Ellesmere, Llangollen Canal

 Clearly someone cannot read!  And there is no excuse as it's on the downstream side so you can't use the current as an excuse.

I made the postie wait at this bridge and he was not a happy bunnie.  Must have been late for his cup of tea at the next remote farm.

A beautiful day, we saw a kingfisher (our third since we started out) and lots of squirrels on the towpath foraging for acorn.

We stopped at Ellesmere (first set of moorings after the junction so David could back out tomorrow morning and not have to wind in the tiny winding hole at the top.

A quick trip into town to get some shopping and then into Tesco for the rest of it.  It is so handy for us boaters.  David asked the butcher if have it in town had made any difference to their trade, and they said that, actually, it was better now and probably the big store has brought more visitors to the town.  So that's good.

I like these easy to make sympathy cards.  White card blank, white panel which has been embossed matted onto black card, some black and white spotty ribbon, a computer generated sentiment and 4 punched out butterflies which have been folded in half and one side stuck onto the card front.

Stonely Green Bridge 10, Llangollen Canal

Surprising what you can find on lock gear!

The morning was spent in Chester, we caught the bus just past the bridge at the top of Hurlston locks.  David bought a very expensive box of chocolates and then we came back.


So, we set off at 1 o'clock and stopped at Stoneley Green Bridge at 3 o'clock, having travelled just over 3 miles and done 2 locks.  Enough for one day.

Don't know what this card is for really, could be a birthday card, or a thank you card, or a retirement card, or a new home card, or most things really.

I just matted the picture onto blue and then silver mirri card and stuck it onto the front of a white card blank.  Three blue gems were stuck onto the bottom to give it a bit of a lift, and that was it really.

Gas Street Basin, BCN

We set off at 7am as we were meeting Cathy at the bottom of Farmer's locks at 11am.

We got to the next lock and I went up to open the gates and was met with this sight.  It's a long pound so I couldn't just run a bit of water down; we had to call out the CART emergency team.

The were with us within the hour and sent some water down and, bless them, they opened the bottom gates to all the locks on the flight.  So we flew up the locks.

The water pouring down the bywash.

We sold Cathy that we would now be at the bottom of Farmer's at 1330, but were there by 1200.  I popped to the cafe across the road for a toasted sandwich and a coffee and when I got back to the canal the boat had gone.

David had set off and met up with Tony, the Volunteer Lock Keeper who helped us up all the locks.

Cathy met us as we were coming into the top lock!

So a trip into Sherborne Wharf for a pump out and diesel before going back to the mooring.

A Cuttlebugged panel in white with a black and white floral paper band across the bottom.  The sentiment was done on the computer, including the boxes and finished off with 3 black buttons.  This panel was stuck onto a black card blank.  Because it is a black card I stuck in a white insert for any sentiment.

Gas Street Moorings, Birmingham

 

A sunny August Saturday in Gas Street.  The drinkers on the balcony are jeering at the drinkers on the towpath in the Tap and Spile.  There is a stag party waiting to join the party boat and another group waiting to join the other party boat.  Lots of noise (howler monkeys comes to mind) and eventually, someone will jump off the balcony into the canal.  What fun?

After arriving back from Spain almost the first thing I did was put the washing machine on.  Nothing unusual in that.  The next day the washing machine didn't sound right.  Then the water pump kept on working after the taps were turned off.  Then, while the water pump was working we could hear water running somewhere in the back, though on inspection it seemed to be coming from the hot water tank overflow into the canal.

A couple of days later we noticed we were listing rather alarmingly and then discovered about a foot of water in the bilges!!!

Water was pouring from the calorifier.  So it was a trip around to Sherborne Wharf, where Richard did a botch and tried to fill in the leak.  This didn't work.  Of course, you can't just buy a replacement calorifier - for some reason they don't make them like that any more.  So a new one had to be built.  Should have it in a week! 

Great!  No running water for a week.  Don't you just love boating?



A lovely atmospheric photo of a canal bridge in very early spring.  I matted it onto silver and white card.

The green panel was Cuttlelbugged and matted onto silver card as well and then fixed to the right hand side of a tent fold white card blank.  The photo was added and three black "pearls" were stuck down the right and side of the green panel.

Adderley Bottom Lock, Shropshire Union Canal

This is Oinka and she lives in the farm at the top of Adderley Locks. Next week there will be a farm shop operating here, selling lamb, bacon (not Oinka), eggs and slices of Victoria Sponge - and that's just for starters.

If you are passing drop in for some super food.

We had a short day today, leaving Market Drayton at 0930 after the rain stopped. We then stopped at the bottom of Adderley locks for a lovely sunshiny day.

In the evening we walked back up to the top lock to talk to Simon and Alison who have the farm and are opening up the shop. David is writing a series of articles about people with small businesses on or by the canals - you will be able to read it in Canals, Rivers and Boats sometime later this year.





We are moored by this tree. We have been here before because I have used a similar photo for some Sympathy Cards.













And here is a card. The photograph is mounted onto black handmade paper and then gold card fixed onto a white card blank.

The sentiment is a silver peeloff stuck onto black paper and gold card and added at the bottom at a slight angle.

