Marina Through Spring Blossom
I took this photograph from above the Marina, looking through Spring blossom. Because of Japan’s revere of Spring blossom in the form of Hanami, looking at blossom always evokes Japan for me. I get a Japanese feel from this image even though its in the ‘heart’ of England.
rp – peace and narrowboats
Tuesday 16 June 2020
The interior painting continues – a slow job being brought to fruition by mu. I’m writing. Tenses, Elevenses, a Vege Deli Sandwich crated for Lunch. Then we went out.
We drove in search of Everdon Stubbs (an SSSI). It was Little Everdon we found, which took us through a little village, sown a dead end road what looked like the very long route up someone’s driveway. We found Everdon but no Stubb. We decided to drive back and go on to Long Buckby Wharf. In the past, we had walked to here but not beyond.
Norton Junction is just a few hundred yards from the Top Lock. It’s where the canal splits to Braunston and to Leicester. On our previous travels we had narrowboated to Braunston, threading past the beautiful cottage that sits in the crux of the canal junction, on green lawn, with trees and a Shepherd’s Hut. An idyllic site. We walked on, up over the footbridge, behind the cottage and over the canal bridge. This drops down onto the canal towpath on the Braunston side. There was just the occasional boat was moored in this serene spot. It was quiet and peaceful. If you pass this way, it’s worth stopping and taking in the scenery here. We walked on, which took us two bridges further, then turned and walked back.
Braunston is four and a quarter miles from Norton Junction which would have taken a little while, therefore maybe a walk for a little earlier in the day.
rp – peace and narrowboats
25 May 2020
Today is a Bank Holiday in the UK which normally heralds clouds, torrential rain and winds. However, today is beautiful.
A glorious sun in a blue sky broke the morning and has continued throughout, so far. We have made use of the garden to sit amongst nature: trees, bushes, crows, butterflies, a squirrel and a myriad of insects. A refreshing can of Thatchers cloudy finest seemed a fitting tribute to the sun, which ripened the apples for its making.
Tomorrow is my birthday, the day after, we hopefully purchase Nb Silverdale and the day after that, we hopefully move up to Northamptonshire and move aboard. Anticipation, coupled with not daring to hope all will go to plan…
Today is a blue sky day.
rp – peace and narrowboats
18 May 2020
Yesterday we took a walk in the Wiltshire countryside. We took a new path. We had recently discovered and once off the road (which was still reasonably quiet due to the lockdown), we were in the green…
It won’t be long now before we take a different path. This one is going to take us up ‘North‘, off-land, onto the canals and into a different way of living.
rp – peace and narrowboats
12 May 2020
Where we are at the moment we are lucky to be in a garden with a small pond. We sit in the sun that has graced these last few days, drinking tea. We have been taking notice of the pond. Ducks visit it from the stream that runs at the bottom of the garden. Dragonflies are starting to hover around the yellow buttercup-like water flowers. Pigeons teeter on the edging, bending over to take a sip of water.
In the past, we have seen frogspawn transition into tadpoles and then into small frogs. The frogs migrated away (or were spirited away by predators) and all that was left was a larger one that had maybe grown from the batch. It used to sit, half in the water, half out. It was in both the water world below and the air world above. I saw the frog as the transition between the two.
This year there are no frogs. They were taken by the ducks who scoured the bottom, feeding ravenously and indiscriminately.
Thinking of this small pond, we start to think about the bigger pond that will be the marina that Nb Silverdale will be moored in. We know there are ducks, herons and swans as we have seen them on our visits, plying the waters. There will be fish, as this ‘pond’ opens onto the canal. The canals of England & Wales support upwards of 20 different types of fish.
As we transition to this new way of life, we will be sat out with a cup of tea (things can’t change that much). This time however, it will be on the back of our narrowboat. We will just be looking out over a bigger pond.
I hope we see a frog or two.
rp – peace and narrowboats