We were moored here where you can see the geese for 3 nights leaving on Sunday, We had to step up over a foot to get off the boat.  Paul took this photo this afternoon.  So glad we moved into the marina.

This is Birstall Lock, to think we came through here on Thursday,
just less than a week ago.

Saw Dave and Joan again on Sunday when they took us shopping at Tesco and then took Paul to the bike school to pick up a bike.  A mild panic when Paul lost his documents, but fortunately, Dave found them next to where the car had been parked.  Huge sigh of relief as this was his licence and pass certificates that he has so far completed.  Phew, thank you Dave.

So after a day of training and a day out on the bike yesterday practising and getting used to the bike.  Test was due at 14.05 this afternoon.  Unfortunately there was so much rain this morning that his test was cancelled due to the amount of surface water around.  So at the moment we are not too sure what we are doing next.  One thing for sure we won’t be going very far as the river is now in flood.  The rain stopped about 3 so we went for a walk and the tow path that we were moored on for several days is now under water, by about a foot. That has meant that the river has risen about 2 and a half foot since we left there on Sunday.

Proof that we are on the Leicester line of the Grand Union

Life here is good, but the nieghbours are so nosy!

Well another week has gone quickly by.  We were quite settled at Yelvertoft and didn't manage to prise ourselves away until Thursday.  Whilst we were at Yelvertoft Paul had fitted a new tap to the kitchen sink as the original one was leaking.   Barry, a friend and neighbour, had taken Paul into Daventry to buy the new tap.  Well 2 days along the canal the new tap was leaking.  Worse than the old one!  So we made some calls, looked at the map then I set off on my bicycle into Market Harborough to change the tap!  About 5 miles away.  Also had to get a 3kg bag of grout and some shopping! Well I felt very proud of myself when I got back, even if I did push the bike the last bit which was steady up hill!  Thankfully the replacement tap was fine so we are now leak free!!Still heading northwards we stopped to visit the Wistow Rural Centre.  Lovely little place gift shops, garden centre, deli and cafe.  We had lunch there and before we left Gok Wan came in and ordered food!  So you could say we had lunch with the rich and famous!Our plan was to stop at South Wigston which is south of Leicester for Paul to continue with his motor bike training.  However when we looked on the internet the bike school was to the north of Leicester, almost 2 hours away by bus!  So an instant change of plan we decided to carry on a further 10 miles and 13 locks.  We managed that in a day and a half which included a quick stop in Leicester town centre to get some shopping.  Mind you Thursday was an early start, we were on the move by half past eight.  Thankfully though it remained dry for us which was a good help. So now we are moored at Birstall.  An old flying buddy of Paul's lives in Birstall now, so we caught up with them yesterday.  Dave and Joan came on board to see us, then later on we all went out for an Indian Meal.  Very good it was too. We will see them again tomorrow when they have kindly offered to take us to Tesco.  Can't refuse a good offer like that.

Well it has been a while since I last posted anything here. Last time I wrote we were at Fenny Compton, well we ended up staying there longer than intended as Paul had a 'bout of gout'! Not very pleasant as he was in quite a lot of pain and not able to walk very well. Which meant I had to do tasks like filling the coal bucket and fetching the newspaper! It also meant he couldn't stand for long at the tiller and steer the boat. I did offer but I think the thought of that gave him more pain than he was getting from his foot!! Any way we finally were on the move again and a couple of days saw us back at Braunston. From there we had intended to get the bus into Daventry for shopping in Tesco and Aldi. However Paul still wasn't able to walk very far and I don't think I could have carried all the shopping we needed. So ended up on line with Tesco as we were headed for Yelvertoft Marina, where we started out from.. So that is where we are now. We arrived on Friday and happily our shopping arrived on Saturday! Last night was a Halloween Party here held in the marquee. It was an excellent evening, some good costumes, good food and company. We will be staying here now for a few days catching up with friends that we made when we were first on board.

Next stop Leicester way, so until then bye bye.