The waiting game

Wednesday 9th May

Having been away for the weekend visiting family and having a lovely catch up with them, we arrived back to the marina on Monday afternoon. The man who is coming back to fix the toilet was supposed to come yesterday but didn't show. Hopefully he'll arrive today. The river levels are fine now so we can leave as soon as the toilet is fixed. The weather is glorious here so I've been catching up on the washing. But it's frustrating playing the waiting game and we can't wait to get moving again...

Thurmaston lock and Watermead nature reserve

Wednesday 2nd May

Another gorgeous walk from the marina to Thurmaston lock and then back via the nature reserve.

Shady lane Arboretum

Tuesday 1st May and the sun was shining so we went to Shady Lane Arboretum which was only 5 miles from the marina. So many gorgeous trees..

Back on board

We got back to Leicester Marina on Thursday 26th April having had the boat checked to ensure all was working well. Unfortunately however the central heating didn't work and made the most awful noise when you switched it on. So John emailed the boatyard where we had it repaired a few months back and they will look at it for us when we get back there. It's 26 miles from here. We had planned to stay in the Marina for the weekend and leave on Monday however yesterday the toilet started playing up and took ages to flush. As you will recall this was supposedly fixed in February so it was very frustrating to find it's not working. Finally last night it packed up completely so we are having to wait now until the man who supposedly fixed it returns from holiday on Tuesday! Luckily we bought a portable toilet and also there is a toilet block at the Marina so we can manage. But not a great start to our new adventure and it has certainly dampened our spirits. We see now why everyone says boats are money pits and how you can never budget for all the unforseen problems.

We are determined to make the most of this year but we will be selling Prairie after that. It breaks my heart to think of parting with her but it's just not financially viable to continue having her when we have no canals nearby our home in Wales.

Anyway we will make the most of our time aboard! John has fired up our little stove and so we are cosy on board. There is a lovely nature reserve nearby so ideal for dog walking and the shops are a short drive away so we have all we need until the toilet is fixed!

Further delays

We are still in Wales waiting for various appointments etc before we can return to the boat. So looking like we won't be able to restart our adventures until April now.. also the river Soar is still in flood due to all the snow and rain. As they say, patience is a virtue 😁

Prairie update

Well we are still waiting for the toilet to be fixed! Have someone looking at it next week. In the meantime she's safe in the Marina and we are enjoying a nice break at home in Wales. The river Soar keeps going into flood so it's probably best that we have to wait a while before going back on board.

We are enjoying the beaches here and Dex is having fun!

Eileen's birthday

Tuesday 12th December

It was John's eldest sister, Eileen's, birthday and as we were only an hour away we arranged to take her for a birthday lunch. We met up with John's brother Gordon too and his sister in law, Joy. We spent a nice leisurely time having lunch at Stamford garden centre. They have a really good restaurant there. Afterwards we went back to Eileen's flat for coffee and met Archie her little dachshund. He's very cute.

Back at kings lock there are lots of dog walks to chose from so Dex is having a fine time exploring.

 There is a fabulous old horse bridge near where we are moored. It was really icy though!

We decided to get the boat engineer to come and do the boat inspection and MOT where we are currently moored as this saves us having to move through the ice. He's coming on Thursday. Also gives us time to relax. It was lovely having a chill out day today (Wednesday)

Here are more snow pictures!