Day 30 D woke J at 0615 saying look out the window the badgers are there again. All very well but J was sound asleep and is short sighted and had to find her glasses. Found an elderly single hander at Autherley junction who was bow hauling his boat. J helped him through stop lock and to get going north on Staffs and Worcs. Made our way through the narrow section without too much trouble;

later encountering two sets of canoes (or speed bumps as they are sometimes known). Plenty of traffic going the other way and really busy at Gailey but we managed to get onto the water point; it takes along time to fill our water tank and we managed to have lunch whilst it was filling.

We stopped at Penkridge, a very different mooring from the previous night. We are really beginning to see the seasons change, the wild water lilies are beginning to come out, the smell of rape and May is continually in your nose, the swallows are flying around, dipping into the water and catching some of the hundreds of insects which are so numerous you even see birds like robins hovering and catching them. The insects are also the mainstay of the ducklings who are continually bobbing up to catch them. Both of us have seen a number of kingfishers which is always a thrill.

Day 31 started with some maintenance until it was time to go to the weekly market in Penkridge where we managed to get so good fruit and veg (always difficult) and a dressed crab so we have crab cakes tonight with cauli and asparagus. Once we got going we made good progress, a brief stop at a chandler lost us a lock but the traffic was enough that we didn’t have to work the lock alone. The M6 gets really close to the canal just north of Penkridge; whenever we get close to major roads I always have the urge to wave at the drivers as they rush past, although the other day someone beeped and waved to me as we went over an aqueduct. Went aground again today when a boat came the other way on a bend as we were both passing a load of moored boats, if anything the lean was more extreme than the other day; almost got stranded as a pound got a bit low too. Moored at Tixall wide and went for a short walk as a boat owned by one of my team at work is moored nearby.

Additional: J forgot to say we had a delay at Tixall lock as the dog belonging to a boat coming the other way fell into the cut from the top lock gate when the lock was being filled. J managed to quickly shut her paddle down but it was all OK as the dog managed to swim away from the lock but continued to swim around for about five minutes before his owners managed to pull him out. Funny in retrospect but heart in mouth at the moment it fell in.