Above Lock 35, Hatton, Grand Union

 Only slight drizzle when we started out this morning.  By lock 19 they were putting up a net barrier to keep the fish in the side pond.  Apparently the fish are escaping the fishermen by swimming into the canal.  Can't say I blame them.

We saw our first lambs of the season though they were not newborn.

Lock 19 had a paddle that was stuck half open, so we had difficulty filling it and it needed the two of us to force the top gate open.  At least it had stopped raining by then.

We stopped for a rest before starting the Hatton Flight.  Lots of walkers about and saw the first primroses, though they were not completely wild, they had been planted along with some crocuses and daffodils.

By the time we reached Lock 34 we had had enough and moored up for the day.  It's just after 5pm and I am ready for bed.

Two other boats on the move today, again going in the opposite direction to us.

"Mikey" is a digital stamp, when I bought it I received a black and white version and a pre-coloured version.  I cheated and used the pre-coloured one here.

I started with a blue card blank and covered it with orange card, leaving a small border.  Then a white panel, which had been embossed using the Cuttlebug was stuck down on top, leaving another border.  A smaller, embossed, orange panel was cut out and matted onto blue card.  I stuck this panel on the left hand side of the card and then matted Mikey onto orange and blue card and stuck him down on the right had side.  Two die-cut and matted stars were then added for decoration finished off with two star brads.

Above Lock 4, Lapworth, Stratford on Avon Canal

 Mr David in the rain.  We left in drizzle and ended in pouring rain.  We only did 6 1/2 miles but it was miserable and the two lift bridges were absolute pigs.  I noted that one (the lesser pig) is being looked at on 14th.  Not before time; but what about the b****** pig?

I walked into Hockley Heath in pouring rain to discover a shop selling Rolls Royce and McLaren cars, another selling swimming pools and a poxy little One Stop shop which only had the usual suspects, eg: plastic bread.  Should have stayed in the dry.

The rain stopped, so we set off again only for it to start again.  So we moored up for the rest of the day.  Snow predicted for tomorrow!!!

Only seen one other boat on the move again today.

Yellow card base, butterfly patterned paper decorated using a Martha Stewart punch down both long sides and stuck vertically down the centre.

The decoupaged topper was matted onto a die-cut doily and stuck towards the top of the card in the centre and a pink ribbon bow with a yellow rose fixed underneath with glue dots.

Tyburn Farm, Stratford on Avon Canal

 SPLAT!  Passed this on the SoA this afternoon.

We are off!!!  A slight delay because it rained this morning, but that meant I got some extra washing done before we lost the electricity hook-up.

David got a bit wet on the way, but we managed not to get anything around the prop today.

Last night we went to the opera to see Madam Butterfly.  It seems that Lt Pinkerton of the US Navy is now a Sergeant in an Italian uniform and a bit overweight.  Madam Butterfly is supposed to be 15 years old too (not 50-odd).  Very off-putting, but I suppose you would have had to use your imagination when Pavarotti played him too.  The music was fabulous though, and I cried.

Last week it was Saima's birthday and she had a party.  This is the card I made for her.  I covered the front of a white card blank with green card, leaving a small white border.  I then added some white card to the top and patterned paper to the bottom of the green card, again leaving a border.  I wrapped some green ribbon around the panel to cover the join and tied it in a knot.  Two roses and a spray of yellow flowers with 3 leaves was tucked through the ribbon and stuck down with a glue dot to keep it in place.

To finish off I used three 3 gems in the bottom left hand corner.

Gas Street

 A pump out today.  With the new tank it seems we can only go 14 days.  At least the red light came on to warn us, we were not sure if it would still work.

We untied the ropes and David reversed 10 metres and there was an awful crunch.  A length of rubber hosepipe, firmly wrapped around the propeller.

The weather today was lovely, sunshine and warm and the wind has dropped.  Sat out at lunchtime - that's the second time this year.  Due to rain tomorrow and Thursday.  Great, we are off on Thursday!

 Walking to the Doctor's surgery the other day I walked past some student accommodation and noticed this original window decoration.  Couldn't resist a photo.

Mike needed a birthday card for Kim and wanted yet another picture of his boat.  I hope she appreciates them all!

