I always say,
Keep a diary
and some day,
it'll keep you

Mae West

Friday, 2nd September
Trev shopped in Lechlade before we left, as we shan't see shops again until we reach Eynsham on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Then we set off for Kelmscott for the weekend. We have visitors on Saturday and on Sunday and this is a nice place to moor, and for them to come. This time it was really goodbye to Lechlade until next year. We went through St. John's Lock, where there was a book stall in aid of the Cotswolds Canal Trust. I sorted some books out and gave them to the lock keeper. That's good, now I have some spare shelf space! On through Buscot Lock and then we arrived at Kelmscott.

Saturday, 3rd September
We tidied up and I made a cake ready for the arrival of Catharine and Mamdooh, and Catharine's sister, Janet. We walked up to The Plough to meet them, and had lunch together, in the garden. There was a book stall in the pub garden, in aid of Cat & Dog Rescue. There was some good books there and so we came back with quite a few! Well, I had spare shelf space now!

Then we all went back to the boat, and had a lazy afternoon, drinking tea, eating cake and strawberries and cream, and planting the winter pansies Catharine had brought for the roof boxes.

Sunday, 4th September
A rerun of yesterday really! Friends Mary & Dave arrived and we all had lunch together at The Plough again. We were fortunate in that the weather this weekend has been so good. Shortly after Mary & Dave left it rained, and was still raining when we went to bed. Well it did the pansies good, any way!

Monday, 5th September
When Catharine and Mamdooh came yesterday, they brought a replacement part for the Whispergen. It's not been starting on the first ignition, and needed a new evaporator. Trev fitted it, and now it's working perfectly again. I walked in to Kelmscott to find a letterbox. I went in to the pub to ask if they knew where one was, and the girl behind the bar said to leave the letter on the counter, the postman came in every morning and he would take it! Oh how I love the country ways!

We set off around 1.00 p.m. and went as far as Newbridge, where we moored up for the night. It was another beautiful evening, with a lovely sunset.

Tuesday, 6th August
Trev was up but not dressed when there was a "Hello" outside the boat, followed by a knock on the boat. It was the man who owned the land where we were moored, wanting his 2.50 mooring fee! We were aware that we would have to pay.

We left later in the morning and shared the locks with a small cruiser. During the summer months, there is a lock keeper and an assistant on duty at the locks. But as from September 1st, the assistants have finished and there is just the regular lockie working the lock. They take a lunch break from 1.00--2.00 p.m. and so we operated Pinkhill Lock ourselves.

We moored up at Eynsham, and Trev walked in to the village to get provisions. In the evening, a friend of Trev's came to see us, with his partner. Trev had met him on a Whispergen course. At the moment he's managing the Anglo-Welsh narrowboat hire base art Eynsham.

Wednesday, 7th September
As you can see, we're still on the Thames! Now we find we have to go to Warwick on Monday, and so will hire a car from Enterprise Cars, at Oxford. They're a good firm, they bring the car to you, so that makes life a lot easier. We shall stay here until Tuesday, and so have a little more time on the Thames.

The weather has been really good for days now. We had a boat day today, and did quite a lot of work on the boat. We varnished and painted and cleaned and shone the brasses, and it looked pretty smart!

Thursday, 8th September
I had a sewing day and Trev spent some time with Rob, who explained a lot about the electrics on the boat to Trev and how things worked. He also made some recommendations of improvements we could make, and it was a very constructive day for him. In the evening we walked along the river to have a drink with Rob and Sue.