Definitely Spring

29th & 30th March

With nowhere to go yesterday, we made a lazy start, by the standards of British Summer Time, and staggered up at around half eight. We'd been serenaded a good deal earlier by an extremely cheerful thrush; I didn't get up to check which kind, but we later saw several blackbirds and a speckled thrush that I reckoned was a Mistle, but Sheila said was a Song Thrush.

Since we didn't have a pair of binoculars with us, and it flew off away from us, the matter has been left to lie on the file.

This was during our walk after breakfast, officially in search of the geocache 'goosy goosy walk', but really just to have an excuse to walk round the lake. The webpage for the cache showed that the last three people to try to find it had failed, so we weren't desperately surprised not to do so ourselves, though we were very sure we were in the right place.

Back at the boat, I put an "Archive this cache" request up – it's no good pretending that it's still there when it's clearly been muggled. As we finished our walk, we realised that there is an underpass from the Water Park to Branston village, so went and explored that to buy a paper.

The rest of the day was pretty idyllic. We had lunch, then got on the roof in the sunshine and cleaned the Houdini hatch with Shiny Sinks. It'll need polishing again this week, but with a good forecast, and with not much boating to do, we should manage to find time to do it.

It's a sign of Spring, of course. The whole boat is looking a bit scruffy on the outside, frankly, but things need to be done in order. The Shiny Sinks leaves mucky streaks on the roof and sides when it's washed off, so that has to be used first, then the roof washed, then the sides washed and eventually polished, though we probably won't do that until we've finished with the docking, grit blasting and blacking bit.

The aim is to have her looking all beautiful for Crick Show, at the end of May, so we've a bit of time in hand.

Whilst engaged in this, Pintail came and tied in front of us, and her owner came back for a chat. I can't recall when we last saw them, but it's always good to have these casual catching up sessions.

Sheila then sowed the first batch of seeds in a couple of pots; basil under a sheet of cling film, and land cress in the open. These will, with luck, form cut and come again crops for the first part of the summer.

After that we felt all tired and virtuous, and sat and read in the sun on the towpath for most of what was left of the afternoon.

Later on, Elanor rang and subsequently called in on her way back from the BCN Clean Up. We had a great evening, mostly catching up on WRG gossip. We'd thought about eating out, as we owe her a meal in celebration of her recent birthday, but neither the Bridge Inn nor the Blacksmiths Arms in the village were doing food on a Sunday evening.

Instead, we're going to buy her a meal tonight, here in Alrewas.

We were woken by the same thrush this morning, and got up a bit more promptly, with some boating to do. It proved to be a fairly straightforward run, enlivened only by me checking up one of BW's barmier claims.

There used to be a rubbish point in Barton Turns Marina, but it's moved to the grounds of a nearby transport caff on the A38 (thank you Nev). The signs announcing this state that the cafe, the Oakamoor, is only 100 yards from the marina.

This has always been patently not true, but just out of curiosity I checked the GPS odometer reading as we stopped to dump our rubbish today, and then again as we passed the marina. The answer is 0.95 of a mile, suggesting that BW office staff believe that there are 100 yards in a mile.

This could explain a lot.

On arrival at Alrewas, we found no boats at all tied on the moorings by the water point, next to what used to be Rebel's field. In the six years we've been coming here, that's the first time I've seen these moorings deserted.

It just shows what damage the 48 hour limit is doing to Alrewas's pub and shop trade.

This afternoon we went in search of the first few of a new series of caches on the canal between Bagnall Lock and Fradley. We found four, and launched our new Travel Bug, 'Little Sanity', in the first of them.

As I said on her webpage, may she bring loads of luck and laughter to all who move her around, just like her namesake.