Hurrah, Day Off Work!

A training day at work was cancelled at the last moment so what better way to spend an afternoon than messing about on the river? Kit wanted to take his boat for a spin as he'd just had the engine serviced. After very little discussion we decided to take it to The Plough in Clifton Hampden. It took us all of 0.02 seconds to conclude that this was a wonderful idea. It also meant going through Clifton Lock where Rob was working and thus giving us plenty of opportunity to tease him about having to work whilst we were going to idly let the hours pass in the comfort of a beer garden.

When we reached The Plough we discovered that they have a lorry problem (see photo).

After a couple of drinks we thought we'd better leave before we became incapable of crewing.

It turned out that none of that would have mattered since Kit's engine over heated and we broke down near Appleford.

After chancing our luck trying to walk through a field of inquisitive bullocks we decided to find the nearest pub, get drunk and wait to be rescued.

Rob, tired of us having all the fun and sampling the local alcohol, decided he was the best person for the job.

Rob and I eventually left Kit to tackle the bullocks and await an engineer, and made our way back home.

The Boater's Garden: Part 473b. Probably.

Well, I said a fond farewell to my beloved garden or what was left of it after the floods. I came home from work one day and discovered that the kind boating folk of my neighbourhood had collected all the organic detrius that the waters left behind and piled it all in my garden for burning. So I pulled up all the rotten vegetation that had once held the promise of fecundity and added it to the giant mound.

I did harbour thoughts of abandoning gardening on the flood plain but the inch of lovely silt deposited in the vegetable beds whispered words of encouragement. And so did every boater in the vicinity. I never knew that people cared so much about it but it has spurred me on. So, the burning process has begun and the ashes will be scattered and forked back into the beds.

By the way, if anyone up river from Abingdon reads this and just so happened to lose a newly sown lawn to the floods I'd like you to know that I found it. The seeds deposited themselves in one of my vegetable beds and are doing rather well. You are more than welcome to reclaim your lawn before Rob follows though with his threat of turfing the roof of the boat.

Good thinking.

Lolly has the right idea. After spending 72 hours at work excuse me whilst I curl up in a corner and sleep awhile. Can someone wake me up tomorrow, please?

Lolly Pretending To Be A Sponge...

After falling into the cut.

Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2007.

We walked to Cropredy Mill Bridge and onto the festival site. Laden with chairs and umbrellas (just in case it rained) and other completely unnecessary things we made our way up to the ledge on the main field where we met the rest of the gang. (Meet On The Ledge - get it??)

The show kicked off with Anthony John Clarke our compere for the day. He was followed by Kerfuffle, a vibrant young folk band.

The accordionist also provided foot percussion which was rather fun to watch. Every time Rob ran down to the front to take a photo she stopped!

Wishbone Ash provided us all with some cheesy 1970s classic rock that we all drunkenly appreciated (it was only 5.30pm).

Just after 7pm Seth Lakeman took to the stage and all the teenage girls swarmed to the front to call out their adoration. Thankfully this didn’t detract from his musical genius and he performed an amazing set, including a brilliant Kitty Jay.

The last to perform tonight was Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. I was too drunk to fully appreciate it, Rob fell asleep, and everyone else danced around us. Finally, roused by the very loud voice of their very small guest, Lulu, we packed up, staggered home and agreed that we’d had a very grand night.