Bartimaeus

The lock direction is still down. But at a gentler place.

Often as we approach locks, when Shane asks if I want to work the lock or drive, I choose to lock – being nervous of the driving into the narrow lock and also usually he is already driving so I just pick up a windlass, rather than swap over. Later when I am puggled or he is wanting a change, we swap roles. But today I chose to drive and when Shane came back from the first lock seeking the longer handled windlass, for more leverage, I knew I had made the right choice.

Yesterday, at my last lock before lunch, I got a surprise spurt of water, from below ( no giveaway wet patch, as a warning, since we were first through the flight). It caught me particularly by surprised as it mainly squirted on my face and in my mouth. 

Today I was drenched from above, literally soaked to the skin with a complete change of clothes required and everything wrung out! That raincoat isn’t living up to its name!

We managed to find a recycling and rubbish centre when the sun came out and I got the full bins emptied while Shane filled the water tank and then shortly after ‘battened down the hatches’ as the thunder started, but luckily we were at an RSPB reserve and have had a dry evening stroll there.  

The rain allowed us to catch up with a few activities we had not had time for. Every cloud…