Getting ready for a week away

18th & 19th April

We've had a couple of quietish days here at Norton Canes. Compared to the rest of the Northern BCN, it genuinely is quite rural, but the A5 and the M6 Toll are not far away, so there's a fairly constant background of traffic noise.

Yesterday we walked into Norton Canes itself to check out the local bus situation. Examination of timetables at the stops and discussion with some locals waiting there established that our best bet tomorrow will be to walk right into the village to the bus stop outside the library, from where we can get one of four buses an hour into Cannock, whence we can catch a train to Windermere, changing at Birmingham New Street and Preston.

Back in Sanity we ran the engine and did a last washload. After lunch we set out to find some of the geocaches we'd identified. This involved quite a bit of exploration of an area of ex spoil heap covered with birch forest. Two caches were successfully located, despite the presence of various lads on trail bikes zooming up and down the sides of the hills.

Making our way back to the canal, we walked down to its junction with the Wyreley and Essington to find one last cache before coming home.

Nicely tired out, we had a quiet afternoon.

Today has been given over to preparations for leaving the boat for a week. The fridge freezer was turned off, and the freezer side defrosted and cleaned. We're keeping the fridge bit closed up to preserve the coolth in it until tomorrow. I've just about managed to use all the perishables up in good order – there might be an egg and some lettuce going spare tomorrow.

We've moved the plants onto the roof of an unoccupied boat, and sorted clothes, both for taking away, and as the start of the seasonal change round. Greatly daring, we've put the puffa jackets away in their compression sacks for the summer. When we come back, we'll probably get out the tee shirts and shorts in the hopes of a warm May.

And that's about it for the nonce. As I said last time, I'm taking a break while we're in the Lakes, but thanks to Blogger's scheduling facility, little reminders posts should appear every two days.