July 9th

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;} Monday July 6th � Cambridge.   I had set the alarm for 08.10am so that I would be awake in time to phone our doctor�s surgery to try and get an appointment each.  I finally got through and managed to arrange appointments for both of us, one at 9.55 and the other at 10.05.  Great � but how to get there?!  I checked on the internet and there wasn�t a bus to get us there in time as they only run every hour so we ended up booking a taxi.  We both needed to see the doc because of aches and pains!  As I have probably mentioned before I have developed a painful left shoulder and right elbow over the last few months and Clive has a very painful left wrist.  The doctor confirmed that I have �frozen� shoulder and Golfer�s elbow!  Clive was diagnosed with tendonitis.  The only thing she could recommend for my elbow and Clive�s wrist was rest and analgesia � oh yeah that�s going to happen!  She suggested Clive wear a wrist brace at night too.  With regard to my shoulder she recommended that I have an injection into my shoulder � gulp!  She arranged an appointment for me to go back to the surgery on Thursday morning to see one of her colleagues who would administer said injection.  Oh dear � I really am not a needle person at all!  She did give me the option to cancel the appointment if I couldn�t make it or had a change of heart.   Whilst we were in the waiting room at the surgery one of our old neighbours came in.  We had a good chat and he offered to give us a lift back to Caldecote after his appointment so that we could visit our son, Gareth.  John dropped us off outside his house which meant that we had to walk past our house on the way to Gareth�s � it�s a bit odd seeing it and knowing that someone else is living there, however I didn�t feel upset or homesick for it at all, in fact I felt quite indifferent really � isn�t that strange!  I think it is simply because I am so content on board Lady Arwen, which is now my home, that our house is simply that � a house!  It was nice to see how well established the conifer trees are now � they hadn�t been planted long when we left the house.   We arrived at Gareth�s and he made us a cup of coffee and we sat and had a chat, then two of his friends turned up as well!  We stayed about an hour then walked up to the bus stop on the main road and it wasn�t long before the bus came and we were back in Cambridge.  We decided to do a bit of shopping whilst we had the opportunity.  I also went into the Vodafone shop because I was due for an upgrade on my mobile phone - I now have a bright shiney new one - which of course I am having to get used to as it is quite different to my old one!   Later, after dinner, I was just washing the dishes when I saw a pair of legs and a long skirt appear and stop right by the kitchen window � I bent down and peered through the window and realised that the legs belonged to one of our folkie friends from The Red Lion � Moyra!  We went up on deck to say hello then invited her and her friend Sheena and Sheena�s little dog Suzie on board.  Suzie made herself very much at home and needless to say Clive made a great fuss of her � it was nice having a little doggy on board (I still can�t persuade him to get a ship�s dog though!).  It was good to see Moyra, unfortunately she hadn�t made it to the folk club on the Friday night so we were glad she had the chance to visit us on board Lady Arwen.   Tuesday July 7th � Cambridge   Now by rights we should have left our mooring at Jesus Lock on Sunday afternoon as it was only a 48 hour mooring!  However we were hanging on because of my return visit to the surgery on Thursday � the plan being that if anybody came to ask us why we hadn�t left we would just tell them that we had a medical problem and needed to stay � nobody did!  We had some more visitors later that day, Marian and Emma, my colleagues from Addenbrooke�s, came to see us after work.  (The same Emma who had been to visit on Saturday morning).  We had a lovely time chatting over a glass of wine.  It was so nice to see them.  At least now when they read the blog they will be able to visualise our surroundings a little better now they have been on board.    Our daughter Vicki soon arrived too - she was staying for dinner � we had decided to have a takeaway, knowing that there was a very good Indian takeaway very close to where we were moored.  So we had a lovely day all told.   All through the day I had been giving very serious thought to the dreaded injection!  I had been reading up about �frozen� shoulder on the internet and all the sites I looked at said the same thing, that an injection might help but that the symptoms would probably return after about six weeks or so!  Oh dear, that doesn�t sound good does it!  I also had a chat with my father-in-law about the possibility of borrowing his Micro-Doctor, a small machine that looks a bit like a TENS machine but works quite differently.  It is supposed to increase cell regeneration and hence heal inflammation quite quickly.  I have researched it on the internet and it has some very good write-ups.  It has been used quite extensively by sportsmen for example for various indications with very good results, it has even been used on a racehorse!  Well � it can�t hurt to try it.  So Pop is going to bring it with him when we go on holiday and I can use it whilst we are away and see if it helps.  Therefore I decided to cancel the appointment at the doctor�s with a view to rebooking it on our return from holiday if there has been no improvement after using the Micro-Doctor � I will report back!   Wednesday July 8th � Cambridge to Fen Ditton   The first thing I did when I woke up was to phone the surgery and cancel the appointment.  Then after breakfast we started readying ourselves to leave Cambridge.  We had decided to move across to the opposite bank first and use the pump-out facilities and fill up with water � well that took a while because there seemed to be a string of boats needing to do the same, one after the other!  Finally it was our turn and Clive did a nifty bit of manoeuvring, not only putting is on the opposite bank but also turning the boat around so that all the access ports were on the bank-side.  