Narrowboat Vegvisir

Tuesday morning, and I had jobs to do.. cleaning mostly, and obviously seasoned with some sudoku. Andrew arrived back safely but tired, wanting a siesta  I left him to it, to check out the R. Severn 's head of navigation from the bank. So back into town, passing a workboat and crew repairing a foot bridge over the canal: At the riverbank turning upstream. A terrific children's playground, followed by a spacious park / ball games / picnic area, with a shady avenue along the riverbank  The river is really quiet now, only fisherfolk and walkers on the bank. Until this came buzzing by: I found the back of a sign at the right point.. how on earth boats are supposed to see it I've no idea  Well beyond this point a couple of RIBs skimmed by.  Despite the width of the river and the fact they barely draw 12 inches, their wash made a lot of fuss at the bank, showing just how shallow the water is  The valley is lovely though:

Thursday 21st, and an ideal morning for a hike; mild, cloud cover but no rain expected, and a cool breeze. So I packed my lunch and headed off following a tour suggested by a hiking app on my phone. It mostly worked well, except where a so called path met an impenetrable hedge; there were a couple of detours required. But lovely countryside And loads of butterflies about. Here's the next generation: lots of striped caterpillars: In one village I came across a telephone box repurposed as a library. There was a bit more road walking than I really like, but when it's a quiet one, I should not moan too much.. certainly easier to walk on than stubble fields etc. Soon into more congenial territory: and then out the other side, what looked very much like a bit of Stourport basin, but on top of a hill in a cornfield. Turns out it was the stable block for a big Manor house. Now, it's a Franciscan mon

It's not just the temperature, the breeze is hot, like standing in front of a giant hairdryer. All the day's boats went by before 8am, after that not a soul stirring.  I spent a good chunk of the day in the library. Not air-conditioned, but cooler than the metal tube we are calling home. Also very much enjoyed Home Bargains, very cool, and will tour Lidl in due course. But the breeze off the river is better than between buildings. and there's a wren keeping me company as he patrols his patch. I stopped off at the Basin and used the CRT showers.. flipping marvellous. Put things straight back on, no need to towel..  Back at base, turned on the air-conditioning  and settled in with an aperitif  Stir fry planned for when it's a little cooler.. might be eating quite late! Tuesday 19th, even hotter. Got a pack of things to do and a packed lunch and headed straight to the library. Felt odd to be at a screen and keyboard again!