snoozing, me crafting and more and more hire boats
came and rested in the now very large swarm of NBs, some going back to their
hire firms at Alvechurch etc, others doing the Birmingham Route.
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