8th to 28th June – just kickin’ our heels mainly
You’ll recall that, last time I posted, Paul was just about to go off to Le Mans – fulfilling a lifelong dream. I dropped him off at the station on the Wednesday and felt a bit sad. I am just not used to being solo any more. But I had to get on with it and those 5 days passed in a daze of dog-walking and finding things to do to pass the time – alone. I really missed him.
They were glamping in the grounds of an 11th Century Benedictine Priory – La Prieuré de Vivoin, which looked rather beautiful. They had a package which gave them all their meals and transport to and from the track. Although Paul still managed to rack up over 20,000 steps each day.
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They had a great time and managed to catch an earlier Eurostar back, so I picked him up mid-afternoon on the Monday and both I and the boys were very pleased to see him.
The following weekend (19/21 Jun) we had guests on board. None other than our erstwhile frequent flyers the Robertsons – Anne and Gray. I say erstwhile because tt had been fully 14 months since their last visit. But then it’s been a strange old year, so far. And will be getting even stranger, but I digress.
They arrived on Friday evening and we fed them, caught up on all things Hants and played cribbage until bedtime. It was great to have them back on board.
We set off on Saturday morning for our short cruise, turning right towards Braunston, as it is slightly more interesting than turning left, punctuated as it is by the 3 locks at Hillmorton. We sang our way through Newbold tunnel and then went up through the Hillmorton flight of three locks, assisted by Vollies. We went only as far as the winding hole at the old wharf, winded and came back down the flight, this time sans Vollies as they’d knocked off for the day. But it gave us a a nice easy run home on Sunday morning, after a leisurely breakfast.
We spent the evening chatting, laughing and playing cards – mainly The Game as usual. No success at all this weeknd. The Game beat us every, single time!
We set off, on Sunday morning, back to the Marina of Dreams and arrived back at lunch time, after which our guests left us for the journey back home. A short but sweet visit, but it’s always nice when guests arrive and always nice when they leave – it’s a universal truth! Oh – and we spotted my Dad’s old boat, for only the 2nd time in the 20 years of boating since he died.
We had made plans for the evening – sundowners with our friends and fellow Ortomariners from NB Jenny Wren – John and Sarah. It wa a very pleasant evening, spent washing down snacks – known as nibs on this boat – with a couple of rounds of Tinto de Verano, followed by G&Ts. We hadn’t seen them since last July, so we had plenty to chat about!
The ensuing week was unbelievably hot as you all know. It just seemed to get progressively hotter as the week went on. We had planned a weekend away in Vera and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. But it was booked and paid for so off we set. We just wanted a quick trip away to test our new solar panels and to check that the Starlink would work OK. It’s a pretty vital component for Paul’s work. We also wanted to do a checklist of anything else we might need to buy. It’s a pricy business setting up a motorhome to live in!
I had booked New Lodge Farm – an adult only site between Corby in Northants and Stamford in Lincs, in a village called Bulwick. It had a farm shop and restaurant, all mod cons and you could book a fire pit and even a swim. And only an hour away. Perfect.
It was very warm indeed, but we had parked by a tree, which afforded us some very welcome shade, and we enjoyed the breeze in our new chairs. After a while, though, we had to go back in to the van and the cooling blast of our two fans. We ventured out again at dusk, after the sting of the sun had dissipated. We listened to rooks coming and going and chattering and scrapping as the dusk turned to night. There were glow worms once it was fully dark. It’s a lovely spot. And you’ll have to pretty much take my word for that, because my photographer had taken the weekend off, it seems! Luckily I took a few and have had a stern “must do better” convo with the Shutter King.
Saturday was hot again and the sun beat down mercilessly as we walked up to the cafe for a spot of lunch. I had spent the morning reading and dozing, while Paul was fiddling with cables and techy stuff.
We both chose salad which looked delicious but was made up of all the lettuce types I don’t much care for – frisee, lambs and radicchio, plus finely diced multi-colour peppers (double yuk). Still – I ate the tomatoes cucumber, eggs and ham!
We drank loads to keep hydrated in the heat and really enjoyed our time away. And it was good practice for next month, when we’ll be setting off in Vera to explore a bit of Europe.
We would definitely return to the site and maybe opt for a fire pit and a swim – which is for just two people at a time, so rather nice.
We made a detour to Market Harbour to fill up our fuel tank (Sainsbury’s for the Nectar) on the way home, remembering the happy weekend we had spent there with George, Beth and Chester. It was too hot to clean the van when we got back (mainly the floor, I’d done all the other bits when we packed up). So we opted for a snooze followed by a delicious cool shower. We’d had such a lovely break. The cleaning can wait.
We are now entering the final phase before Electrika 2026, the boat show for electric narrowboats that we organise annually for Ortomarine and with the help of Aquavista. Life’s gonna get busy, so it’ll be a couple of weeks before we’ll be posting again. Please pray for cool weather on 9th -11th July – but NO RAIN!