Alrewas again

After another relaxed start this morning, we ambled down to Alrewas, Sheila steering and your correspondent locking. We know this route so well by now, we barely need to think about it, so try to take extra care to avoid that silly (or cilly) mistake that would be so embarrassing.

Alrewas is amazingly quiet. At first we thought that the river must be up and preventing access from the hire bases at Mercia Marine and Sawley, but no, it's just quiet. The river is in fact well down in the green bit of the marker. We've found a mooring above Bagnall, on the upstream side of the road bridge.

In fact, we could have gone into the space we left a month ago in the ice; Poacher is still just where she was behind us then, seemingly not having moved since.

Some culinary matters:

1) In an attempt to increase our consumption of oily fish, and following an article in the paper the other day about trying some of the smaller kinds of fish, I bought some sprats in Morrison's the other day. We had them grilled last night, with a cajun sauce. Mistake. They took an age to prepare (we didn't fancy eating them with the heads on and full of guts), tasted very fishy and crunchy, and the boat still smells like a fish quay today, despite boating with the bow doors open, spraying through with air feshener and throwing out everything that contained fish remains.

In short, I can't recommend them in a narrowboat.

2) Tonight, we're having rabbit, a farmed one I got from the butcher in Rugeley. I've found a recipe in my favourite cookbook, Michael Barry's Food and Drink. It's called Mr MacGregor's Stew, after the frustrated farmer in Peter Rabbit, and I'll let you know how we get on.

3) The George and Dragon is doing a Pie Night tomorrow, so we're going along and meeting Will Chapman, and hopefully Jane Howarth, there. It'll be good to catch up with them, and it gives me a night off after all this culinary experimentation.