Location, location, location....moored at Blake Mere

Nice lazy start today as Lesley needed to collect post in Whitchurch and we were both waiting for a visit from NB's Windsong and Serenity. The latter arrived around 10.30am and our pack were joined by Cassie, their golden retriever. Needless to say, 8 adults and 5 dogs going mental on the towpath was a bit much so Joe, the dog whisperer, took them up into the open field for ball throwing and madness and then, when they were quieter, took the dogs up for some play as well. 

What an attentive audience

So here we are, 4 in a row; Windsong in the foreground, MR, Caxton and Serenity at the far end

The ladies (I use the word loosely) had disappeared indoors to discuss cupboard space, whilst the men stood outside talking electrics

By now the conversation has, no doubt, moved onto sewage disposal

Here we go then L-R Ian & Karen, Joe, Pip, Graham, Rog & Lesley in the foreground, then we all played Japanese tourists so that each crew had their own photograph - if any of us had been clever enough we could have set a delayed timer, but we'd probably still be there now (and learning how to use the flash as well).

So off we went with the boys waiting patiently with me at the lift bridge (one of several) whilst I waived 2 boats up and one down before lowering it again. Very busy today, but most traffic going in the opposite direction.

Such a totally rural canal - gorgeous.

We arrived at Blake Mere around 4.00pm - just as lovely as I remembered from 3 years ago, so I did a photo call against the backdrop.

Not a bad view to entertain you whilst you are cooking.

The only thing to mar the day was that Daisy punctured a lovely whippet which approached her too enthusiastically. Fortunately she missed his eye and the bleeding was stemmed after about 10 minutes. In fairness to her, she was caught between the dog and the cut and Alison (the owner) was very understanding.

Should be a spectacular sunrise over the lake, sorry Mere, in the morning.