I made a centre step  card that folds down and fits into a normal C6 envelope.

I matted the check paper onto gold card and put a strip down the two sides and another along the bottom.

The photo was then matted onto more gold card and the corners punched out.  I added red gems to the corners and one each side of the long, gingham, bottom panel.

I covered the back with a panel of gingham and gold and a smaller one above.  I stuck a "Birthday Wishes" peel-off on the top one and a die-cut panel in white card for the message to be written onto.

Gas Street, BCN

Spring is in the air!!

Some of the moorers spent the afternoon sat outside, in the sunshine, around the table drinking wine (and tea) this afternoon - one dressed only in jeans and a t-shirt!  There was ice in the water when we woke up this morning too.

Won't be long until we are off on our first cruise of the year.




Walking down Farmers Locks the other day I noticed this new lock beam.

One of those with a poem carved on it.

I couldn't understand it, but perhaps that is because I am a Philistine.

But I can't help thinking that if I'd carved out a poem it would have been considered vandalism.

Cathy had a mouse on her boat - see Towpath Telegraph for whole story.  David took this picture of her looking for it.  On the right is Smudgie the dog looking too, so there are two "fat" bums in the picture!!


So for Cathy's grand-daughter's birthday I made this easel card.

I matted the photo onto silver card and used a punch to stamp out little squares in the corners so I could wrap the silver cord around it.  I then matted that onto light blue card and then onto the white card blank.  I added a mouse with a baloon walking across the bottom of the picture.

Inside, I really went to town with the mouse theme.  I printed out the sentiment ad added some clip art mice which I matted onto silver and blue card. 

Then I printed out another sentiment using a font that had footprints along it and matted than onto silver and blue card  I fixed this one with sticky fixers to make it stand up so that the front of the card could rest against it.

Both Cathy and Georgia thought it was hilarious.  So I must have got something right.

Hockley Port, Soho Loop, BCN

 We took the boat to Hockey Port for the BCNS Cleanup Day.  It was easier to take the boat than catch a couple of buses to get there!

It was a beautiful sunny, almost warm, day and we managed to dredge up quite a collection of objects.

 Phoenix (I think) broke down so the butty tug had to be towed by another boat.  Great fun getting them all through the bridge holes.


Our plans for this year's cruise are all in disarray.  I spent a whole afternoon plotting out a route over the Pennines (Huddersfield Narrow) and back on the L&L to Liverpool - avoiding Dutton as it won't be finished in time when we leave and the very next morning we received an email letting us know that we could cruise the Basingstoke Canal at Easter.  An opportunity not to be missed.  Will we ever get on the Huddersfield Narrow?

I was going to upload David's 2013 birthday card, but I haven't photographed it yet.

So here is a card I made earlier.  The papers came from Making Cards magazine.

I covered a square piece of white card with green backing paper and stuck it onto a square card blank.  Then I added a strip of white card with one side decorated with a Martha Stewart punch.  Green ric-rac was wrapped around this and fixed on the back before sticking it to the left hand side of the card.  The topper was matted onto a pale yellow circle and stuck down with sticky fixers.  The sentiment was also matted onto pale yellow card and added under the topper on the right hand bottom corner of the card.

To finish of I made a "flower/bobble" by running small stitches along a length of ric-rac and pulling it tight, then fixing the edge together with small stitches before sticking it down with a glue dot.

Gas Street Moorings, BCN

Gas Street Basin on a misty night.

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful New Year.

The fireworks were back last night!  Last New Year we didn't get any, so it was a surprise when the were set off at midnight.

Let's hope  the weather is better this year - though one of the advantages of living on a boat is that you don't need sandbags to keep the water out!!

I am getting really  frustrated with our internet link.  For some reason it does not like me updating the blog and keeps kicking me out so I have to start again.  One of the reasons why I have not been so up to date lately.  And, David is always in "my" chair, so I can't get to the computer.  Says "his" chair is too uncomfortable.

In the short space of writing this post the "error" notice has come up 5 times!  See what I mean.

Here is a New Year card I made for a friend.  The backing and topper came from Making Cards magazine.  I decopaged the bottle and added some glitter to the bubbles and a peel-off date.