Eye tests and pies

27th & 28th March

The only problem with mooring at Shobnall is being driven mad by the delicious smell of mashing wort from one brewery or another. We had a peaceful night, and made the trek into town at nine, stopping off at the Council tip that's just behind the marina to dump our recycling on the way.

After visiting Sainsbury's and Julian Graves, we rolled up at the opticians in good time for our appointments, and spent most of the morning there. Main cause of delay was waiting for me to have my photo taken, or rather photos of my retinas. This means having your pupils dilated, and so having to sit around in a world slowly growing fuzzier until they are wide enough to take the shots.

I mustn't complain – it's a neat service, as the pictures get sent to the local eye clinic to check for signs of diabetic retinopathy. At least this time I remembered to take a pair of dark specs with me; as last year, it was a bright sunny morning. Last year I'd not got the shades with me, and Sheila pretty well had to lead me, eyes screwed shut and watering, back to the boat.

This year, I could see where I was going, although not read print or anything. Sheila promptly took us into the Thornton's choccy shop, though only bought a few bars of marzipan choc in the end.

Back at the boat we had a coffee and then lunch, and then Sheila steered us to Branston Water Park for the night. There's been a short discussion on the canals list recently about the merits and keeping qualities of Fray Bentos tinned pies. One result of this was that I discovered that Sheila is quite partial to these traditional items. (Come on, we've only been married less than 37 years, you can't find out everything about each other straight away.)

We'd bought a couple at Sainsbury's and had the steak and kidney one for dinner, with new potatoes and some lightly steamed cabbage.

Today we wanted to get back to Alrewas, where we'll be for the next week, finishing off the various medico-dental stuff. It's been a long haul this year, partly because we got here earlier than originally planned as a result of our dental problems.

Anyway, we got away at eight, and Sheila carried on steering, since she'd had only a short trick yesterday. It wasn't as windy as forecast, well not at first, but it began to rain in a most unpleasant way. I was glad to be able to lurk in the cabin, only popping out for Tatenhill, Barton Turn, Wychnor and Alrewas Locks, and to help at the water point at Barton Turn.

The cunning plan had been to arrive at Alrewas at around ten, when others would be setting off, and with a full water tank. If we got a mooring between the lock and the water point at Alrewas, this would mean we could last the weekend, pull onto the water point on Monday and then go through to one of the other moorings for the balance of our stay.

The only problem was, the weather was so foul, no one had moved at ten, so we came through the first bridge and tied just the other side. I'll just have to reverse Sanity back through the bridge when we need water. Hopefully, the wind will have dropped a bit by then – this afternoon it's been quite blustery, and we're glad to have stopped for the time being.

A quiet afternoon followed – Cathy, Graeme and Daniel are coming to see us tomorrow, hopefully. Last time we stayed with them, they lent us their copy of the Four Weddings and a Funeral DVD (we just missed it at the cinema), so it was a good excuse to sit and watch it so that we can give it back when we see them.