Yet more activity

14th & 15th March

We have had two very different days, both from the point of view of the weather and with regard to our activities. Yesterday was cool and windy but quite pleasant for our purposes, which were to have another excellent walk following a route downloaded from Walking World.

This was the twin of the one we had done just a week before, starting from the Lyme Park Information Kiosk and climbing back up to the ridge to the North East of the park. We then walked anticlockwise around to the main gate of the park and on up to the elaborate folly called The Cage which stands on a small hill not far from the main building.

By the time we had returned to the entrance to the Hall it was just after 12 and we were feeling in need of some sustenance before returning to the boat. There is a snack bar in the Servants’ Hall where we obtained a couple of delicious egg mayonnaise baps. They didn’t have any decaff coffee there but supplied us with some from the restaurant.

As always on a National Trust property, the prices were not particularly cheap but the quality was excellent.

Back at the boat, we had a second instalment of lunch, consisting of a further sandwich and a mug of hot soup. A quiet afternoon followed, doing IT stuff and finishing the Independent general knowledge crossword with the aid of Wikipedia.

This morning was calmer but much less pleasant. What wind there was had gone back round to the North and taken on a sharp edge. We had another relaxed start, and I put together an Ocado order for delivery on Wednesday morning.

Just before we went over to the yard for a further meeting with Peter, we had a text from Elanor to say that the cunning arrangement for the transport of our solar panel was working and that she expected to be with us sometime after 10.40.

Whilst all this was going on, we had another, mildly unwelcome, sign of spring’s arrival. A lot of quacking and stomping about on the roof heralded the attentions of a duck and her amorous swain. Inspection later on showed that we have a fine collection of muddy duck prints to clean off the roof. We suspect that she may have been considering our bowl of winter pansies as a possible nesting site.

It seems unlikely that she will proceed with her plan, but I wouldn’t mind having a go at making spaghetti carbonara with duck eggs for once.

Over at the yard, we had an useful session with Peter checking the accessibility of the front plate on the Hurricane heater, to be sure that the pipework does not prevent its removal for the purposes of servicing. We also discussed the design of the wine cellar, and Reg has undertaken to carry that out.

Whilst all this was going on, Elanor arrived with the solar panel which was seized with cries of joy by Andy.

After lunch, Sheila, Elanor and I moved Just Siviting into the yard so that her Webasto can be serviced; she is also due to have a small freezer compartment fitted. This movement left her Marineville berth free, and we gave Barry a hand to put The Shouting End in it.

He plans to keep her there for the next couple of weeks, until the stoppages have finished, when Annie and he will be moving her up to her home in Ripon.