A few months ago I discovered that an old college friend was doing a jazz gig at Keswick on Tuesday. I hadn't seen him since leaving college 33 years ago, so arranged to go and hear him play and meet up with him.
We spent a lovely evening listening to him and his band play and had a drink with him in the bar during his break and discussed a possible reunion with the 'class of '78!'
On Wednesday we decided that as the weather was quite nice we would try and get to the summit of Blencathra which we failed to reach a few weeks ago because of the snow and ice. We had a lovely walk :
and then decided to make a couple of days of it as I am not working until next Monday.We booked in at our favourite hotel at Haweswater and we both had a much needed soak in the bath! I love this hotel because it was built in the 1930s when the reservoir was built and it hasn't really changed, it is beautifully Art Deco.
On the way home I really indulged myself, buying hand made soaps at the local post office, then stopping off at the chocolate factory at Orton for some lovely chocolates and finally buying food for our tea at sizergh barn farm shop - all quality produce.
Having been away for two days we were greeted by a very cross Jack the Whippet when we arrived home. His owner said he had been down to our boat regularly and had returned to sulk and grump for hours only to try again later. She kept trying to tell him that we had gone away but he wouldn't believe her!
I felt duty bound to take him immediately for a walk, despite tired legs. I got half way down the tow path to find that a boat must have been through the locks and had been careless enough not to close one of the locks properly and this had resulted in the canal draining between two locks. I rang British Waterways to let them know.
This time last year I hadn't got a clue about locks and didn't even understand how they worked. We have been through these locks several times now and are very proficient at working them, so I am starting to feel like an old hand.
There is a real feeling of spring in the air with many lambs in the fields. I stood and watched them leaping and jumping around. It was just lovely.
I tried to take some photos of swans with my new camera ....
.... but they started to get a bit noughty about it:
..... so I left them to it
We decided that a chill in front of the telly was required tonight so we watched a programme about the symphony on BBC4 with examples from Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Phil made the mistake of asking what a symphony was and I started a lecture on the subject. I think the development of the form is very interesting but I was cut short very quickly by Phil saying "Basically it's an orchestra giving it plenty isn't it? That's all I need to know " Hmmmm I suppose that's what you get when you are married to a non-musician!
When I was away I noticed that my clothes were smelling a bit damp and sooty! Phil says I am imagining it, but I think the winter has really taken its toll and we need to think much more next year about damp prevention in the wardrobes. We are going to spend some time up at our storage unit next week sorting out clothes etc. and maybe I won't need to have so many clothes on the boat. I also think I need to spend more money on crystals which soak up the damp. As for the soot - the eco fan sends the heat to the furthest corner of the boat and I need to do a big 'deep' clean quite soon. Last year I cleaned the boat from top to bottom in the spring and was amazed at how dirty the bedroom ceiling was compared to the living room. The fan not only takes the heat to the end of the boat, but also the dust and soot.
It is still a learning curve but we are getting there ... and long may it continue!
This weekend T and I hope to bottle the cider and collect wood from the estuary. Son number one is 25 this week so I think we are going to have a family celebration on Sunday. We will see what we can fit in - watch this space!
Al :)
No comments:
Post a Comment