Blog Readers

Today two of our blog readers called in to say hello and have a chat.  We are always pleased to meet blog readers.

I had just returned to Waiouru after shopping for white spirits and engine oil in Newbury when Miles introduced himself.  Wilko was selling 5 litres of Mobil 1000 engine oil for £25 and white spirits for £1.50 (750ml).  I then walked to Halfords where I found the Mobil oil  £7 cheaper and the white spirits more expensive.  So the oil was purchased at Halfords and I then walked back to Wilko to buy the white spirits.

Miles had timed his visit perfectly!  He had written an email earlier and knew we were in the general area so he had placed his bike in the back of his vehicle and driven to Kintbury before cycling to Newbury looking for us.

We had a very interesting conversation with Miles with him informing us he intends to have a boat built in the near future and is currently deeply involved in researching and planning.  It’s a situation we know well having been down that path 8 years ago.  The plan and drawings get more and more refined as time passes!

In the meantime Miles gets his canal “fix” by cycling the towpath and enjoying the scenery.  Before he left Miles gave us a very useful gift.

You can never have too many nozzles for adhesive tubes.  These are particularly useful as they have a cap to seal the open end.

Best of luck with the boat plans Miles!

Out second visitor was “Towpath Bill”.  We first met Bill shortly after our arrival in Aldermaston for the fit out of Waiouru. After four months of living on a hire boat we needed to find alternative accommodation and Bill was instrumental in facilitating that.  Bill is a very interesting and knowledgeable character who is always entertaining.  He now lives in Newbury so we have been fortunate enough to have the pleasure of his company.  Amongst many other skills, Bill paints boats.  I seized the opportunity to ask his opinion about Waiouru’s roof.  Bill inspected the roof and informed us it still looks OK.  However he also gave me some advice on how to clean the non-slip areas.

Bill is rather partial to Jan’s cakes and he didn’t walk away empty handed.  I did mention that if there was a problem with the cake I was prepared to assist with the eating!  However that might be somewhat greedy as Jan also baked one for me.

It’s been a very pleasant stay in Newbury.  The cupboards are now all restocked and tomorrow we will move on.

I can’t finish this post without mentioning “Mr Angry” who chased all his colleagues away from our boat.

His feathers were well and truly ruffled as he chased away all the other local swans from “his” patch.