Great Bedwyn to Crofton.

Heather we are heading to Devizes, very slowly, the trip can be done in 3 or 4 days, we are taking weeks.

Flis, not everyone who lives in a boat lives clutter free, some boats make my teeth itch as they are full of bric -a-brac, trinkets and whimsy. A sudden move would cause a tsunami of broken memories.

Some boats are owned by hoarders and the only way they can get into their boat when they moor is by emptying piles of rubbish into the towpath. Some leave their rubbish behind and some return all the rubbish to their boat before setting off again.

Our boat is quite bare apart from my yarn and Steve's piles, he keeps all sorts of crap in small piles beside the places he sits, he has cleaning cloths for his glasses, three or four masks, the disposable ones, mainly with broken elastic, rags in case he spills something, antihistamine cream, sun cream, pots to keep his hearing aids in, a torch, a fan, a charger for his kindle and three phones. His current phone and two old defunct ones, they move from pile to pile as he changes seats.

Janf, our friends are on their own boat, this is why every lock has to be done twice, once for each boat. You wouldn't be impressed with my cooking today I'm doing ham, egg and chips a very lazy meal. 

There is a shop in Great Bedwyn, unfortunately they didn't have the bread Steve likes so he's stuck with baguettes and wraps. He only likes soft white bread, nothing with any bite or flavour, it will be a few days before we reach another shop. 

Wind and rain

 I had a list of jobs to do today as today is a rest day when we stay put and don't cruise.

Yesterday I cleaned all the windows bar one, I need to clear the kitchen surface before I can do the last window. I shall clean that last window after I've posted this.

I sweep and mop most days as the boat gets dirty as we walk through with muddy boots. When we moor up I need to pass the front and back roles to whoever is on the bank. I don't take my boots off as I will be going out to hold the ropes once I've passed them out.

Today I cleaned the bathroom, I hate this job as the bathroom is very dark with dark wood and a tiny port hole. There are two large mirrors that always need cleaning, I swear Steve must wave his toothbrush around when he cleans his teeth.

I had intended to clean the back seating area on the boat but we've had strong wind and heavy rain so I gave that a miss. 

Instead I decided to sort out my clothes, I don't have many clothes, they fit on two small shelves in my wardrobe. I made a pile of the items that are really fit for rags, the teeshirts I put under the sink to use as cleaning cloths. The rest I'll put in the rubbish bin tomorrow. I hope to find some good charity shops soon as I'm now down to two teeshirts, two cotton tops, one pair of leggings and two summer dresses.

Froxfield to Great Bedwyn

Love the Canal no 5 Jaccs.

Rambler, we are travelling with friends, I wouldn't consider  this trip otherwise. Steve is managing but only just. If we weren't with friends we would do 1 lock and then moor up for a few days so Steve could rest.

Our mooring at Froxfield was very noisy as we were so close to the railway line so we moved on to Great Bedwyn. The trains were across a field so not running right beside the canal so it was a little quieter. Great Bedwyn  has a shop and Post Office which sells fresh bread that is delivered every morning by a nearby bakery. It also has rubbish disposal, a water point, pump out and elsan. 

Hungerford to Froxfield

 We travelled from Hungerford to Froxfield, unfortunately at one of the locks Beano discovered the corpse of something grey and furry. It was too decomposed to determine what it had been. Beano decided to roll it it!

He stank to high heaven, I washed him with a sponge but he still stank so instead of travelling on the boat with Steve, Beano and I walked from lock to lock.

When we finally moored up Beano had yet another shower!

We only stayed a couple of night at Froxfield as we were so close to the railway line so it was extremely noisy.

We have now moved on again.

Beano's had a bad day.

Unknown, yes correct.

Weaver, we were in Hungerford, it's very pretty but we're moving on now. We've filled the freezer with meat from the local butcher, the cupboards are full, the water tank is full and the poo tank is empty.

Janf, we have to keep moving, we have to abide by the 'constant cruiser' rules. Tow path moorings are two weeks, this mooring on Hungerford Wharf a is two days, some places are one day, some are seven day.

Ellen as our boat is 10ft wide there are parts of the canal where the locks are too narrow for us to travel through.

Beano has had a couple of bad days. In Thursday he had a shower, as soon as I turned the water on he ran and tried to hide. When I tried to pick him up he scrambles away crying. Eventually he ran to the back of the boat and jumped on Steve's lap. There was no escape, I lifted him down and carried him to the shower. I have no idea why he hates being washed so much but he does hate getting wet. 

By Friday he'd just about forgiven me for getting him wet when my son in law arrived to take Beano to the vets with me. Poor Beano had to have his jabs, he also had his claws clipped and his skin checked over. The vet believes Beano has an allergy as he doesn't have fleas or mites. He now has some tablets to take, apoquel a four week trial. I left the vets £116 lighter! Beano has forgiven me again.again

Here he is asleep beside me despite the thunder, lightening and heavy rain.

Still sunny

Thank you for the info about the app, I think Steve has it on his phone but hasn't used it. I've tried to download it but I can't get it to work. 

This was the view from my side hatch yesterday, we will move on soon as we are on a 2 day mooring although we can stay for 7 days if we need to.

Give me strength!

 I've always had problems with the pharmacy I collect Steve's prescriptions from.

Most visits take about 20 minutes because they can never find the prescription I'm trying to collect.

They couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

Every time they tell me there is no trace of the prescription until I show them the email confirming it. 

It's always my fault that they can't find it, I've always been too early or too late. There must be a three minute window when the prescription would be ready to collect, I miss this window and after that the prescription disappears into some sort of black hole.

Today, they excelled themselves, not only did they claim there was no trace of the prescription but when they did eventually track it down they weren't happy with the address on the prescription and wanted chapter and verse about why the address had been changed! Why now? It was changed months ago, are people not allowed to move now without permission from their pharmacy?

Then just to be  really helpful when I asked for my prescription which is issued three monthly on something called Fast Track, I was informed that they don't do that any more! Common courtesy would suggest that informing me of this before I had run out of tablets would have been a good idea!

So do I have to contact my surgery for more tablets? Their only answer was a shrug. Can I get through to my surgery? Of course not!