Glamourpuss

It’s not all wine and roses this narrowboat lark, you know, although perhaps on reflection that should be roses and castles. We arrived in Middlewich on Sunday night, we’re still here, although we’ve been hopping from mooring to mooring. We always planned to stay a few days. We needed a small cosmetic repair on the car (my bad) and I had an appointment with my podiatrist in Nantwich. He discovered a corn, no wonder my foot has been hurting since Liverpool. I thought corns were the preserve of little old ladies, what does that say about me?

What we hadn’t factored in was the patch of rust Martyn found last week on one of our side hatch doors, right down the bottom where it had been growing unnoticed for who knows how long. Rust never sleeps of course. Cue a call to John, Bickerstaffe’s former boat painter, who is sorting it out with a door respray, so we have a board covering the hole and no doors. They were due back tomorrow, but the tin worm has progressed further than anticipated, so we’re hoping to get them back on Monday. That’s another day stuck in Middlewich. It’s always Middlewich, I feel like it’s Groundhog Day.

We wouldn’t have got far anyway. The CRT closed the Trent and Mersey between Middlewich and Kidsgrove on Monday because of low water levels, and we were going that way. Apparently it’s the driest spring since 1952. Anyway we fetched the car, and have had it here until today, so that made a nice change. Apart from the trip to Nantwich, which is one of my favourite canalside towns, we helped Steve and Andy move their car up the canal. Not only did we get to have a chat with David Bramley where we weren’t just holding boats in the middle of some canal or another, they rewarded us with a couple of pieces of delicious Victoria Sponge. We also popped into Winsford, at the end of the River Weaver a couple of times. And of course, we haven’t had to lug groceries up the towpath. I feel like a normal person for once. Shame in a way the car’s now gone back to our marina, but we aren’t inclined to go through all the hassle of bringing it along with us and finding somewhere convenient to park it.

We got some boat jobs done during our enforced hiatus. I’ve had the touch up paint out, and was up on top of the boat this morning scraping the sealant from around the chimney. I looked like a sweep when it was done! Sealing the chimney needs doing every year, or we get leaks. I’m not too worried about cleaning the rust off the top of the stove, but I don’t want the ceiling to come down, as happened to a couple of our friends.

We took the washing to Morrisons, where there’s one of those handy dandy outside launderettes, and we got a cup of coffee in their cafe while we waited for it. We have a washing machine onboard, but don’t have the easy opportunity to fill our water tank until we move. I can make a tank last comfortably for 5 days, we’ve done 6 before, but a week or more is pushing it, so every saving is a blessing.

So I definitely have itchy tiller. All our friends are at the Crick Boat Show too, so I’ve got FOMO to boot. We could have gone, but I think Ollie would have gone into meltdown with all the people and dogs. Will we move on Monday? Who knows. I can hear Sonny and Cher playing in the background …