Finally when we were finished he turned the boat around again and we headed off back up the Cam.    We didn�t go very far � just to The Plough at Fen Ditton where there are moorings available, providing you make use of the pub � so we moored up then went in for a drink.  We actually brought our drinks back outside and sat on a picnic table next to the boat enjoying the sunshine.   On our way to The Plough we had passed Rosie, a trip boat which moors at Fen Ditton.  I had called out to them as they were passing us to confirm that we could actually moor at The Plough � they said yes.  A short while after we had moored up at The Plough Rosie returned to her mooring and all the passengers got off.  A couple sauntered over to us and commented on the fact that we had managed to moor after all � they had heard me asking the driver about mooring.  They turned out to be from �up North�!  We had a chat and they were asking all sorts of questions about life on a narrowboat � we ended up taking them on board for a quick guided tour!  It had to be quick though, they had to be back on board their coach at 5.00pm and it was 4.55 when they came on board!   The gentleman was delighted, he had never, ever been on a narrowboat before.   When we got back on board I had put the laptop on intending to start this blog but ended up chatting to our friend Kate on Skype and as she only lives about five minutes away from The Plough she decided to pop up and pay us a visit when she got back from work.   It was great to see Kate again � the last time we had seen her was when we were moored on the Thames in Oxford and we all went to the folk festival there.  We also met up with Kate�s mum and dad, Robin and Julia, on board their boat Locksley at that time.  All being well we shall see them again soon too as they are coming to see Kate at the end of July whilst we are all at Burwell for our annual music summer school � The Burwell Bash!  http://www.burwellbash.info   Thursday July 9th � Fen Ditton to Earith   We woke up early this morning and once awake one might as well get up really!  However I did stay in bed to drink my cup of tea first!  We had breakfast and pottered about a bit and then we finally set off about 9.20am.    It was a bit of a funny day weather-wise, couldn�t seem to make its mind up what to do.   I put a tee shirt and shorts on but Clive was all muffled up in his fleece!  (I did end up changing into trousers and a fleece later on as it got even cooler!)  We soon arrived at Baits Bite Lock (is this where the maggots fought back I wonder!) and there was a cruiser already moored there, however there didn�t seem to be any activity at the lock so I went ahead to set the lock.  The two ladies on the cruiser were having a cup of coffee but said they would join us in the lock.  It was a very slow lock, it seemed to take ages to fill but eventually it was ready and I raised the gate.  Clive brought Lady Arwen in and then the ladies on the cruiser came in behind him.  The lock was just as slow to empty as it was to fill but finally I managed to get the front doors open and we were off.   We cruised on uneventfully to the next lock, Bottisham Lock.  The only excitement we had was when a Tornado screamed overhead at an extremely low altitude � wow it was loud!  Once through Bottisham Lock we let the ladies on the cruiser go ahead � they can go faster than us!  We soon arrived at Pope�s Corner where we turned left, leaving the River Cam behind us, back onto the Great Ouse but this time heading towards Bedford.  We had intended mooring at The Lazy Otter at Streatham, which was a short distance beyond the junction, but unfortunately when we got there the moorings were totally unsuitable for a boat of Lady Arwen�s size � in fact there was a sign saying no boats over 35� could moor there � we are 57�!  The next possible moorings, according to our map book, were at Twenty Pence, however when we got there once again there was no room at the inn!  Oh dear!  So we just had to carry on and finally we arrived at the Hermitage Lock, Earith.  This lock took us through onto the tidal stretch of the River Great Ouse and is operated by a lock-keeper so I didn�t need to do anything at all!    Once through the lock we scoured the river banks looking for moorings.  We passed The Crown pub on the right bank and spotted their moorings � which had just enough room for our boat, however we knew that there were some Environment Agency moorings a little further up the river so we went to check them out.  We finally found them and they were full!  So Clive turned the boat around and we headed back to The Crown, turned the boat around again and moored up on their pontoon.  Then we popped in for a drink � there was a good reason for this - these moorings are for patrons only and therefore we had to patronise the pub in order to be able to use their moorings.  Well it was no real hardship!!!  The landlord asked Clive if there was any room left on the pontoon � er no!  Ah � would we mind if anybody moored alongside us?  Not at all, we said.  He asked if we had a sign indicating that other boaters were welcome to moor alongside � no we haven�t!  However Clive said we would stick something in the window to let other boaters know.  So I put my artistic skills to the test and drew a stylised capstan with a rope around it on a bit of paper and blue-tacked it to the window!  To be honest I don�t think there will be any other boats passing by at this time of the day but you never know!   You might have noticed that I have put our location at the start of each day�s blog.  I have had comments from more than one person who reads the blog regularly saying that they would like me to put our location right at the beginning of the blog instead of having to read right through to the end to see where we are.  I am always happy to oblige - is this better Marian? I have to confess � I haven�t taken any photographs since Sunday!  Well, it�s a bit weird doing the tourist thing in your own hometown!  There wasn�t really anything to photograph that wasn�t just normal, run of the mill, to us!  I had intended taking photos of all the visitors who came to the boat but I forgot!  Sorry!  Will try harder!