Gracie Update - August 2016

We celebrated our third anniversary of living aboard this month and are finally, painting the rest of Gracie. Waiting for both fitness and the weather to paint meant we only got the roof done last year to undercoat. We haven't quite decided on the final colour scheme,  although cream with burgundy trim is at the top of the list.
Stella finishes work this week,  so we will have more time to do things on Gracie; our cruising pattern is severely limited due to haemodialysis three times a week. She is now training to self dialyse at Altrincham Hospital, although the challenge of a machine on a boat might be a step too far; we will see. She can self dialyse at Shaw Heath Unit in Stockport,  whilst not ideal is better than being on a slot forever and try for transplant asap. Chris is due at Wythenshawe Hospital on Friday to have a CT Scan to investigate the kidney stone, resurfaced after four years, but with additional pain around the bladder. 

Happy Anniversary Gracie

This weekend marks a year since we moved aboard Gracie.

Reorganisation on NB Gracie

After a fortnight in Strines,; time to move onto Whaley Bridge. We haven't been here since before aster, apart from the brief interlude for the Whaley Water Weekend, when we moored in Bugsworth.

We all like it here, we called into Bugsworth Basin to water up, change Eklsan and remove rubbish.
A glorious afternoon, Shiva in and out of eh cut, Simba shading himself and the cats enjoying hte sun.Then round to Whaley Bridge Basin,.

Next month is the anniversary of us moving aboard NBGracie and we always felt the settee was too big, so today, I moved it to vacuum behind and then decided to try and take it apart. Three hours later, all complete - another  foot or more of floor space and the ability to have a conversation circle. 
Next job is to get a single pine bed (or similar) and have boxes underneath for storage as well as resealing the floor, which took a battering t in the winter with all the rain.

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!

Bollington Festival - working boats

We have had a lovely couple of days cruising down the Peak Forest Canal and onto the Macclesfield Canal. We moored just outside the village of Bollington and Fiona experienced the Bollington Pudding! (try it at the Plaice Restaurant on the main road to Pot Shrigley, past Clarence Mill).
Bollington has a festival for a fortnight,  this weekend was the Working Boat display and Nb Alton, Maria, Badger, Swallow, Joel were all there. Our followers will know Nb Alton is our coalboat and it was nice to see the working tradition still going.
It was also our goodbye to Fiona, who has gone to stay near her Dad's family til she goes back to NZ on Tuesday. We didn't get a photo, so a job for Tuesday (hopefully, Stella will have shifted the summer cold she developed overnight!) as Stella has to go back to hospital for them to check her wrist over.
We have enjoyed having Fiona with us and hope it is not another nine years until we see her again.

Day off in the sun

Fiona and I took ourselves off to meet her other sister, Zoe, today. A lovely day catching up on family news and a very nice lunch at The King's Ransom in Sale. Then we went into Manchester and walked to the Northern Quarter, sat and watched the world go by!
Yesterday, we travelled down from Bugsworth Basin to another favourite location at New Mills and went into Stockport to the market and to visit Chris's nephew and the fairy Garden!
Tonight, we had a salad and a serious chocolate cake for dessert!

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 Journey Continues

Today we thought we would travel to Portland Basin and then onto Marple tomorrow; however,  Portland Basin is awful, no moorings, canal bank perished and so we stopped long enough to nip to the big ASDA and get dog and cat food and then out of there.

Did some washing whilst engine was on, a beautifully sunny warm day - the warmest so far,  due to a lack of wind - even Jo, our elderly black cat sat and enjoyed the scenery and we finally moored up just through Hyde Bank Tunnel.

Manchester is a funny place to cruise through - children's toys dumped in the canal,  although it was nice to hear parents telling children off for dropping the bread bag and at the first bridge being helped through by local lads who operated it for me,  much to their delight. Maybe that's the answer is to show these people what canal life is like; maybe, if enough had an appreciation of it, they would be more thoughtful.

The Ashton 18

We set off today, after taking a collection of rope, carrier bags & a pair of trousers out of the weed hatch. An old friend came to see us with her little 15 month old daughter. We waited for Fiona to come back after having a silver fern tattoo on her wrist.

After a further cup of tea, we set off up the Ashton Flight. This canal skirts the Manchester City Stadium, Sport City and the Velodrome and takes you through some of the more colourful areas of Manchester. Their idea of recycling seems to be to dump everything in the cut, so we had to reopen the weed hatch and remove a sweatshirt caught on the prop.

We finally finished the flight at 8.15, 5 hours of slog, but at least we didn't hit anything big, or find anything nasty in the weed hatch. We are currently moored in Audenshawe and will head off to Ashton-Under-Lyne in the morning.

Day off from locking tomorrow,  there are only so many aches and pains, you can take!

The Rochdale Nine

Well the Rochdale Nine,  we did these last year and it took us hours; this year,  we came equipped with a crew! We needed to empty the Elsan, so took the opportunity to reverse round, empty the Elsan and take on water in Castlefield and then onto the Nine! The first three locks were Ok, tough and very hard work. Then Lock 88, we couldn't close the header gate - call Canal & River Trust and they fished out a metal fence, which we thought was quite awesome!

Then three of our crew had to leave us and so Fiona, Stella and Chris finished the last four locks on our own (with assistance from some passers-by opening lock gates).
There was one funny incident involving a goose and three goslings, who had got seperated because Mum & goslings were on towpath and Dad was in the canal, so shooed them back to the canal,  but not before she threw her wings out to protect the goslings from the dogs, who wanted to say hello!

We finally finished after 5 hours, moored on the Ashton Canal, ready for another 18 locks tomorrow! We will check the weed hatch again in the morning,  as NBGracie was very sluggish coming out of the last lock.
So, not quite, crying and cursing, but another good day. Sunshine, reasonably warm and NOT raining!

Castlefield Basin

Today was spent sorting out and heading for Manchester. We had planned a stay overnight in Manchester and on a gloriously sunny day, we left Altrincham and the dogs' friends and Stella steered NBGracie to Castlefield. I didn't remember that we went so close to Old Trafford Football Ground, passing right next to the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. We picked Fiona up on the way past and headed into Manchester City Centre.
When we were here in August last year, it was very busy, but today there were plenty of moorings; although we went straight past the Elsan Point without realising it and so will have to reverse up in the morning.