Lower Bradley

Sorry, the internet connection is too low to upload any pictures.

We left Skipton this morning after spending a week on a 24 hour mooring. No excuse, but there was one other boat there that was there before we got there and was still there when we left.

Julia and Ed spent a couple of days in Keswick while we looked after their boats and then they looked after Mr David while we went to Harrogate for the weekend to attend the wedding of a nephew of mine. The wedding was lovely and it was great to see all the family again. We had even more good news, my niece Rebecca is expecting a baby at the end of January next year.

Because of all the rain these last few days all the rivers have been closed to navigation so it doesn't look like we will be able to get to York this year. We are hanging around a bit because Julia and Ed are waiting for visitors to arrive.

I had lots of fun stamping up with my new stamps from The Stamp Man and then went and bought lots more Paper Nation people to decoupage from the other craft shop in Skipton. I have managed to make seven cards all with stamps. Not one of my favourite techniques, but I am getting better at it.

Skipton

After a night in Gargrave we moved here to Skipton and have been here for a few days. Ed and Julia have been away visiting friends near Keswick and we have been keeping an eye on their boat and tomorrow David and I go to Harrogate for a family wedding and they will look after our boat.

Skipton has been lovely - as always - There is a market on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and there are two craft shops. I managed to spend £95 at The Stamp Man which was fun explaining away to David!!!

We had a visit from Janet yesterday, our friend who designed Mr David. Lunch was in Pan Loafy's opposite the mooring and was a very tasty soup. We then had dinner at the Canalside which was good too, though we had just missed the lobster festival.

This is the first photograph I have managed of an insect on a flower that I have ever go to be remotely in focus.

This card is just a bog standard pretty one. A skeleton leaf, three lilac paper roses and a pink organza bow mounted on lilac opalescent card and silver Dufex then stuck onto a pink card. Still rather pretty though.

Because I bought some stamps yesterday I spent the afternoon stamping - something I have not done for ages and ages. Today I even made three or four cards which I will post soon.

Langber

Dodging the showers we got as far as Salterforth yesterday morning. For once it was dryer in the tunnel than outside. We had lunch in The Anchor pub and were given a guided tour of the cellar. The original pub had two floors and was built long before the canal was built. When the canal came through, the cellar flooded so they built another storey on top and then built up the road to go over the bridge. So the pub is now in the old bedrooms and the new bedrooms are above. Coming out of Foulridge Tunnel. We were very good and waited for the traffic lights to change!

This morning we left in light drizzle to go down the three locks at Greenberfield and moored out past East Marton on the start of the zig zags. There are Curlews flying and calling out overhead, beautiful orchids on the towpath and peace and quiet. Then the sun came out. Perfect!!!

The card has a Mexican Worry Doll. I bought several at an evening market in Melbourne a couple of years ago (I was visiting Caroline at the time). She is supposed to take all your troubles away.

Barrowford

We have been having some awful weather, though it has been worse in other places and there is no flooding here.

We stopped just past Burnley and spent most of the next day there, walking back to the large mill shop for a quick look around. We then dashed on to just below the locks here, stopping off at Morrisons on the way. Well, as Morrisons went to the trouble to put in moorings, you have to stop there, don't you?

It was raining this morning so we decided to stay on and it seemed to rain for most of the day. We walked into Barrowford to visit the heritage centre there and find out about the Pendle Witches and have a lovely afternoon tea and cake.







A decoupaged card which is a lot of fun. The font is called Fuzzy Cootie - has lots of girls posing on the letters.

Near Clayton-le-Moore

Just a short journey today and three swing bridges. The weather has broken and there was lots of rain and some thunder during the night. The day was dull and overcast.

The towpath has been tidied up but rubbish in the water around here is just as bad. I still haven't been able to visit the Church at Church which has a couple of Burne-Jones windows. I'll make it one day.

Wildflower was following and I waited and waited for them at the last swing bridge until David came back to say that they had broken down - fortunately just by a new boatyard. They are still there now and hope to join up with us tomorrow.

The picture is the view from the galley again - though not at its best. You can see much further past the hills on a clear day.





