Dec 1st

Normal 0 false false false /* 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;} We got a surprise when we woke up this morning ? the canal had frozen over!  Yep ? a film of ice on the surface about a quarter of an inch thick (sorry for all you metric people ? I don?t do metric!)  Anyway the good news was that the chandlery was open so we popped over there and had a browse around, didn?t find what we were looking for to mend the aerial but did get some soot-buster powder for the stove and also an Eco-fan!  I have been trying to persuade Clive to get one of these clever contraptions ever since we had the stove fitted, but they are quite expensive.  Anyway, we got one today and it works like a dream. It just sits on top of the stove and the heat from the stove activates a heat sensitive spring in the base which then activates a thermoelectric module which drives the fan.  The fan sucks in cool air from behind, heats it up and blows warm air out the front ? its brilliant!  Believe it or not it was spinning like mad when I took this photo! We went back to the boat and had a coffee and whilst Clive was worrying about how we would manage on an iced up canal another boat came the other way breaking the ice as it came!  Excellent ? so off we went.  It was quite an experience there were actual ice floes knocking against the boat and the banks and it was quite weird, especially the sound it made ? it was a sort of crackling noise.  Very odd!   We arrived at the Baswich Viaduct where one of the stoppages had been, it opened this morning so we were able to continue straight on.  It was very chilly, but quite pleasant cruising along looking at the countryside and the wildlife.  We saw pheasants, buzzards, lots of rooks and a couple of rabbits ? we really haven?t seen many rabbits on this trip at all, which is surprising.  Anyway by the time it got to 3.00pm we had both had enough and were getting quite chilled so we decided to look for a decent mooring.  We came over an aquaduct crossing a river and round a bend and found a brilliant mooring opposite a really stunning house with beautiful gardens right down to the canal.  Once we were moored up and inside we were able to watch the wildlife in the garden.  We saw a woodpecker and a jay, neither of whom would stay still long enough to get a photograph of, but there were more pheasants and they posed for me!   Well that is it I am afraid ? short and sweet but reallythere's nothing more to tell today.