Ducks in a row!

It can be done! Even if not quite in the way I had originally intended......

We had a lovely, lovely day on the canal, despite not-quite-perfect weather. There was only one heavy shower, and that early on, but the wind was strong. Which meant some difficulties steering, and also that it was quite chilly at times. But I am so not complaining.

Although the section of the Leeds/Liverpool canal that we were on runs quite close to a busy road, we were barely aware of it.



There were quite a few other boats around, despite some of the locks being closed, but a lot of them were day boats like us.



And there were more critters around, too, although perhaps not as many as we had hoped. I loved this brood - there were several large cygnets, but I couldn't photograph them all together because they kept shifting around most unhelpfully as they tried to con us out of some of our lunch.



And towards the end of the day, this little lot. Could this be any more Constable?



And then, we had a little adventure. This particular section of the canal has a lot of swing bridges. And despite there being a party not all that far ahead of us who had just gone through, when we arrived at one particular one, we could not shift it. We enlisted the aid of some passing cyclists, but still couldn't do it. And then fortunately, a larger boat came along, and the combination of pushing on the bridge in the normal way, and ramming it with the boat succeeded in getting us through. We left the bridge open! (It was, thankfully, a field bridge, not a road one.)



What is more - look carefully at the image, and you will see a balloon floating. Which read "Happy Birthday, Grandma". We did of course exchange suitable birthday greetings.

I used to think that I came from a long line of Norfolk poachers (actually, partially true). But after yesterday, when not having steered a narrowboat in many a year, and having the skill return quick smart and most satisfactorily, I have decided that I must have bargewoman bloodlines. And natuarally, my desire to go and live on a narrowboat has returned in full force. Although I do take the DSM's point that we would have trouble fitting in the stash........

I had intended to spin and knit, and went fully equipped, but in the event merely did a token amount of each. If I wasn't steering, I was very content sitting quietly watching the watery world go by.

OK, more fun, fun, fun tomorrow - not. Report later.