Christmas is coming, must design a calendar..

15th & 16th December

Yesterday we invented a new start to the boating day. So far we've had the relaxed start (get up in leisurely fashion after listening to the news at least once in full and once as a set of headlines on the half hour), the prompt start (drink tea listening to whatever happens to be on the radio, breakfast and boat off) and the flying start (Sheila dresses and starts boating whilst Bruce makes the tea).

Now we have the modified flying start, whereby we still drink the tea in bed, but Sheila then starts boating whilst Bruce eats breakfast. This way, we were underway by eight thirty on a cloudy but mild and calm day.

We boated straight through Nuneaton to Hartshill, arriving just after eleven. Sheila had packed up the second instalment of the crochet, ready for despatch to Braidbar. The Post Office at Hartshill is on Church Road, and Sheila persuaded me that a) it wasn't worth the two of us going and b) since I also wanted to buy a paper...

The thing is, it's a slog up the hill to the centre of the village, the first part of which is on a narrow and busy road without benefit of footpath. Being a good soul, I bought this line of argument and set off, flinching into a spiky hedge from time to time as the traffic streamed past, walking quickly to get it over with, so that I arrived at the top out of breath and slightly shaky.

Needless to say, the shop didn't have a copy of the Independent when I got there. I did however get the crochet on its way, and ambled back down the road without mishap. By the time I was back at Sanity, it was lunch time, and a quiet afternoon followed.

Sheila spent some time choosing the long list of photos for this year's calendar and Christmas card, and I made a start on a button fender. We made good progress with both these tasks, so were able to retire to bed feeling full of virtue.

Today, with only a short run to Atherstone in prospect, we made a relaxed start. Atherstone flight was looking a bit battered; when we moored between locks five and six, we had a natter with a passing boater, who told us that the rainstorms on Saturday had overwhelmed a culvert that drains a lake from above the canal to below it, such that all the pounds were flooded and pouring round the locksides.

Tony Wright had had to stop the flight so as to open paddles above and below each lock to run the water away.

Sheila had been awake in the night brooding on the rapid approach of the last posting dates, so rather than wait until we get to Tamworth to do our final shopping, we did some in Atherstone this afternoon. We've also printed off the Christmas cards, and made the final selection of the photos for the calendar. I've given them a quick makeover in Photoshop, so all that's needed now is to create the calendar itself. This Sheila does in Excel, inserting the picture for each month in a big cell at the top, and creating the individual day spaces in cells below.

I also acquired a basic tyre pressure gauge, so will now be able to assess whether the odd performance of the water system is down to the accumulator not holding pressure, or to a problem with the pump, in which case we are probably looking at new pump time. I see in this month's Canal Boat that Tony Brooks reckons it's not worth trying to refurbish one, and if he's not up for it, I'm certainly not.

Tomorrow I'll pop back into Atherstone to post the presents we've bought and wrapped, and then we'll poddle off to Alvecote for the night.