Wendover Arm

When Henry met Baxter and Muttley,
Great work being carried out to the Wendover Arm.

A little tight in places!

Joining the Wendover Arm

Prior to departing the Aylesbury Arm Lesley of NB Caxton fame decided to host an animal sit it, all six were enjoying the sunshine! Daisy now has a penchant for sitting on roofs, much to Joe's dismay at she climbed up his new cratch cover using her claws, ouch!
Last year we decided to buy a collapsible cat carrier, which we thought may be a good way of travelling Daisy, seen here chomping at the bit, sooo many ducks, let me at em!
Matilda Rose approaching one of the Marsworth flight.

Now onto the Wendover Arm, this was originally a feeder for the Main GU, here not too bad but just around the corner.........

Down to Aylesbury

Well it's been a while, but I think Jill is getting withdrawal symptoms, she wants to be collecting wood and the decent logs always seem to be miles from the boat!
The 1st of the Season, what a luxury, the weather for the beginning of April has been gorgeous, Jill refused to sit on the chair next to the cut, I wonder why?
Virgin Balloon departing Aylesbury, picture was taken from the Basin at the end of the Aylesbury Arm, anyone wanting to explore this arm will be made very welcome by the club here, their hospitality was excellent.
A beautiful lock side property, only problem for them is the fact that every car that crosses the bridge in the background insisted on blowing its horn.
NB Critical Point arriving at the BBQ.

A morning out in Tring with Chenelle

We really need that bus pass now. It cost us £8.20 for a return,10 minute, trip into Tring for the 2 of us and a 5 year old.
A lovely little town with independent shops and independent architecture.

Sorted out a soon to be 6 years old persons birthday present, topped up with groceries and headed for home - it was bitterly cold again.
The afternoon saw Grandad engaged in some serious cooking - soup, carrot cake, bread and butter pudding, bread.........reach for your sunglasses as his halo must be dazzling you.

Marsworth Junction

Very pretty when you don't look at the over flowing rubbish disposal points.
Had a lovely walk to here in the spring sunshine - even the boats were breeding.....................
......4 boats came out of this lock, which really confused me (mind, I'm easily confused).
Floyd looking unusually aloof - if you enlarge the photo you'll see it's because he has a new squeaky toy which has kept him occupied all day. Muttley dropped said squeaky toy in the cut, so G put it in the well deck to dry out. Floyd nicked it and kept it under close guard all day.

Things that were missed due to too much fun......

....is that possible...and poor signals.

Children at play.

Greygal is back - more photos from Saturday's fun

What a lovely treat when I signed in tonight. Greygal's blog was back up on my list....we have soooo missed your humour. So these are a few more photos from our fabulous Saturday with our super hosts, Richard and Sue together with A and Greygal

Fond farewells

All in a row - nearside is Indigo Dream, then us, then Caxton breasting up to say goodbye on Sunday morning. I think we last saw Sue and Richard on the Macclesfield around last September and Greygal and A on the Shroppy. about .....er ....20 months ago (boats and brain memory sticks really don't go hand in hand).

Sunday, in contrast, was not the best of days as we were all 'tired' from a long and over indulgent day; the wind became stronger and the queue in front of us became unpredictable. We remembered why NB Balmaha doesn't travel on a Sunday.
So this rather grand looking spot became home for 2 nights.
The usual 20 legs set off around Slapton village, the River Ouzel and it's environs.
Ever had the feeling you are being watched? We wandered around the church and these guys appeared around the corner; they followed us all the way round at a discreet distance and very handsome they were too (although Fletcher was distinctly unimpressed -any kind of livestock unsettles him). We encountered a couple of challenging stiles for Floyd the special needs dog. He cannot accept that he, sizewise, cannot follow Muddley under things.
Weather permitting, we shall set off towards Marsworth Junction today and give Baxter a chance to show off his new hair cut.

Meeting the Odyssey

On Saturday morning we returned the two boys to their rightful owners and set off on foot towards the Globe to find Indigo Dream, Lou and Blue and 2 sets of crew. On past the pub, up past the lock and no sign of her, so re-traced our steps in case she was one of the "unnamed" boats that we had passed....no. Phone call revealed they were above the lock, so back we all went up past the lock again. Further calls finally established that they were at Grove and we were at Globe. Walked back to The Globe and sat in the sun with coffees and beers to wait for them; feeling very continental.

So Indigo Dream set off for a cruise with 8 people and 6 dogs on board. Lesley & I actually sat on the back whilst a bevy of superfluous crew worked the locks and steered; quite a novel experience - we must try it more often!

The weather was perfect, the company even better and the day went by in a flash - we were returned to our own boats around 7.00pm and rounded off the day with a meal in the pub.

Whose kidding who?

I could have done with this gun when a boat came roaring past us at 6.30am and pulled our pins out!!
The first I've seen this year.

More pictures from Great Linford

Leaving the boys with G, I took off for 30 mins with my camera-the place is too unusual to ignore and Milton Keynes has left it completely untouched.



This the Quiet Garden; it takes a stronger person than I not to take at least 5 minutes of contemplation - something I should do more often