Gas Street Moorings, Birmingham

There was ice on the moorings this morning!!!!! Even in the bright sunshine it was cold today. Must get the winter coats from under the bed.

David took this photo of boats at Sherborne Wharf this morning.






Had some sad news a few days ago. My eldest cousin died at the very young age of 66. Blimey, that's my generation dropping off already.

This card was for his mother, my auntie and I made it using a couple of rub-on seedheads on a white, square card. I coloured the sentiment (which was silver) with a black Sharpie and added it to the card.

Nice and simple.

Weston Hall Bridge, Grand Union Canal

The weather forecast was predicting high temperatures, so we set off at 0530. Well, David did. I had a cup of tea in bed before I got up.

The lift bridge just before the locks was a pig to lift yet again. It went up centimetre by centimetre with every turn. Then it was the Lapworth locks. It was good to see that BW has looked after them this winter. NOT. Stiff paddle gear, leaking locks. And one of my favourites. The selling off of the lock cottage and all the land so you can’t get along the off side of the lock. Usually there are signs stuck to the fence asking you not to use the other side, but they always seem to end up in the water (wonder why). This year they have let the weeds and nettles grow to discourage use.

Met one boat coming up the flight. They closed all the lock gates behind them. Thanks! And then another one at the bottom. They sat on the water point until the lock was ready for them. Hope this is not a foretaste of things to come.

We moored up just after the junction and listened the cuckoo – and not on the TV this time.


There must be a reason why I chose this card today. Can’t think of one though! I took a photograph of boats in the mist and matted it onto silver, white and black card. Black ribbon was suck across the width of the card and the photo fixed over with stick pads. Three black gems were stuck to the bottom right hand corner and a silver sentiment peel-off stuck above them.

Gas Street Moorings, Birmingham

Sorry for the delay - the Internet has been a bit flaky every time I tried to upload any photographs.
Entertainment on the towpath - Though I managed to miss all the performances!


Some pics of Istanbul. The Blue Mosque, which was fascinating. We managed to get in 10 minutes before it opened, so almost hand to all to ourselves. Istanbul is celebrating the City of Culture this year, and they were also holding a tulip festival. There were flowers everywhere.

Pashminas stacked up in the Grand Bazaar. 66 covered streets full of goodies. What's not to love?

And another stall, this one of glass lamp shades. Luckily the ceiling on the boat is too low for hanging lamps.

Our journey back consisted of a 21 hour train ride on the Bosporus Express (average express speed of 25mph and stopping at every station) from Istanbul to Bucharest. Then 6 in a couchette to Budapest overnight. After a few hours in Budapest we took another overnight train to Munich. After booking tickets to Paris we had a tour of Munich and a schnitzel before leaving Munich for Stuttgart, changing trains there we got into Paris at 11pm. We spent the night in a hotel near the station and at 5am we were waiting for the first train to Calais.

And finally, after 6 trains and about 50 hours of travelling over 4 days, one of the best sights in the world. The white cliffs of Dover (and we still had 2 more trains to go).

I was asked to make an "In Memorandum" card last weekend. It is not something I have come across before, so I was a bit stumped.

The brief was for lilies and a photograph which was coming later.

So I started with a square easel card using half the front of a square card as the mountain fold. I Cuttlebugged a smaller square of yellow card and scalloped the edges with fancy scissors.

Using circle and scalloped Nestabilities I made a white frame and a yellow frame, fixing the smaller, yellow one on top of the white one making a frame for the photograph.

Consequently, the photograph did not arrive, so I used the white centre from the frame and Cuttlebugged it and used it as the backing of the frame. (The edge was hidden by the smaller, yellow frame.)

I wrapped some white organza ribbon around the yellow panel and then fixed it to the front flap of the card. Then I tied another piece of ribbon around the bunch of Arum lilies and stuck it over the frame. (I was going to put them on the edge of the frame if I had had the photograph).

To finish off I printed out "Kirsty "and cut it out with a mat using Nestabilities and stuck it to the top right hand corner with sticky fixers. The"In Memorandum" and the date was also printed out and matted with yellow card, scalloped the edges with scissors and fixed it to the front half of the base of the card with sticky fixers.

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.

Gas Street

It is 9 years today since we sailed off into the sunset! Oh! what innocents. After only 2 days on a boat handling course we set off on the Lower Peak Forest Canal from the builder's yard heading for Marple. Our first excitement was the fisherman we met on coming out of a skew bridge. Not sure who was more surprised, but we missed him. Then we entered the Woodley Tunnel (above) in which we managed to come into contact with the roof and we scraped paint off the handrail.

Then as we approached the bottom lock it started raining, which turned into a thunder storm, the locks were stiff and there was a lot of rubbish in the water. It took us hours and it was dark and we were soaked by the time we reached the top lock and I was absolutely shattered. As we were closing the top lock Malcolm, who owns the Top Lock marina and had been our teacher on the boat handling course drove up and let us moor on his garden. I've been in love with him ever since!

A simple Sympathy card. A photo taken on the Kennet and Avon, all misty and tranquil. I mounted it onto green, mirror and black card. I then matted green card onto black and decorated the edges with shaped scissors and added a black spotty ribbon and bow. The sentiment is a peel-off matted onto black and mirror card and I added some rub-on doodles on the bottom