Fire & ice

The first icing on the canal cake for me this winter, though I expect they've already had plenty up at New Mills, where I moored last winter. The sun's up now and everything looks frosty lovely. The swans gathering around the boat for scraps, sounded like they'd brought armoured reinforcements as they crunched their way towards me.
I've cut up plenty of that salvaged wood though I'd urge anyone thinking of buying a 'value' bow-saw to opt for the pricier version if they can! I have a good 'Stanley' bow-saw but often can't find the 21" blades for it. I made a disastrous attempt to sharpen the old blade, the slightly off-set teeth (to avoid getting the blade wedged in the wood) got flattened and it's very hard work with it now. So, I tried and failed to find a new blade and ended up buying a B&Q value bow-saw for about £7, with 24" blades that can be found everywhere. Trouble is the handgrip is designed to give you blisters, even when you wear gloves!
When I collected the wood, I forgot to say I was warned against some pieces because the builders said it was tanninised and would give off toxic fumes. I took their advice, although I don't know if it going into landfill is much better as the toxins will surely leach into rivers/water supplies eventually. That reminds me, Tony from nb Universe wrote an interesting post on burning pallets. I suppose a lot depends on just how desperate you get when the ice sets in.
I'm moored at Apsley now and Simon and I went for a cup of tea and a chat with Frances and Alan from nb Lazydays Always good to meet friendly interesting folk on the cut. Warms you up like a glowing stove :-)

Berko & Hemel

Sounds like a firm of solicitors but that's what I heard boaters refer to Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead and I see there is actually a cafe called 'Berko's' there. Plenty of big locks with heavy gates, a manageable electric swing bridge at Winkwell (i usually dread them) and a very old, cosy pub on the canal called the Three Horseshoes. Found a big pile of sawdust for my compost loo, the owner happy for me to take two barrowfuls away. Full of wood, diesel, gas, water and sawdust, I feel ready to face the winter now ;-)

Take as much as you want...

..said the nice guys at the building site. ;-)

Days out, days in.

Today was a blustery day with leaves gusting around everywhere. If I'd stayed inside, I'd have battened down the hatches, lit the stove and done quiet, hibernating things. But there are going to be stoppages soon so I needed to get off the Ayelesbury arm (too tempting to stay hidden among the rushes for months on end!) and I ended up doing 19 locks today, before the light went. I just got to the Wendover arm before it got a bit too dodgy to be walking over lock gates without being able to see where the gate ended and the water began.
There were so many leaves in the locks that I had a job getting the boat to move forwards out the locks! They bubble up around the boat like leaf soup.

I liked this plaque at the foot of a young oak tree on the marsworth flight.


Yesterday, in contrast, I came back from days out in Brighton and London to snuggle under duvets, with my hot water-bottles and my latest find - a big old kettle, on the stove.

I'm so pleased with it. And only £3 at a car-boot sale. It was originally £5 and I managed to haggle. I never haggle! But I don't feel bad because I bought it from someone who looked like they had plenty of money. Ok, I recognise that I have some guilty feelings to think about here: I always get annoyed when I hear about people holidaying in India or Namibia or somewhere and boasting about beating some poor bugger down on a sale, when it's a matter of peanuts for the buyer.
When I offered £3 to the seller of the kettle, she said "yes ok, you look like someone who will use it" I suppose this means I didn't look like someone with a posh cottage (ie three labourers homes knocked through) who would stick it on a dresser to look olde worlde. She was right, I think it will be in very regular use!

