Bartimaeus

The weather continues hot but the days start more gently and the evenings are cooling. My insect bites are all faded away. However we have both been thinking ahead to next month's trip and anticipating meeting hot weather. We have some time in coastal France and Spain and, unusually for us, beach attire may be required.

We have both taken advantage of being in a good sized town to top up our shorts wardrobe and I have decided I need a new swimsuit as after a couple of decades, the elastic and my shape are both sagging somewhat. A nearby (less than a minute's walk) supermarket has allowed me to buy a few, to try them on in the comfort of my own boat. Unfortunately all the ones "with tummy control" were unavailable in my size and I only had ones "with crinkle effect" - I might look less wrinkly by comparison. I can return the suits that didn't suit in a trice. I now have a varied mix and match wardrobe and Shane has acquired, this morning, 4 new identical pairs of red shorts, that fit - ordered on line, and collected at another supermarket and a T-shirt from Bridgnorth Steam train station.

I sometimes knit a hat to go with a baby cardigan, but the heat made me think a newborn size toorie wouldn't get much use for July babies but since I had a lot of the cotton left, I had a go at a sunhat pattern, modifying with additional patterning over and above the guide to shape and size.

A baby hat doesn't take long and with a post office close at hand, I have been able to finish, wash, dry in the sunshine, wrap and post the cardigan and sun hat while in Kidderminster. I am not sure there will be much call for it in Scotland mind you!

Kidderminster isn't famous for cotton mills, but wool, and not clothing or knitting, but carpet making. Last time we were here the carpet museum was shut, but this time it was open, on Tuesdays and Saturdays only. So with swimsuit and shorts shopping done, we set off to see it.

We were surprised to see it was free to enter, but donations gratefully received. It was run by enthusiastic volunteers, who enjoyed showing us exhibits and telling stories.

The woman who met us took us to see an early loom and feel bits of thick woven carpet. She told us about the early carpet weavers, before purpose built factories, who had looms at the top of their houses with skylights to let enough light in.

She heard that another volunteer was about to start up his factory loom and encouraged to go and see, saying we were in for a treat. This volunteer is in his eighties and worked in carpet factories for 50 years, in his later years he owned one himself. He set the noisy machine going. It had hundreds of coloured reels and it took two women a fortnight to set up the reels for a new design with as complex a design as this.

The strips of carpet were perfect for hallways and stairs but were then stitched together to make large carpets for wall to wall areas, rather than rugs. A Mosque had been a particular challenge.

A different loom had only five colours but was still impressive and had a was set up with a bold abstract Turkish carpet design and jacquard cards. Another volunteer approached to tell us more of more modern carpet designs using digital phographs to set the pattern. Then we went round the rest of the museum ourselves.

Having seen the history of carpets including early loop and knot techniques from Persia and Turkey, we proceeded to have lunch in a Turkish cafe. Having ordered our falafel wraps and mezes, the coffees arrived with Turkish delight.

In the afternoon I was planning another sunny shopping browse, while Shane finalised Spanish train ticket purchases. I hadn't gone far along the towpath when I saw a boy looking forlornly at the canal in the direction of a football that was floating on the far side. He had a faint hope it might float back but this looked very unlikely now it had reached a wall with overhanging brambles. What wind direction would bring it back? I suggested we could reach it with a boat and went back to get Shane involved.

We cast off and Shane went to start driving and called to me to fetch the boat hook then I realised I couldn't get to his end easily as the front doors were locked while we were out. As he moved towards the ball I inched along the gunwale, a move made harder by the side hatch doors being open and me wearing my shoulder bag, having been en route to the shops. By the time I got to the back, Shane had the boathook ready. The boat approaching moved the water and freed the football from the bramble's clutches and it was swept past us so he reversed and then managed to reach it with the boathook.

The boys wanted us to throw the ball to them but, not being experts at a throw in, Shane moved Bartimaeus sideways till he felt at a more reliable throwing distance. One of the boys caught it easily and they waved, gave thanks and set off back into town. I don't know the final placings yet for the Football World Cup. All will be revealed tonight and tomorrow, but that football is going home.

We were now in quite shallow water and Shane felt an obstacle touching the bottom of the boat so it took some careful manoeuvres to get free and go back to our mooring spot. It's the first use of the newly painted boathook and I wiped the muddy water off, as Caroline had instructed, before Shane clipped it back into place above the windows.

I set off again on my sunny shopping trip. I didn't see sandals I wanted but I got a couple of summer dresses. On my way back, I saw a horse an open carriage, chilling in the shade. The horse looked like it had shades and a sunhat too, stylish.