The card is a Christmas Card, the sentiment saying "May all your Christmas presents be shoes". The shoes are made from thick handmade paper, the linings from Japanese paper and the bows are tiny bows for decorating parcels.

Between Blackburn and Rishton

We have been in and out of Vodafone range for the past few days and as we like to stop out in the countryside there is usually no signal when we need one.

Anyway, we have had a good cruise so far, just toddling along. The weather has been lovely and hot and it is really very pleasant.

We managed to get to get through Blackburn without incident but there were lots of young people at the locks with cans and bottles and
the weed hatch was visited occasionally.

There is always a lot of muck in the canal around here, it is a good job it is so murky and we cannot see what is on the bottom.

We went past a Canadian Goose nursery - lots and lots of young



A card for a football lover. The images were taken from a CD that I bought in The Works for £2 a few years back.

The pictures are matted on co-ordinating coloured card twice and then onto a background before being stuck to the card blank.

Haigh Park Bridge, Leeds and Liverpool Canal

A 6am start today to get through the locks on the Wigan Flight. It was nice and easy as we breeched the 2 boats together and either Julia or David drove them while Ed went on on his bicycle setting the locks and Julia or David and I did the rest of the locking. We did all 21 locks in 3 1/2 hours, meeting 4 boats coming down.

A phone call from BW about the mooring back in Birmingham. Still not resolved but not as bad as it could have been. We may have to go back to Birmingham for a meeting with all interested parties. That should be interesting as certain other parties have not spoken to us at all yet.

Also a telephone call from Caroline (our daughter) in Sydney. She has been offered a job back in Birmingham next April so she and fiancee Curtis will be back home next spring. Though we will probably see just as much of her when she is back in the UK as we did while she was in Australia!




The irises on this card were stamped onto thick white watercolour paper and embossed with black powder and then painted with watercolour paints.

The picture was then mounted onto yellow and blue card before finally being mounted onto a yellow card.

I forgot to mention that while we were having a pumpout on Wednesday another boat joined us and the couple on board bought 5 cards.

Moss Bridge near Wigan

The Castlefield Moorings with the new "iconic" Great Northern Tower in the background.

We sailed as far as Bridgewater Boats to get a pumpout and some diesel and moored up opposite for the rest of the day. Lots of boats on the move. Most of them going past without slowing down!

Today we left quit late for us and stopped at Leigh for provisions. Just as we cast off David caught a glimpse of the bow of a boat coming up behind him. It was Wildflower and our friends Julia and Ed. They had made good time and caught us up earlier than expected.

We then travelled on through Plank Lane Lift Bridge and moored just before the locks at Wigan, ready for a quick getaway tomorrow morning.




One of my "doll" cards. She was originally fixed onto a hair band. The string was also taken from a hair slide.

Castlefields, Manchester

The bottom lock of the Rochdale 9 with water pouring over the bottom lock which is usual. It is quite daunting the first time you see them but the gates work without any problems when the water levels neutralise.

I spent the whole day going round in a daze as my eyes are not focusing properly.





A wedding card and the box for it to go into. I put red tissue paper in the box, added the card and some heart confetti so that it falls out when the card is removed.


I cut out lots of hearts and put spelt out the names of the couples, stuck them to each other with string sandwiched in the middle. Thus the names are spelt out and intertwined. Well I thought it was a good idea!

Castlefields, Manchester

I seem to have lost a couple of blogs.

Anyway, we are here in Manchester for a few days. I had to go back to Birmingham to have a lump removed from my ear and visit the eye hospital.

I also picked up the mail and we got the bad news that we are going to have to move off our lovely big mooring in Gas Street for a more inferior one so that the Restaurant Boat and all its garbage can move back on.

Lots of double standards by BW and no indication of refunds or electric hook-up for us - still we are still in there and fighting in our court.

Poor Castlefields. It is looking very neglected. Most of the bars have closed down and this office block (photographed) is now completely empty. Still it makes it a lot quieter at night without people walking past the boats at night.

This lovely card I made from a photograph that David took last year on the Llangollen Canal.