April 30th

Normal 0 false false false st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Well here we are, the last day of April already!   I can hardly believe it is really the 1st May tomorrow!   We were very rudely awakened at 6.10 this morning by ducks!  I jolted awake to the sound of loud quacking and webbed feet slapping up and down on the roof!  That�s it, no more bread for the ducks � ungrateful lot!  We managed to nod off again but then slept in and didn�t wake up till nearly 10.00!!!  However once we were up we wished we had stayed in bed, it was raining cats and dogs!    The rain was actually just intermittent showers and we did have spells of sunshine in between so once we had had breakfast and I had finished adding all the photographs we had taken in Bath to the photo gallery we got ready to set off.  However just before we left a very clumsy heron appeared to crash land on the towpath next to the boat!  When Clive went to look it was standing in the shallow water next to the bank right in front of the boat and it let Clive get close enough to take this really great photograph. We actually wondered if it was the same one that we had seen yesterday � they are not usually so brave as to let people, or boats, get close to them.   As soon as we were ready I set off up the towpath with my windlass to set the lock.  It didn�t take long as there was a boat coming down, which saved me a lot of work and time.  Once through the lock we pulled in to fill up with water and have a pump-out.  That done we were off on our return journey up the K and A.   All in all it was an uneventful if wet cruise.  Sometimes it just drizzled and at other times it absolutely poured � we were both wearing our waterproofs but I even had the umbrella out for a while just to give us a bit of added protection.   At this point Clive looked at me and said �can we go home now� � bless!  Fortunately he was only kidding, but it can be a bit miserable cruising in the rain!   We had decided to moor up at the bottom of the Semington Lock Flight and just as we were approaching the visitor moorings there we had to slow down to pass some residential moorers and Clive suddenly spotted something in the water and I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped off a few pics.  It was our very first Water Vole!  In Wind in the Willows the character of Ratty was based on this charming little creature but it is not really a rat.   The interesting thing is that over the 8 months we have been cruising we have kept hoping to catch a glimpse of one of these little animals and the only Vole we have seen so far was the Short Tailed Vole and that was on this very same stretch of water, just beyond the lock flight that is in front of us.  It is obviously good Vole country round here.  Anyway we are delighted to have finally seen one and even more thrilled to have photographs too!   After that excitement we pulled in to the visitor moorings and got tied up, by which time it had stopped raining.  With a bit of luck the weather will be kinder tomorrow � I hope so as we have locks to negotiate as soon as we set off � I can see the first one through the front window!