The Peak Forest Canal

We continued our journey down to New Mills on Sunday, where we will moor for the next fortnight. Stella returned to work (horror) and straight back into the thick of it!

We do like it here - we are moored adjacent to the Torrs Country park, a great place for the dogs to run around and generally enjoy themselves - the River Goyt is at the bottom, so an added bonus - a quiet week - working and catching up on much needed sleep!

Today was the New Mills Festival and Parade - great to see all the local schools and organisations taking part, although I noted the general lack of floats (liability insurance means that it  becomes too expensive) but two Brass Bands and a Pipe Band - then off to the River for a much needed swim for the dogs!

Fiona is now back in New Zealand and also back at work, so have purloined her photos for the one of me, Chris and her outside Gracie on her last day here. An emotional day for all of us (I actually managed not to cry, although she admits to crying as she went through passport control!)

Yesterday, I washed Gracie's curtains as well as washing the windows, so she looks quite tidy - I have to do a video for Fiona as well. However, I think that might be a before and after video as we are going to take the sofa out and redo the floor - a wet and muddy winter means the wooden floor is in desperate need of resealing now and we wnat to do the whole floor. Also, clean the carpet and maybe see if we can get a few offcuts to replace as that also took a hammering. We are also exploring getting a fitted automatic washing machine - make life a lot easier. Although, we have decided that taking sheets/towels to the laundrette once a month is reasonably cost effective. 

We seem to follow festivals around - the time of year - it is the Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival as well this weekend, a date for the diary next year and we are also thinking about doing the BCN (Birmingham Canal Society) Challenge on the second Bank Holiday in May 2015 - planning to get there and back will be needed to fit around working, but we reckon we can do it.

Just realised it is coming up to a year ago that we accepted the offer on the house and then reinstated the offer on Nb Gracie - that year has flown by!

Bugsworth Basin

Today we moved down to Bugsworth Basin, one of our favourite places. Tidying & cleaning day along with resting. We like it here, the dogs love it and it restores energy.
It was closed over the winter so the first Basin wall could be rebuilt. They have done a lovely job, except they have left a mudbank,  so we moored in the first arm.
Fiona winded NBGracie in the top Basin, a lovely big winding hole and Gracie turned beautifully.

The Marple Flight

A beautiful spring day; sunny, warm and a bit of a breeze, but not so you'd notice it. We set off from.just before Marple Aqueduct and did the flight in three hours.
We then cruised slowly down to Disley, mooring just behind old friends and sat in the sun, chatting and generally chilling out after our journey.
It does feel like home turf on this section and coming up the flight was so easy, bizarrely though, the two locks repaired over winter now have to be left empty. Now,  is this because they haven't been fixed properly, or to stop them breaking?
Tomorrow,  we will be off to Bugsworth Basin, to show Fiona the biggest inland port in Britain.