Leaving Aylesbury

I've left Aylesbury basin after 2 weeks of having town and station right on my doorstep. No problems apart from mysteriously finding a large stone in my fireplace that I can only think can have come down the chimney!
It was only when I left the basin yesterday that I had my first encounter with bridge-kids. I saw two teenies, one of which lowered himself down onto the parapet as though to jump on my boat roof as I approached. So I stopped the boat and hovered, thinking they'd just get bored, counting on them having the well-publicised short attention span an' all. They stuck it out for 5 minutes (I'll give them that), before nipping into someone's back garden to collect stones. I was furious and if I could have got into the side and tied up, I'd have gone hareing up the towpath to give em an ear-bashing. I mostly feared for my solar panels! Luckily, for us all, they chucked their stones (very badly, rubbish aim, not even close!) and took off.
It made me think about the cop I'd been moaning about in my last post - would I have summoned him to my rescue? NO! Unless it's an physical attack on someone else, I honestly wouldn't bother.. I realise this attitude does make solo boating feel more precarious. A refusal to recognise the State as responsible for me and my safety means I have to accept the responsibility for keeping safe, defending myself etc. Solo boating can be a vulnerable way of living, even without crime - accidents do happen, don't they. But I guess we just hope bad things won't happen. And after all, that's the first bad bridge encounter I've had in 4 1/2 years ;-)

Now I'm out in the sticks again and have seen plenty of basin folk going past on their boats, heading out of town. Coincidence? Well, it's half-term, Halloween and I can hear a lot of fireworks going off in the direction of Aylesbury!

Happiness is...

..a wheelbarrow full of logs :-)
I think the last time I posted a photo of my lovely wheelbarrow was when I mentioned trying to wheel my dog about, but that he kept jumping out. He didn't seem to mind much cos he'd jump back in again! Now of course, I don't have my dear Milou companion anymore. But there's something very uplifting and cheering about chopping logs with an axe! Especially on such a crisp sunshiney day.

A big willow branch had come down by a lock and BW had cut it into sections.
I managed a barrow and a half of logs before a cloud came along in the form of a copper. Even though I was off the towpath, on the other side of a lock where the only access was across the lock gates and in a large clearing with no passers-by, he just had to cross those gates to come and interrogate me. Did I have permission, what was my name, where was I from? I knew I didn't have to tell him a thing unless he was going to arrest me for summat, so I didn't and just cleared off, my winter fuel gathering session over for the day. I wonder if other liveabords get any hassle while foraging?
Yesterday was a day of sun and heavy rain - that's usually when I go out without my coat ;-) I saw these cormorants in spooky pose on a dead tree.

Further up, I had seen this bridge being carefully repaired with new brickwork when I came through with Blackbird. I was thinking at the time what a skill that was to follow the curve of old bridges like that, so I was upset when I saw what I thought was vandalism, with all the new brickwork pushed down and onto the towpath. Most of the ones on the towpath were broken.

(isn't the light in this photo great! Got a soaking shortly after :-)
But I was wrong. I talked to a BW guy who explained the bridge had heritage status and the new bricks didn't match properly but that they had found some old ones that would look better. I guess this must be the ones he meant here, in a BW workboat nearby.
I'm not sure whether to be exasperated by the waste and lack of forward planning or be happy at the efforts made to preserve the character of our old bridges. As I'm trying to err on the side of positivity, I'll go with being happy :-D

Aylesbury

I had several goes at mooring up here, but couldn't get my boat in as it was so shallow and muddy. The next day, I walked back along this bit of towpath and found a willow had come crashing down on the same spot!

Much more welcome was the discovery of a huge overgrown and neglected orchard at Cheddington. I've never seen so many apples, the branches bowed down with them all. All different kinds too! I asked at the nearby church and was told that the orchard had been bought by a retired man who, finding the supermarkets weren't interested (don't know if it was the need for perfection or if the costs of harvesting made it non-viable), was letting it all go wild. Such a shame, although I guess it's a wonderful source of food for insects and birds.
The person I spoke to told me how the womenfolk of the village used to be employed in apple-picking there each year but now they just went in and collected what they wanted for themselves. I brought a few home myself to wrap in newspaper and see if I can keep some over winter.

I'm on the very peaceful Aylesbury arm now, enjoying the narrow locks and rural setting. There was a long section of reedy narrowness I enjoyed very much - quite exciting moving through that rustling corridor.

Now however, the grim reaper has been up and down, cutting them back, which I suppose is more practical but less fun.

Blackbird out in the sticks. Very little in the way of passing traffic here :-)

One exciting thing: at last I have a toaster! It's brilliant!