Great weekend!

What a great weekend! Didn't start too well on Saturday morning as I decided to do some shopping in Rugby and left my keys in Argos. After retrieving said keys, I was half way home when I realised I had left a cheque in Argos that needed posting. A few phone calls sorted that out. I then got home and had bought some new bed sheets only to discover they had given me the single bed set instead of the double! A return visit later and that too was sorted.

My brother then arrived for the weekend and things rapidly improved. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of air or wind and the bridge to the marina was wide open calling for me to go out. 30 minutes later and I could have been anywhere! A trip up to Rose Narrowboats and back down and we finally moored in 'All Oaks Wood' for the night with still a couple of hours to kayak around, (see the picture above of my brother steaming past Khayamanzi!) A brisk walk the few miles into the nearest village and we were sitting by a roaring fire with a huge meal in front of us. The night fell very cold with my temperature sensor telling me that it had dropped to -4.8 degrees over night. Sunday morning arrived and there was a thick frost, a thin layer of ice of the Oxford Canal and a blue cloudless sky yet again. After a lazy breakfast, we decided to head back but yet again the call of the open water was too much to ignore so we motored on past the marina and tuned at Willow Wren before returning home. Getting in was a 'piece of cake' with no wind whatsoever. My brother then left and after a hoover and quick clean, I took Simba for a long walk to photograph the first signs of spring and then returned to finish cleaning and settle down for the evening.

A big spring clean needed next week on board before I leave on the Monday after next weekend for my half term trip south down the Oxford. Apparently they have forecast more snow for mid week - watch this space!