Monday 28 September 2015

Home again

At the age of twelve, I can recall having to write a homework essay on the theme "Home is the place where, if you go there, they have to take you in". I don't remember making much of a job of it, probably because I didn't get round to doing it until I was on the train to school on the morning it was due in, but it was my first attempt at writing humour, the opening line being "What happens if they are out?".

Nonetheless, Mercia must be home to us now, not just because it feels like it, but because when we turn up here, there has to be a mooring for us.

It was another chilly morning and my turn to wear a gilet under the fleece – look, I'm old, I feel the cold, OK? For a long time the sun was a teasing round disk looking a good deal more like the moon than the moon did last night by all accounts. (I don't know, I was asleep.) With just the two locks to do, Sheila spent a good deal of her time down below, though she did do look out at the critical spots and also kept me company at the back for some of the time.

We arrived at Willington just over three hours after we'd left Branston and were ensconced on the pontoon by eleven. First job after making all secure was to go round to Still Waters to buy some bread for lunch and to pop into the office to collect the replacement pump out token we were owed from when we left. We took the opportunity to buy some internet access, too. On the way, we stopped to chat to Catryn, owner of Bay Tree Lodge which had literally just landed on plot 6.

I'm pleased to say that both the shoreline hook up and getting the WiFi booster working went without a hitch, so we now have the benefit of speedy WiFi right through the boat. Mercia has upgraded its WiFi offer – 60Gb to be used over 12 months now costs £60. We'll only need it for 6 months max, hopefully, as we'll be cruising the rest of the time, so effectively we've got 10 Gb a month for £10 per month. If you need more data or just a shorter period, other tariffs are available, in addition to which you can access a faster connection by installing some different gear, handy if you're into gaming or whatever.

We've had a walk round the marina this afternoon in the warm sun; no mega changes have occurred bar the arrival of the first lodge on the Meadow site, Linden. It's quite large – maybe Palast den Linden would be appropriate, Jo? ;)

Oops, nearly forgot to mention in the delirium of being back; just before we got here, we crossed with Greygal on Henry, what a lovely looking boat! One of these days, we'll actually be stationary in the same place at the same time and can properly get together.

1 comment:

Dogsontour by Greygal said...

Hi Bruce

That was a red letter day! So pleased to have finally met in person even if it was short and sweet - at the time, given where we met, I was just pleased I didn't clout you one! I'm sure we'll be able to have a sit down natter one of these days.

All the very best to you both

Greygal