The marina has thawed and we are coming out of our cold spell. Hurrah!
Although the water level has dropped to normal, it began to rain at 4.30 am so may rise again over the next twelve hours.
We had a ‘dry patch’ just before 7, so hastily got up and were on the road to see MOH by 7.20, being parked outside the bacon butty shop by 25 past. They were shut, and not due to open until 8, so we went hungry rather than waste time waiting, especially as it had started to rain again. Damn!
MOH knew we were coming (just not this early) as we’d rung him last night with the offer of a thrashing at dominoes to which he was most agreeable as he was a bit low having attended a neighbour’s funeral on Wednesday.
Obviously we hadn’t planned for it to be chucking it down for our journey (and believe me, it was HORRENDOUS) but it just made sense to get up to the car dry rather than go through the normal morning routine and get wet twice, once after taking the dog out and then starting our journey later.
Hubby was driving (and glad that I wasn’t) as conditions were awful, almost as bad as the journey down to see my Mum that day. We actually made excellent time, and at 9.45 I was on the mobile letting MOH know we were about 10 minutes away and for him to put the kettle on. He admitted that he didn’t expect us quite so soon, but yes, he was out of bed, and he had already taken Bud out for a walk.
MOH has an odd sense of humour at times, and on our last visit, there was a notice on his front door saying ‘Lost Property Office’.
This was because the previous time we thought we’d left Hubby’s mobile phone behind (eventually found it under the driver’s seat 2 days later after an inspired conversation with MOH), and the time before that had to do an about face five minutes down the road as he’d left his glasses behind.
Today, the notification read ‘ Thrashings R Us’.
(Next time I’m going to take my own: ‘All Night Cafe’)
Armed with a bag of sprouts and another of carrots to go with the roast beef dinner I was due to cook (see above), we sat down to a very welcome cup of tea (our first) and got the tiles out.
The guys ganged up on me! Honest! Hubby in particular, whose go it was before mine and kept stitching me up. I felt like putting something extra in his dinner (but no mushrooms were available) and conceded the game as I had no tiles to match anything going down, AND THEY BOTH KNEW IT!
These two men in my life love their grub though, as previous posts have mentioned.
Obviously MOH was hungry as the meat was already cooking when we arrived and he put the roasties in at 11 o’clock!
We changed the game to cribbage (and I still lost), sitting down to our meal just after midday.
The sun came out then, and it was absolutely beautiful, so we decided to take the dogs out, which pleased Maggie no end as she hadn’t had a walk yet. Hubby however had taken one of his megga pain killers, and wasn’t up to it, so it was just MOH and I.
This taken on the boat last June
This taken in the quarry
The quarry is now a no-go area with all the work they’re doing in respect of this holiday park scheme, so we went down to the disused railway line instead and the dogs had a good sniff about. I was relieved to see that Maggie wasn’t so stiff in her joints as she has been recently, but the vet says it’s probably the cold weather, her age and arthritis. We have some anti inflammatory medication we can give her as and when, and on bad days we just don’t walk her very far.
When we got back, we played some more games of dominoes, and the overall score was 4, 2 and 1 (me, Hubby and MOH respectively, so I got some revenge, HA!).
I drove home and got us through the centre of Bristol before 5pm. Once we hit the motorway, it’s about another hour, and we were home just before 6.
The weather has been kind this afternoon, and the water supply has now been reconnected to the pontoons. Even though it was dark, we did our home maintenance (make cup of tea, empty loo, fill water holding tank, sweep through, make another cup of tea) then settled down to check out our blogs. We had such a big dinner, we don’t want anything else today!
Unusually, Hubby is having a problem with his.
Nothing to do with me, I haven’t touched his machine!
pensitivity101 
The strong north winds from the front last night have pushed so much lake water out into the bay and on out to the gulf that some of the floating docks are on the ground and a few sailboats on their sides in the mud. Guess some new arrivals are discovering why some marinas are cheaper than others.
Enjoyed seeing everyone’s smiles!
(Does Maggie have a heated “sheepskin” pet pad? We have one that we’ve used with several ancient cats in winters past. I noticed RC Cat was moving stiffly this week and plug it in on a window seat for her. She’s lounging there a lot – especially if cold and rainy. Might help Maggie?)
Our mooring fees aren’t the most expensive, but they’re not cheap either. We have good amenities here, and good access to town on foot and the surrounding larger towns by car (or bus). Our pontoons are flood protected, so we rise with the water though we’ve seen pictures from the 2007 floods where boats at the marina a mile or so up river were berthed in trees, car parks, upside down, or half sunk.
No, Maggie doesn’t have a heat pad, though we do have hot water bottles and used those when she got really sore a couple of years ago when her back leg muscles were giving her problems. Usually if she’s cold, she snuggles into me, especially at night. Thanks for the tip though. I’ll look out for them.
Sounds like a lovely day out 🙂
Looks like fun!
We make an interesting trio!
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