Hardly back long and she leaves me – stranded!!

Friday 30^th October to Sunday 8^th November 2015

It has been a “funny” 10 days since the last blog and the delay hasn’t been due to nothing to write about.

The most important thing to happen is the Diane made it back to the boat, all the way from LA.

She even had to catch the express from Heathrow to Paddington all by herself.

There have been a few times whilst she was away that we have both said that we will not be doing this travelling alone thing again for so long – 2 months has just been too long – well that’s what we are saying now but who knows what circumstances may arise in the future.

Anyway she is glad to be back and I am glad that she is back – I can now save some money on the cleaning, not to mention the cooking.

But mostly I have missed her gentle persuasive ways – some may call it nagging – I myself would never mention that word – especially anyway near where she could whack me.

We are currently moored in Paddington Basin after a week directly outside the Paddington tube entrance; we will be moving back to there sometime during this coming week for another week - it is all to do with the filming schedule.

The basin at night - so brightly lit that we have had to put
up "black-out"curtains in the bedroom

Have not seen this before - the pedestrian bridge
at the end of the basin open.

Every Thursday - a small international food market - we will
be back next Thursday

By arrangement with CRT we have some priority moorings allocated to us for this period of time and making full use of them as well.

 

Our moorings had something to do with filming taking place
around here - the boat is in the film - we are not - the big guy
in the centre is the director Paul Greengrass

Just a small part of the crew and equipment

There has been plenty of chance for us to do a lot of walking and a bit more exploring around this part of London and also seeing sights that we have previously discovered.

We have “endured” Halloween and wandered around to see the decorated houses and strange people walking around like living dead.

 

Wisely, to avoid any confusion, she left her broom back on the boat

Saturday mornings have taken on a new adventure as we seem to have ended up down in Kensington Gardens each time, but we have really enjoyed the feel and the lack of too many people – that can easily be destroyed if we venture too far near to Oxford Street.

The Italian Gardens in Kensngton Gardens

 

Xmas decorations have gone up in Oxford Street

Outside the British Museum...

...and inside too

The Sunday roasts have been variable to say the least – the first at The Sawyers Arms just near Paddington Station left a lot to be desired – quality-wise and price-wise; whereas the Weatherspoons (The Tyburn) at Marble Arch was incredibly good and at about half the price.

We found ourselves with some time on our hands so off on the tube we went to Kings Cross, a bit of a walk to The London Canal Museum – for Diane to buy a pen to replace the one that she liked a lot but gave to her Dad when she saw him.

After this we took a walk along the towpath to Camden Markets where, despite the rain, we had a good look around.

On our way to Camden Town tube station, we spotted these in a shop

 

Star Wars boots...

...and shoes

a tribute to Star Wars – not sure that they would be used as intended – at least not at £195-£250 per pair.

Further on we boarded the train to return us to Kings Cross; Diane noticed it was going the wrong way (Northern line heading south) so quickly said to get off – which I did – well trained that I am.

I turned around to see this figure still inside the train with doors closed and train moving, waving goodbye – only back a few days and she was deserting me – it must have been something more than what I said.

Anyway at Euston I got off the train and found her immediately so we could get back on and with no more problems we made it back to the boat.

Cometh the train, cometh the woman!

Saturday 24th January to Sunday 25th January 2015

She did return as planned on the mid-afternoon train.

But before all of that Diane had a chance to visit Camden markets in London but judging by the weight of the case that she brought back she didn't add much to it of the pockets of stallholders there.
Looking forward to seeing these when we make it there at the end of the year.

Camden Locks 

inside the markets

Diane says this photo is for Paul

We had arranged that I would take the bus to the station and then we would come home the same way.

I was also thinking that there was a large market on in Macclesfield on Saturday, so that being the case I would go in early, have a good look around before the train was due and then be able to meet Diane and if the stalls were still around we could then have a look together.

Unknown to me Diane and Paul had been texting to each other, with Paul offering to take me in and then drive us both back - Diane arranged it all and forgot to tell me until I was already there.

It wasn't a problem and I met up with Paul at the station after I had dropped into Tesco for a chance to remove some items from the shopping list.

Whilst we both waited for the train, we had the chance to think that it would be a great job to drive the trains on these long distance journeys - say Manchester to Bournemouth or longer - a bit of a lapse to childhood when we might have thought that when we grow up we could become train drivers; probably not firemen - neither of us have the physique for the calendars.

Anyway the train duly arrived; Diane alighted from said train - very glad to see both of us there and Paul drove us back to the boat - this was such a lovely thing to do.

Oh, the market was not on for Saturday - it was scheduled for Sunday.

Next morning (Sunday) we paid a visit to the new Bollington services block for a lovely hot shower - no facilities for emptying cassettes, but the toilet was lovely and clean.
After this we did catch the bus back into Macclesfield and wandered around the outdoor market stalls - rather more extensive than those we were used to in Stone and Stafford - probably more of the size that I have seen in Nuneaton.

There were a couple of things that we purchased from them; more so we took in the Aldi store and cleaned up the remainder of the shopping list.

A coffee each and Diane couldn't go past The Silktrail Fryer - chips and gravy - back on the bus to Bollington and onto the boat to watch the FA Cup match being televised.

The weather for the weekend has been pretty good - no snow; little rain; sun was out; air was coldish - hardly seems like winter - more like mid-late April.

One consequence of Diane returning is that the radio has been returned to Smooth FM after a brief renaissance on Classic FM.

The skipper has returned; the weather is good; sun onto the solar panels and all is right with the world again.