Gas Street

The ice has almost gone. Unfortunately what is left is being blown by the wind up against the boats and has been "clunking" all day.

David took this photo from outside Bobby Browns. You can see a stack of chairs that used to be chained up outside the cafe. Because there has been no traffic the water is incredibly clear - these seats are on the bottom of the canal and there are about 2" of ice on the surface.

We took the boat around to Sherborne Wharf for a pumpout, decided not to turn in the boatyard as it was windy, so David set off past Oozells Loop to the transhipment wharf to wind. Bad mistake. As we got to the bridge past the last entrance to the loop the ice was still quite firm across the canal. There was nothing for it, but to break the ice all the way up, wind in the still heavily frozen wharf and then come back through the ice again.

Managed to get the latest Canals and Rivers magazine while we were at the boatyard. David has written an article about the IWA Festivals and whether they need a re-think. It has probably put the cat amongst the pigeons and he will get lots of flak, but maybe that is what is needed.

It is never nice to have to send one of these cards, which we did recently, but I do think that some canal scenes lend themselves to reflection (pun not really intended). Some photos can be really moody and sombre.

I got this lovely stamp of the geese flying from Lavinia Stamps. The rest of the card was made in the usual way by matting the photo, then adding ribbon and a peel-off sentiment.