It was such a sublime balmy evening last night, we sat out in the grassy area below Areandare to watch the sunset once again and relish our surroundings. As I stood taking a few shots, I noticed tiny movements at the edge of the boat under the water. Wow! Look at this …
Who knew there could be so much life just below the surface of a canal?

More Cute Canal Creatures
After another lovely lie-in (it IS a UK Bank Holiday after all!), I was opening curtains and front cratch when I spotted our swan family approaching. Luckily Kim had left some birdseed ready, and they swam swiftly to feed by the boat. Truly gorgeous creatures.
Kim soon scrambled from the back cabin to share our delight …







All eight cygnets continue to thrive. Mummy loves to shake her tail-feather, and daddy looks as menacing as he’s able to in his quest to protect his family. They’re amazingly devoted parents. Of course, the mallard and her offspring didn’t stand much chance of a look-in; there’s a very distinct ‘pecking order’ amongst the wildlife.

A Chance Comment Transformation
Since Barry installed our new 12 volt fridge, it’s felt cumbersome to get anything out of it. I’m not sure why it’s so different to the 24 volt one we had before; it just is! It seems deeper, plus it’s got a small freezer which I guess limits the fridge space. Kim had noticed me huffing and puffing frequently when attempting to discover what food was held inside. I can’t remember whether it was me or Kim who said last night maybe if the cooker (electric) was on the bottom and the fridge on the top, it’d be easier to see the contents? Oh my!
Look what happened today:
Oh my goodness. I have no idea how Barry worked it out and made it happen. He’s like a wizard! Dave was summoned a couple of times to share the muscle power needed. It certainly wouldn’t have happened if there hadn’t been another strong man around.
It is SOOOO much easier to find things now in the fridge. What an amazing husband I have.
COVID-19 Symptom Study Continues Clear Despite Canal Movements
I’m not going to mention much about the current outrageous situation here in the UK – except those people who voted these clowns into authority “to get Brexit done”. What on earth were you thinking? It was so obvious (to me anyway, and many people I know!) months and months ago how dishonest and prejudiced they all are (that’s using mild language), and how the UK deserves better. I hope by tomorrow at the latest, both DC and BJ are thrown out. Thousands of unnecessary deaths later …
For now, the ‘sensible and caring for each other people’ amongst us, will be doing our best to look after ourselves and those we come into contact with. Following those ‘stay alert’, ‘stay safe’ rules. It’s been like the M6 here on the canal today, dozens of boats passing us by, mostly ones we’ve not seen since lockdown. Scary stuff! It’s going to be interesting to see what the next few weeks will bring.
Pip and Mick passed by, as they have had to move off their 48-hour mooring. I know they’ll be back once they’ve collected groceries and their veggie box. I couldn’t wave as I was finally making time for my Ukulele practice and was half-way through a ‘finger practice’. We’ll be heading to Bridge 95 tomorrow, as we’ve got a fruit and veg box ordered from Nantwich Veg boxes arriving Wednesday morning. Then we need groceries and water fill up on Wednesday, before turning around and coming back here.
In the meantime, we’ve reported no symptoms to the study app again thankfully.
Hopefully there’ll be the ‘mad rush’ of everyone and their dog wanting to get moving again, then they’ll be exhausted and everyone else can get on with it.
The cygnets are looking all gangly-legs and long necks now! 🙂
What a sterling job on the fridge/cooker swap!!! … sometimes all these things take is the right idea, the right tools, and the right person, not necessarily all wrapped up in the same person either! 😀
That’s what we’re hoping! Either that or there’ll be a second lockdown and we stay here for the foreseeable. Either way, we’re in no rush …
They are so adorable, gangly legs and all.
I know, I still keep going to bend down/get on my knees, to try and find something then remember it’s at eye level! It’s such an improvement. Lots of brownie points to Barry 😉
Do you have venting at the back of the fridge and oven? From our experience, the fridge especially needs vents at the back and/or top to get rid of the hot air it creates. This is particularly so in hot weather, from our experience with boats and caravans.
Definitely vents at the back. I saw them, they were one of the reasons it was such a tight squeeze to get the fridge back in but at the top. Barry’s a clever Kiwi. Don’t worry 😉