Can't believe it's five days since the last posting. I seem to have been quite busy. It was great seeing Mike Lucas at Long Wittenham ( I took the precaution of winding Tyseley before he arrived but in fact she went round easily - although we scared one plastic boat off the mooring) and Vashti and Richard at Wolvercote Green and Bablock Hythe. The weather has been lovely and we've had some excellent boating and some very good beer(!). Thanks to Marina for breakfast and Judith for doing our washing and doing a lot of work to really get a good house at Wolvercote - which she did with great success. Sad to say goodbye to the Thames at Duke's Cut but looking forward to the Avon after the break. With the low water level the turn off the river in Oxford was much easier than previous years and passers by on the foot bridge stopped to watch as we slipped effortlessly under instead of scurrying for the bank as Tyseley and the bridge locked horns - as on some past occasions. We are back on the Oxford and there are lots of boats, lots of mud and not a great deal of water. As predicted Gandalf (in the shape of Ian Tuplin) returned to the towpath and helped us fight our way into the bank a mile past Thrupp as there was no mooring to be had anywhere - not even for ready money. Met the mooring warden, Mike, and hopefully he will find us somewhere to unload when we return on Sunday. Just to make you jealous I attach the view from my bedroom window at Goring Lock. It's a hard life but someone has to do it.
Not jealous and don't really care if you're all having a ball.
ReplyDeleteWe just endured Isaac's 3rd, yes 3rd birthday party, oh how I would love to have a few pints of Hooky and watch a Mikron show.
Anyway, Queen's Head is a sad loss. Keep up the good work and let's hope the audience numbers are gorwing, we need them! Thanks Adrian, the pictures are great, even if it is a hrad life......
growing, not gorwing, you've played there already! (Jonathan Ross eat your heart out)
ReplyDeleteEven my 81 year old Mum who's never narrowboated in her life said to me on the phone last night that it's beautiful weather for being on a river or canal. Oh well, reading the Blog is almost the next best thing. I hope the weather stays warm and sunny for you but with rain overnight sometimes so you're still actually able to stay afloat.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good in a way that there's no spell check on here - the typos are very funny sometimes. BTW, many happy returns to Isaac.
Gandolf here... having arranged to stay in Eynsham to see Fair Trade at the Queens Head, nothing better to do upon finding the show cancelled than to have a walk along one of the longest linear moorings on the system to find Tyseley agrund. Nice to share a chat on the fore end on a perfect summers evening (George you was missed) and then a pint back at Thrupp, even if we had to endure the young barmaids frenzy at the news of Michael Jacksons demise and the apperance of some possible plagarism of a past Mikron show.
ReplyDeleteKeep well and in the middle.
Hi dears - just visited your website and this blog for the first time and put on a comment only to discover that it all vanished because i hadn't signed in first... so now i'm a proud new "blogger" - thanks to Mikron! Just wanted to say a big thank you for a lovely day with you, and a cool swim in the Themse "continental style" - ah, and special thanks to Adrian for introducing me to Matthew Arnold's Scholar Gypsy - it made me spend a lovely afternoon at Blackwells Poet's corner, where i also found the new collected poems by Elizabeth Jennings - something i wanted for quite some time, so thank you again! Ah, and modern times - today, being on the net anyway, i found The Scholar Gypsy in full glory; here a stanza for tasters (with thanks to 42opus.com!):
ReplyDelete" For most, I know, thou lov'st retir�d ground.
Thee, at the ferry, Oxford riders blithe,
Returning home on summer nights, have met
Crossing the stripling Thames at Bablock-hithe,
Trailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet,
As the slow punt swings round:
And leaning backwards in a pensive dream,
And fostering in thy lap a heap of flowers
Pluck'd in shy fields and distant Wychwood bowers,
And thine eyes resting on the moonlit stream:"
...
pure magic - luvly.
lots of love to you all - may the sun shine on your way, and may you keep afloat!
xx, Marina