Summer not quite gone - well maybe it has!

Friday 9^th September to Friday 16^th September 2016

First job of the day was to return the hire car back to Enterprise – it is always a concern for me that something will be found wrong with the car, and until it is signed off by them I remain concerned – so, once again relieved that all was OK and after getting a lift back we (I) could relax.

There was the small matter of needing to refill the water tank and remove the ‘orrible waste, but with that all done we, in the end, moved less than a mile to some favourite mooring just north of Bridge 190.

Why is that a favourite spot? Well, it is close to the Paddington Packet Boat Inn, where we are now building a good relationship with the woman behind the bar – Sue ; it is also away from the random foot traffic and only the occasional car over the bridge – and none late at night.

It allowed us to have a lovely Happy Friday at the pub with Dot and Gordon – there was the discovery of some cut-price double spirits drinks and in particular Black Russians – which were consumed in numbers by Dot and Diane – now known as D and D, which almost described their condition later on.

It was a quiet weekend during which a lovely Sunday lunch – at the Paddo’ was consumed – the Uno cards made an appearance before and after, which added to the enjoyment of the afternoon. After we left the pub we took a wander around the Little Britain Lake just down the road.

Monday came along and we made a move into Uxbridge for two reasons – firstly Diane had a doctors appointment in Watford on Tuesday and the connection is good from Uxbridge and secondly, we would need diesel at some stage before our next cruising adventure and we do not miss the opportunity to fill at Denham Marina (still 60ppl and always self-declare).

We found a mooring outside the Swan and Bottle, which we were initially a bit apprehensive about, but it was a lovely quiet night with no noise outside at all – if there was any, then we were too tired to notice.

Early Tuesday, we moved to get the diesel tanks filled, before Diane headed off, after-which I cruised the boat back to virtually where we were before we left.

That evening, after Diane had returned and the heat had gone from the day – I hadn’t mentioned yet, that it seems that summer has returned – it has been particularly hot – with so many people having a hard time with the heat – for me, it was fine as long as the humidity was below 50% - anyway back to what I was about to say, we got a few nibbles from Tesco and sat down with Dot and Gordon who had drinks in their fridge and just enjoyed an absolutely lovely evening outside; the sunset, following by the rising moon, the coolness of the evening after the heat of the day was really quite wonderful – an absolutely perfect end to the day.

Our schedule now meant that more movement was necessary on Wednesday morning and so we used the services again, farewelled Dot and Gordon and gently cruised away – firstly in the morning cool which was delightful and then the increasing warmth of the sun – cruised as far as the park at Willow Tree, Yeading, where we have enjoyed a couple of days.

Diane even managed to get her prescriptions filled in full at the Tesco – a first for any of the pharmacies we have been to, to have it all.

Thursday afternoon ended with some rather heavy clouds appearing, a little bit of rain and some ominous noises overhead – almost like a Queen song (but without the lightning).

But Friday morning was completely different – thunderbolts and lightning and hard rain – bloody wonderful it was – a pity about the flooding that resulted and the disruption, damage and chaos that it caused.

The rain continued during the morning and we had a little problem – we needed to be moving and be at or around Alperton ready for tomorrow.

Around 9:30 it eased off and we thought that we may as well go for it – luckily the only rain that we did have on our cruising was of the light nature and neither of us got particularly wet – mooring up outside Sainsburys about 11:45am.

We decided to check out the new installation about a quarter mile along – a new elsan point – that we had seen previously – yes!!, we were correct, so a full cassette would be emptied later on.

Somehow or other Diane had engineered it yet again – in Alperton, in time for lunch at the Chinese restaurant that we both like – hands were held up in mock surrender – and so we enjoyed a lovely lunch and then back to the boat for Diane to pack and me to do some work.

The much cooler weather and a few more spots of rain meant that we were pleased to be inside.

Later on we caught the final set of the first rubber in the Davis Cup and watched most of the second.

17 Miles, 2 Locks

YTD:  602 Miles (969 km) , 358 Locks, 6 Tunnels, 14 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4397 Miles (7076 km), 3057 Locks, 118 Tunnels, 59 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges