Thursday 10^th and Friday 11^th December 2019

Brenda had been feeling quite grotty with a virus that she thought she was over, but has come back on her, so we have remained at Hawkesbury Junction doing not a lot.

Thursday morning was interesting watching Mark on the fuel boat “Callisto”, loading up at the wharf here. He started loading at 6am and, by the time he had finished the boat was down to her gunwhales. Although he loads bagged coal as opposed to loose, he still maintains a boat that provides him with a living purely off the canals. Much a scene from by gone days. Callisto ply’s her trade along the between Foxton Locks, the Oxford, Grand Union, Coventry and Ashby canals providing boats with diesel, gas, coal, logs and other essentials. And Mark is a really nice guy with it.

         

We shopped at the local shop nearby for essentials, a rough neighbour this, once you veer from the canal. Had our lunch in the Greyhound on Thursday, they are, quite rightly so, renowned for their pies. I had a Beef Bourginon and Stilton and Brenda had a Chicken Hot Pot pie. Superb. And apart from that, not a lot. I have been computering and Brenda has been dozing and reading.

We have a lot of boats around us with single men on board and a lot of the boats we refer to as “tinky”. While most of these guys we have met are nice enough people, a lot of them live on boats that need a lot of tlc and, as such, they tend to have knackered batteries and so have to run their engines all day to charge the batteries. It drives you mad listening to that all day.

Weather: lovely, clear days albeit, cold.