Bartimaeus

At the model train exhibition there were very many men playing with / demonstrating the layouts. There was wiring and complex signals and a great deal of patience involved. There were stalls selling electrical items for the electrical layouts and accessories such as like soldering iron holders but also miniature train manufacturers.

One pair of young men had a 3D printer making flat pack items for building wagons. They had a life size drinks can and they were using it to demonstrate that they had a 3D kit for a truck that could hold a drink that refreshments at a barbecue could be delivered by arriving on the trucks going round on a track. The mix between the adult and child world was well and truly blurred. 

One young boy was running a Thomas themed train track on his own when we passed. It didn't have the small scale elaborate back ground of others but did have some model houses as a mini village to scale with his larger model trains and he had a collection of fluffy dinosaurs too. Although we saw him on his own running the track his family weren't far away.

While most visitors and exhibitors were men and boys, a steam train driver had a rest away from the cab, while a woman was getting a photo taken in there with three cuddly toys called "the travelling teddies". The driver said this was an unusual request.

Some schoolboys were volunteers on the real steam trains and could do ticket checks and bringing steps to the doors where the step between train and platform was particularly large. It was certainly a day aimed at expecting families along, and a good number of retired people. The noises of the train on the tracks reminded me of a rhyme my mum used to tell me about the rhythm of trains.

The next morning, having had a couple of static boat days with tourism outings, we had to get on with the grown up business of getting some miles done. We had a hot forecast so a slightly early start so we could relax in the hottest time at the end of the afternoon. After a bit of driving, I swapped to go and put some sunscreen on my shoulder that was getting a roasting. We arrived at a cafe at lunch time so despite Shane having baked bread and rolls, we seized the opportunity and had lunch there with ice creams from the ice cream boat that is also moored there.

In the afternoon we saw something in the sky, and we're trying to see if it was a pargilder or balloon. It was an odd shape but as we got closer it was more obviously a balloon bobbing along towards us, a partially deflated helium one that was sinking down too. It was Peppa Pig and she soon landed in a field.

I wondered if some child would be missing their beloved balloon, but also was concerned that these balloons are very bad for wildlife. They look amazing but are bad for the environment and using up helium used in hospitals. One is something of a killjoy to complain about children's balloons so it is not often protested against, but poor Peppa is now just litter.

One summer we were on holiday on a canal boat, when a limp foil balloon was found by our crew, floating in a lock. It still had a bit of lift, when dry. It got a brief re-use as it was my birthday during that holiday and I was presented with it (I believe it actually said happy birthday on it) and it was part of the celebration, cake cutting photos before being disposed of safely.

As we passed the Ashby Boat Company, which is a hire company we have used in the past, I remembered an unusual gimmick that they had there. There is lots of fun to be had on a hire boat holiday, but the pump out isn't usually the high point. The Ashby boat company seemed to be trying to make it seem fun, with a three wheeled portable pump out wagon that has a decorated to look like it has a face reminiscent of the 'Thomas and friends' train engines.

Shane has been adding a bit of amusement for himself. We have been in an area with a lot of hump backed bridges and a lot of car drivers toot their horns as they approach. If the timing suits, as we approach, if a car blows its horn, Shane replies with a quick blast of ours. Boats seldom toot approaching bridges, but often have to take evasive action or wait for each other at bridges.

We passed another Ortomarine boat yesterday. We had passed one, Eau de Folles, on the day we had reached the end and started back. They reached the end themselves the same day but had got badly weeded and needed to go 'down the hatch' twice. They are short enough to turn around at the end. Perhaps the winding hole is the weediest bit. This time we spotted Mordiford dragon moored up. They had stopped travelling for the day and were relaxing on the back deck  and tow path with drinks.

We had the deck chairs out at the end of the afternoon ourselves, to get a seat in the shade while the solar panels soaked up the sun. I brought out our mini table so we had Pimm's on the tow path with snacks. Shane demonstrated that he could still throw a peanut in the air and catch it it in his mouth. (I didn't even try.) The man in the boat moored beside us got out his barbecue and got it going.

This morning the forecast was for a hotter day. We had a similar plan in mind. I had a mission to find a post box but had quite a fiddle to find how to re configure the map to show them. It used to but doesn't seem to be keeping my settings. Anyway mission was accomplished and at a good spot to stop for lunch. We met a lot of boats in the afternoon, and the shallow sides made for a bit of fun and games with grounding as they passed and I thought I might need to get the barge pole out. A couple of times they appeared by surprise but not enough of a surprise to be a problem. Some bridges looked problematic though. It reminded me of the rhyme London Bridge is falling down and was glad to be on the other side.

We rounded a corner to a boat yard beside some permanent moorings. It was hard to see where one stopped and the other started. A couple called out to ask us how to pronounce Bartimaeus and where the name came from. The next couple of moorings had models and unusual decor. The last one was full of characters from children's films like Shrek and Snow White.

We were mooring up along here where Shane remembered there being a sports day with up beat music and amplified announcements. We reckoned it might be quieter in the school holidays.

We got the chairs out and sat in the shade of an oak tree. To my surprise there were lots of acorns dropping to the ground or plopping in the water. None fell on our heads like Chicken Licken though. 

I heard a bigger splash and looked up from my book to see a muntjac deer swimming in the water on the other side of the canal. I wondered if it had fallen in. We went to follow it and get a closer look. It seemed like our approach made it nervous and it tried to scramble out, unsuccessfully, at the metal edging, so we backed off and let it swim away, hoping there would be somewhere easier for it later on. 

Shortly after the couple who had asked us about the boat name approached asking if we'd seen a muntjac go by. They had seen it in the water too and had come with a rope. We concluded it had probably found a safe place to get out.

It was warm all afternoon, but not as sunny as expected. We sat on the back deck to have dinner and just as I served we were surprised by feeling raindrops. The sky really was falling on Chicken Licken (or Pasta Lasta) but only a little so we stuck with the al fresco dining all the same.