Bartimaeus

We'd moored outside the pub at Cross Green in order to meet Catherine who was on a multi-day journey to Edinburgh. I went ahead on the folding bike in the evening to see what the canal looked like ahead and to confirm that it would be possible to wind at Hatherton Junction.

The towpath was not as comfortable to cycle on as it had been further south.  As I approached the junction I remembered seeing a girl fall off her bike in to the canal here.  I walked the bike through some of the trickier bits to avoid a repeat performance.  I found a different route back which was easier cycling, though there was a small section of road with a number of very badly behaved drivers desperate to squeeze past me to get to the red light first.

In the morning, Clare took the opportunity to stock up at the nearby supermarket.  She was annoyed with herself for not taking a postcard, so I walked back in to the village with it.  Clare had not found nice bread in the shop she'd been in.  Another shop was available in the village though - it had no nice bread either.

When Catherine arrived, we all headed in to the pub to confirm that it was OK to leave her car in the car park overnight.  It would have been rude not to take a little refreshment before we set off.  There was rain forecast for later, so the plan was to cruise as far as one of the nice mooring spots I'd found on my ride the previous day before it started.

Catherine took over the driving for much of the way, weaving a little at the start, but much less by the end.  She seemed to be enjoying herself, and we were all quite relaxed.

The rain started to spit at us as we were mooring up, so that part of the plan had worked.  We had dinner and chatted in a peaceful spot with an open outlook.  Catherine needed an early night, which was no problem for us.

This morning, breakfast options included hot cross buns and crumpets.  When I put a bun in to the toaster, disaster struck.  It bounced straight back up again, and now the kettle wasn't working either!  I know where the circuit breaker lives in the electric cupboard, so I reset it and tried again - pop!  I made an attempt to clear crumbs from the toaster before repeating, but no joy.

Clare and I settled on a cold cross bun each, but at least we had hot coffee.  Catherine opted for cereal.

The morning was dry with occasional sunshine as we continued the cruise to Hatherton Junction where there is plenty of space to wind.  We cruised back to the pub to allow Catherine to continue her car journey.  She'd asked to be brought back by midday - we were three minutes early, unusually precise for canal boat movements.

After fond farewells, Clare and I were ready for our lunch.  The plan had been bagels in the toaster - oh dear.  Clare turned the grill on and then thought better of it for some reason.  When we decided we did want to use the grill after all, it was sulking and showing error F24 - the unresolved problem discovered a few weeks ago.  Fortunately turning it off and on at the socket managed to get it running again, so lunch was saved.

After lunch Clare had a more thorough go at cleaning out crumbs from the unplugged toaster with a wooden fork.  She extracted a crisped raisin from a strategic location before plugging it back in.  Success - we have a working toaster again.

We decided to return to the previous night's mooring spot but first we needed to wind again.  Clare found herself at the tiller as we set off and started to doubt her ability.  Before the winding hole was a low bridge which many boaters have misjudged in the past.

Clare got through with no difficulty and executed a perfect turn when we reached the winding hole.  She didn't remodel the bridge in the other direction either.  She is a much more capable driver than she believes - and can fix toasters too!