Still Cold On The Cut

It’s just past ten in the morning and on the trees that overhang TCW the birds are singing for England. It's Tuesday morning and we are moored in the delightful canal-side village of Shardlow. So, has Spring finally arrived in this part of Derbyshire? Well the daffs are finally taking a chance. I just cycled up to the post office to get a paper and some milk and an awful lot of them are exposing their yellow petals to the whims of the elements.
We have also seen a couple of swans bedded down on their nests as they await this year’s off-spring to arrive, but it is still cold - currently 3 degrees, but as we only have plans to be cruising a couple of hours a day over the next week of so that shouldn't present a problem.

Shardlow

We spent the weekend down in Hertfordshire. I had booked to have an ECG done at my local GP’s when we returned to the UK mid-March, but when I got to the surgery on Friday afternoon, the receptionist told me, “Sorry, the machine has broken down, can you come back next week?”. “No”, I thought, “I bloody well can’t”, but I kept calm and was polite.
The main reason for our visit home was to attend a party for Mike, one of my best pals at John Lewis Welwyn, who was celebrating his 50th birthday. It was good to see all my work chums again, but not so good hearing about all the insecurities they feel with the giant restructuring that is going on at the moment in John Lewis, I really did jump ship at the right time.
In our trusty hired Peugeot, we were back at Trent Lock by Sunday lunchtime and drove into Nottingham to pick up a new fireside rug they had reserved for us. I can’t see the point of it, but Pat thinks it is cosy: we’ll see how it shapes up when I am charging through the cabin with muddy boots on.

Our new John Lewis rug

We left our home of the last five weeks mid-day Monday. Our neighbours in “Free Spirit” were also leaving the same day, so we shared the lock and let Ian and Irene out on to the Trent first as Ian was keen to try out the new propeller he fitted over Easter. He had bought a gizmo, that connects via a GPS signal and gives the boat’s speed in mph and they were both keen to see what their boat could achieve. Even cruising against the current, they literally shot off and within five minutes were round the bend and out of sight, so it looks like the prop has made a big difference. We didn't attempt to  try and catch them, arriving some 20 minutes later at Sawley lock, where they were waiting in the pound for us. They were staying at Sawley, but we moved on, after getting a new gas bottle and putting some diesel into the fuel tank.

Irene captures TCW as we brave the elements on the Trent

Joining Ian and Irene in Sawley Lock

I expect we will see them again soon on our travels. It’s amazing how often you meet up with boats you know,  We will keep up to date, and keep an eye of Ian’s condition, via our respective blogs, on which Irene is prolific.
So we are now a couple of miles on from Sawley, in one of the prettiest canal-side villages on the system. Well, I think so anyway. We had a wander around the Wharf here last night and a four-bedroomed conversion of two small cottages is a staggering £300,000. There is a fair sprinkling of Porches, flash Audi’s and Beemers about, which confirms it’s all about “Location, Location” in these here parts.
Of course, we have all the benefits of the location on board TCW, without this cost, and we are both looking forward to this year’s adventures.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), we should be in Willington, and I am giving the Derby Ukulele Club a visit, after enjoying my experience last week in Nottingham. It’s only 10 minutes to Derby from Willington station, so it should be an easier journey than last week’s slog, on the bus.
Toodaloo