WINTER ON THE BOAT


Well, since we moored up on December 19th after our cruise down to Warwick,
we've had quite a busy time.
We spent Christmas Day on the boat, and stayed with friends on Boxing day.
We stayed with more friends in Coventry on New Year's Eve,
and then on January 7th we went to Derbyshire for a month.
When we were in The Peak District last year, we spotted a holiday cottage to let
in the village of Litton, near Tideswell.
We looked around it and it was so nice, we booked it for a month this January.

We had a wonderful month there. The weather wasn't brilliant,
except when we had loads of snow, which was very pretty!
But the cottage was warm and cosy, and very well equipped.
We had various friends to stay and we had time on our own too.
Trev did a lot of walking, usually on his own.
I went for some shorter walks with him,
but in general I was happy just to potter around the house--
it was a real novelty to be back on dry land again!

We visited various pubs, of course, and joined in the quiz nights
which are popular up there.
In fact we even won one!


A WALK IN MONSALDALE



MONSAL HEAD



OUR COTTAGE IN THE SNOW



LITTON VILLAGE IN THE SNOW

We came back on February 4th and since then it seems to have been almost non-stop
meeting up with friends, doctor, dentist and hairdresser appointments,
and generally catching up with a variety of jobs.
We've also found a garage in Kenilworth to rent,
and we'll be able to leave our car there when we go off on this year's cruise.

One special moment for me was when my aunt came to spend a day with us on the boat.
My Aunt Joyce and her late husband, Uncle Fred, hold a special place in my heart.
Aunt Joyce is actually my mother's cousin, but we always looked on her as an aunt,
and she and Uncle Fred certainly always spoilt us enough as children
to qualify as a proper aunt and uncle!
We often used to spend Sundays with them. They lived in a village called Badby, near Daventry,
and for a few glorious hours I was let off the leash and allowed freedom!

I have wonderful memories of those days:
running through Badby Woods
opening the gate on the gated road for a penny to let cars through
learning the names of trees and wildflowers
walking down to the village shop--ON MY OWN!--to buy sweets or an ice cream
fantastic crunchy Yorkshire pudding
seeing my first tv--my aunt and uncle had one of those tiny screens in a huge cabinet

We used to travel to Badby in our 1936 Hillman Minx, an adventure in itself,
and there was no guarantee it would actually get us there.
It had leather upholstery, a blind to let down at the back window,
tassled straps to hang on to as we went round corners,
a lever to pull out to freewheel as we went down the hills to save petrol,
a windscreen with a handle to open it and let the air in, and a running board.

The anticipation of a wonderful day ahead coloured the whole journey,
and I watched for the familiar landmarks.
At last we would turn in to the village and I would dash up the steps to see my aunt and uncle,
knowing the day would be perfect.
On the way home my brother and I would sit in the back seat and eat lettuce sandwiches!
I don't know why it was always lettuce, except that my uncle grew them,
and they were always picked just before we left.

Aunt Joyce is the only relative I have of my mother's generation,
and my only relation to visit our boat.
We went for a short cruise and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
She is eighty-four going on sixty!
I'm sorry if this is rather "off topic" but we enjoyed her company
and there's not a lot else to write about in the winter!!

Have a look at the next page, which will whet your appetite for our Summer Cruise.........

Click here to go to our 2004 Summer Cruise Plans

Click here to go to the trips page

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