A bit more exercise than planned and starting the big clean

The plan for today was firstly to go down to Poynton, shop in Waitrose and take the bus back and secondly to make a start on thoroughly cleaning the interior of Sanity Again. Almost all of this programme has been achieved, with the sole exception of the bus bit. On the way down, I checked the timetable on what seemed to be the nearest stop to Waitrose and noted that the buses ran at five minutes to the hour.

We managed to leave Waitrose just on ten to ten and walked briskly to the stop, getting there just before five to. We waited... and waited... and waited, until an old chap coming past told us he'd seen the bus going by Waitrose a bit before ten to and that we'd missed it. Shortly after, a woman waiting at the stop on the other side confirmed that the bus usually went by in our direction between a quarter and ten to and that she was now expecting it to arrive at her stop on its way back from Middlewood.

It's an hourly service, so we set off to walk back up the hill. (Those who know the area will appreciate that this is not a trivial decision; it's only a mile and a half or so, but steeply uphill for much of the distance.) A bit futher on, sure enough, there was the bus on its way down. Fortunately, we hadn't bought huge amounts of stuff.

Back at the boat the goodies were stowed away and we retired to the Trading Post for much needed hot choc/coffee. Whilst consuming this and chatting to some of the other customers, we were joined by Martin who'd just been shopping too. He told us two useful bits of info: a) the bus passes Waitrose at ten to or thereabouts and b) although it doesn't have a timetable on it or even the words "Bus Stop" at the top, the bus will stop at the old sign right outside the shop. Heigh ho, we'll know another time. We've been spoiled by Derby's excellent bus services, obviously.

After lunch, we made a start on the cleaning, working from the stern. The engine room and bedroom have had their ceilings washed and vertical surfaces cleaned with Mr Sheen and Pledge. We plan to do all the compartments this way, then do the floors in a couple of further sessions.

After all this hard work, ice cream from the TP was consumed on the bow and I'm cooking some fresh pasta with bought sauce tonight – we're both quite weary, strangely enough.