Where have we been?

I started thinking about the canal holidays we’ve had over the last 13 years and wondered just where had we been.  I do recall most of it was on hire boats and they seemed to be very long days.  Of course when you have come from the other side of the world and paid for a boat, you tend to want to use it.  One of the early lessons was how optimistic hire companies were with their published times to complete a journey.  Today I sat down and traced out our various journeys on a copy of Jim Shead’s Canal Map.

Copyright Jim Shead

Our various cruising routes are shown in purple.  The first holiday was in 2001 and we spent one week on the Llangollen Canal.  In 2003 it was 1.5 weeks doing the Four Counties Ring.  Then in 2005 it was two weeks doing the Cheshire Ring.  In 2007 another two weeks covering the Warwickshire Ring.  The last hire holiday was in 2009 cruising the Stourport Ring and Black County.  It was this last cruise that made us determined to have our own boat and cover as much of the network as possible. There is plenty left to do!

Meanwhile back to more mundane things like housekeeping.  The flexible shower hose and rose is looking somewhat sad after two years of use.  It’s the build-up of salts and minerals causing the discolouration.  Just as the toilet likes coke cola, the shower fitting loved cheap white vinegar.

At the beginning the white vinegar was clear but as the immersed hose “hissed and popped” the colour of both the hose and vinegar changed.

Once the hose was bright and shiny we turned our attention to the shower rose.  An old toothbrush proved very useful in getting into those small holes.

By the time we had finished the vinegar in the container looked rather rough.  But the shower hose and rose looked shiny and new.  Good for another couple of years!