My cup runneth (or freezes) over!

2 internet hits in one day after all this time of nothing - if you plan to spend time in this area you do NOT want to subscribe to 3.

On the whole, we've tried to ignore all this icy stuff & just get on with the joyous fact that it is not raining & that you can walk fast & far (remember we're travelling with Caxton & Lesley considers anything less than a 6-10mile walk as a waste of a day) to keep yourself warm.

We did, however, start to face up to the fact that we were getting into a pickle today. Set off ice breaking as norm, but at the first lock we had to take Matilda Rose separately & see her through-re set the lock and put Caxton in because we couldn't open the bottom gates enough to let them both out due to ice impacting behind the gates. At the second lock we took the same approach, but by then the ice was so bad that I started to worry that we wouldn't get Caxton out at all as the impacted ice was so bad that we couldn't get the gates open enough to get a single boat out! However, Lesley & I are not ones to be defeated easily & by bouncing & crushing the gates repeatedly we managed to release her. By the time we reached Kilby Bridge services it was obvious that no one had been through for some time & it was the end of the navigation until warmer climes. Balmaha in front was trying to make dental appointments, I was trying to reach my car (at a friends in Leicester) ready to get back & see my mum through a hospital op in Norfolk

, but we are, clearly, going nowhere for a while and all making alternative arrangements to sort out immediate stuff. The photo shows Lesley & Joe trying to break & shift the ice so that we could get MR into the side & moor up. Way too close to a busy main road for all our likings and Daisy's activities are being seriously curtailed-best I take her back with me to mum's.
We are having such a good time; Lesley & I usually walk the dogs for around 4 hours a day & to watch Floyd & Muttley together like a pair of overgrown bumbling puppies is a joy to behold -the four are their own little group & the pack are looking good. The humans are eating pretty well & companiably too - it's going to be hard to leave on Tuesday, but needs must.