As happened before, all the posts, from the moment we left the marina, are written today, and not in Stone, but in Stafford. There is not enough time to write, when one has to steer the boat, or do the locks, make bread, make pasta, cook meals… And if there is time, there is no internet connection, or the computer is not charged, or…
Only WRT found time to write her blog on the day it was published. But she has an easy life.
This weekend Lawrance is at his army reunion in Blackpool.
Time for me to write my blog, clean the boat, read books, go to the hair dresser, and the beautician. And do the lock…
Do the lock?
This could have been written in Stone, though. Because that’s where we stopped, after leaving Etruria. Ian helped us through 5 of the locks, and because of the nice weather it seemed silly to moor up at two o’clock in the afternoon. Which we should have done, because just half an hour before mooring up, it’s the usual again. Heavy rain…
Once again strange things happen. Before we leave Etruria Ian gives me a book to read: Narrow Dog to Wigan Pier. It’s written by Terry Darlington, who happens to live in or near Stone. While we’re in Stone I start reading the first chapter. He writes about walking the dogs near Aston Lock.
When I get off the boat to do this Aston Lock, the next day, I meet an elderly gentleman. As so many people I meet do, he asks me where my accent is from. When I say that I’m originally from Holland, he tells me he would love to go to Maastricht to see André Rieu. When I tell him I’m going to do that in July, he says he envies me.
He then asks me where I live, and I point to WRT, who’s waiting for the lock to fill. Then he mentions that there lives a guy in Stone who writes books about narrowboats, and this guy actually took his narrowboat to France, cruising the canal.
Yes, I know, and he would have a beer in the same pub we had our meal…
Live is full of surprises.
* Stone is the name of a market town in Staffordshire