Bartimaeus

There's a saying that I bring cold whenever I visit Bartimaeus, so it was only fitting that in the week before arriving, not only did the weather take a turn for the chilly, but I caught a cold as well. I was worried that it might spoil my trip, but fortunately I was on the tail end of the cold as I arrived, though my voice was still quite hoarse. I arrived Saturday evening, the sun was already down so too late for boating. I spent some time catching Clare and Shane up on the latest news from my life; the future is a little scary and uncertain, as my workplace may be closing down, the boating trip was a welcome break from worrying about that. I also got filled in on the changes to the boat since my last visit, including the switch to a fully electric motor and a cocooned generator, and a panic button - which it turns out flashes a graphic Shane commissioned me to make a while back.

Shane let me know that I should get up fairly early the next morning to be in time to get through Harecastle Tunnel, which currently is only open in the mornings. We duly set off on Sunday morning. The clocks changing meant it didn't feel as much like an early start. There were a few locks we had to operate before reaching Harecastle, including a staircase lock, so Clare and I worked them together.

We arrived with plenty of time at Harecastle Tunnel, currently renamed to Scarecastle Tunnel for Halloween and boasting a spooky seasonal display. A boat was already coming through it from the far side so we had a while to wait. Clare and I went to look around the display. A lot of effort had gone into spooky decorations, accompanied by plaques with local legends or historic murders on the canal.

The tunnel was long, with the light at the end being just a pinprick as we entered, and the door was closed behind us which made it all the darker. On the far side, we trundled on a little further before stopping for the night. Bartimaeus moves slower than I'm used to on the electric motor.

On Monday, it was raining heavily in the morning, but Shane had looked at the forecast and expected it to clear up in the afternoon, so we stayed indoors through the morning. Clare and I made banana bread, while Shane made bread which meant warm rolls for lunch. After lunch, the sun came out so we began heading down Heartbreak Hill, with plenty more locks to do - as always Clare and Shane had picked out a spot with plenty because they know I enjoy working them. 

To round out the day, I took up the role of sorting dinner in the form of pancakes. I cooked the first three and then took turns with Shane, swapping between eating and cooking. I took the opportunity to show off by flipping the pancakes even though the pan wasn't ideal for the job. Flipping a pancake can be a daunting task, I've learned that you have to not let your fear of messing up the flip hold you back, a pancake flips best when flipped with confidence!

There was some worrying news of a tree fallen over the canal ahead. So the three of us went out in the dark to see if we can spot it. Nothing to fear it turns out, as the tree was  small and we could easily steer past it.

Tuesday was a day of heavy locking as we headed down Heartbreak Hill. I worked all the locks, with Clare driving and Shane locking, making a change from Monday. We navigated past the obstructing tree, and a flock of ducks.

At the end of the day we celebrated making it past the many locks of Heartbreak Hill by revisiting Barchetta, an Italian restaurant we'd gone to just under a year ago.