Bartimaeus

We finished the spiced plum chutney while Heather was with us but I had another home made jar ready for this time of year. Autumn being well and truly here I had felt able to start the pumpkin chutney, with its matching cloth cover, at our last lunch with Heather. It was a good buy, tasty and with an assortment of spices.

We had a walk in the afternoon with a trial run to the Droitwich station, so she knew when to leave the boat to be there in time. She made herself 2 sandwiches in the morning to take with her - she never travels without provisions - and we walked her to the station to get her train.

Our Canadian companions are no doubt pretty used to cold weather and happy to choose 'Fall', as Reg said,  as a time to cruise. They had also said how much they loved trains. They enjoyed using them while in Britain, as a novelty, there being none near them in Newfoundland. They liked that there was a a regular rattle on the tracks and a distinctive horn blast as the trains approached the piece of track in Droitwich where no bridge or automatic gates or warning lights were placed, at the pedestrian track crossing.

Shane and I went for a walk up to St Augustine's as Shane hadn't visited there. We found a third approach path up, but descended the same way Heather and I had, crossing the railway. A small boy hurried towards it, keen to see a train, his mum calling to him to stop before the gate. I was anxious he wouldn't but it was probably a regular trip for them.

At the bridge over the small stream we stopped to look out for a kingfisher, where I had seen one before. We had no luck there but had a long chat with a Spanish woman, Estephania, who loved boats and the birds, was feeding oatfkes to the ducks and swans. She had two bags for them. It looked like she might be getting cold hands as the oats gave her floury fingers and she wasn't going to put them in her pockets or use gloves. I was getting chilly myself leaning against the metal bridge rail.

We set off the next day, with me driving. I didn't fancy doing the swing bridges without Heather's help. I anticipated it would be a bit hard to pull the bridge hard towards me and undo the padlock at the same time. Shane seemed to manage fine and probably enjoyed the challenge. The gates on the flood lock didn't want to stay open and both closed themselves on the boat when Shane went to swing the bridge back and so no one was holding either gate. I was already going through but didn't like it rubbing against the sides of the boat. The M5 bridge was quieter without Heather squealing. It didn't even seem all that low, so perhaps the water level had dropped very slightly. Shane got to do the staircase lock too. It seemed I was doing all the driving today, for a change.

Going through the set of locks with the side ponds, I seized the chance while in the lock, to capture something Heather and I had noticed when we were locking but we had had to hurry to get on and I hadn't my camera. There was an unusual bench and behind it a huge stash of branches. Was this a firewood store? There is a little hut for the volunteers, but I doubted it had a stove, and it is at the top of the flight while the woodpile is at the bottom lock.

Shane had the assistance of three volunteers. I had the unfamiliar experience of being called 'Skipper' as they checked I was ready for them to open the side ponds. Coming up these locks seem quite forceful and they were very good at communicating to me that I should be prepared for a surge backwards etc.

Despite the autumn weather Shane had stripped off a few layers working all the bridges and locks. He didn't have much to do at that flight though. I kept my hat and gloves on! I tried to stand centrally more often, rather than propping myself there like I usually do. Leaning on the cold steel, while driving can be chilling.

By the end of the day it was a bit brighter and I used up the last of the lemonade for our last Pimm's of the season, out on the back deck. I made it slightly stronger than usual and found there was a little less lemonade each, so perhaps it put a little fire in our bellies rather than cooling us. As there was not quite enough for two, never mind three, I remembered Heather saying on her last afternoon, while driving that she was feeling too cold for a Pimm's - just as well. We had shared beer in the evening.

Shane went a walk while I stayed in knitting my scarf. The colours are of Nova Scotia tartan. I am enjoying watching it come along. The pattern is called Noël which seems a while away, and I hope to be finished it by then, a present to myself. I can't  be sure it will be done in time, as the number of stitches per row steadily increases, so it takes longer and longer to complete a row as the pattern progresses.

On his walk, Shane found a place we could visit. He kept an eye on the forecast and chose Saturday for a walk.  We walked alongside and across fields which weren't always clearly signposted and had some doubts we were in the right place. But occasionally a stile made it obvious, or a gate. Shane likes a bridge and this was unusual style for a railway. It might be a footpath but they were expecting some to attempt to cross in a vehicle, probably a farm vehicle, as the sign on the metal farm gate gave stark warning. How heavy is a tractor I wondered?

I had a tasty large chai latte inside the cafe, so kept warm. It didn't seem a day for an outside seat but some were braving it.

In the afternoon we moved on. I began the locks, finding unusual company at one of a garden full of gnomes, and well arranged flowers on the far side of the canal. This was a fraction of the selection with identical hats but varied outfits. I liked that one had the texture detail of a knitted cardigan.

Later I drove, probably Shane wanted to warm up. I thought someone had left litter by a bench at one lock, but it was a wet paint warning, scrawled on a cardboard box. It may be dry but one might still not fancy sitting on the cold metal bars, even if it was dry.

The next day was set to rain heavily so we planned to stay still. We went out to the nearby pub for Sunday lunch. The dining area was fully booked but we weren't turned away. We could take our loaded plates through to the bar. The Sunday roast did not disappoint with four different roasts to choose from and as many of those as you wanted on your plate. A huge array of self served sauces and at  least seven vegetables to choose from plus three kinds of potato. We loaded up our plates. No wonder it is a popular at "The Boat and Railway”! 

 The pub was well decorated for Halloween, like many of the nearby houses. Ghosts hung outside on balconies. There was a witch at the door and an array of other Halloween favourite decorations. Like Christmas, the decorations seem to be earlier up than they used to be. 

 We had struck lucky avoiding the downpour for our brief outing. I was surprised to see a brave soul had cycled there. They might have a cold, wet return journey. Shane had got the tandem out in the morning, but not to ride - just under the pram cover, with only a little help from me, putting it together and flipping it over, before he set to work. 

I had my knitting to keep me busy and I started the Canadian novel, set in Canada, and including a smouldering Scottish love interest. I hadn't thought of Scots as having a hunky, sexy image, but perhaps I'm wrong and they are hot stuff to the Canadians.

Thinking of Vicky, I was reminded that at one lock we had done together, there was a gently smouldering bonfire in the garden of a lock cottage. I smelt something pleasant, before seeing any smoke. I thought it was unusually sweet smelling, and I called to Vicky, who could only just smell it on the other side. I don't know what was burning, just a few small branches, I wondered if it was a herb bush. 

We woke to a much brighter day, with some blue in the sky. We didn't have a lot of canal to cover, but the batteries needed charged - we had been so full last night after the roast dinner, that I hadn't even cooked an evening meal but today the oven was on for Shane's rolls to cook though.

I worked the lock and could see the rain had brought down more leaves. There was a golden layer on the water around, and in the lock. As it emptied they coated the walls too. 

Once through, I left the top gate open. We were at a boatyard for hire boats and at the end was a winding hole, where Shane was going to turn round. We had seen a few hire boats out at the weekend, but clearly the majority were back at their base, but there was just enough space to get past. 

 At the end he turned with ease. I went to see how wide the biggest boat line was. One was five boats across.

He still had the pram cover up, and it had fitted under a bridge despite my reservations. The wasn't a lot of spare space, but it cleared us.

We came on back further past last night's mooring and as I was standing at the front when we went under another bridge I stretched my hand up and touched the underside - seemed a tad close. Shane hastily hit reverse and we took the pram cover down to be sure it didn't scrape. It might have fitted, but he would rather not risk it.

We are moored up in a scenic spot by a red berried hawthorn hedge with a view over the fields. This evening the sky was slightly 'on fire', as Bryn was heard to say when he was 21 months.