Sniff sniff

As forecasted, the weather turned for the worst at 4am.  I semi awoke to the sound of ducks frantically pecking at the waterline.  Jan later told me she thought everything was being blown off the cabin roof.  <I’ve checked and nothing has moved!>  By 8am there was just a bit of occasional drizzle and after lunch we actually had sunshine.

The old ladies shopping trolley was extracted from the cratch and we went down to Sainsbury’s for some essentials.  Jan had a £7 discount voucher provided she purchased more than £50 of supplies.  Filling the trolley with groceries to the value of £50 didn’t take long <that’s a worry> and we were soon at the checkout counter.  The friendly lady at the till then asked us “Are you off one of the barges?” I looked at Jan’s clothing whilst simultaneously she looked at mine.  Then I went <sniff sniff>!  The checkout lady was rather quick on the situation and promptly said “Oh no, you have such healthy complexions from all that outdoor living!”  We had changed into clean clothes for the outing and had both showered last night so we’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.  The trolley was hauled back up the three flights of steps to the moorings on the embankment to discover all the other boaters had left <sniff sniff>.

Curiosity got to me this afternoon and I wondered where we were on this day a year ago.  One of the advantages of the blog is having a record.  It was a Sunday and we were at Fradley Junction.  Actually we went to The Swan for lunch.  We were on our way south to Atherstone where we planned to have the defective 175A alternator repaired.  Gosh, is it a year since we had the alternator repaired!  We also met Judith & John (nb Serena) for the second time in 2014.  The first occasion was near Rugby when they were being towed to Hillmorton to have a new engine fitted.  Life is going too fast…… slow down!

If you are a little like us and don’t derive much pleasure in parting from your hard earned cash then you may also have a smartphone with a very limited (or no) data allowance.  I’ve noticed our youngest son happily pulls out his smartphone and uses Google Maps to navigate.  Of course he is using his data allowance.  I’d also like to have the ability to navigate with my smartphone.  but I want to do it at no cost.  There is a solution.  If you have an Android phone you can download the free app OSMand from Google Play.  After installing it you can then download the free maps of the UK.  Actually you can download up to 10 maps before you have to pay for the App.  I now have a good set of maps for all of the UK on the smartphone.  Best of all… they are free and I don’t use any mobile data!  Just make sure you download the free version.