Anyone for a swim!

Now Reader you will have to bare with me for the next couple of days..... No photos to show.  This is due in the main to me forgetting my camera wire on the last trip home.  Several items of great importance were forgot not least David's underwear......
Lets move on. 

We moved from the pretty Ferry Meadows and set off upstream.  The wind blew (Just for a change) and as we moved along the scenery changed from tree lined banks to open water meadows.  Not so many houses, actually no houses as this whole area is a flood plain and a silly place to build on, but that's a lesson for the C20th.  I ticked off a sighting of a new bird in my Little Book of Birds   HERE  a Reed Bunting, pretty quick it was too, no photo and just the one sighting too.  Lesley was on Yarwood and following us at a distance and when we both landed at the lock she asked had I seen the King Fisher (Had I heck), she had seen two.

So then moans about the River Nene, its lovely, but mini sized lock landings, double locks but dolly sized lock landings.  Why?
This takes a period of adjustment for us, boring I know to cruisers owners and I might just hear the faint sound of "Well clear off back to yer canals then" but we like a lot of narrow boaters we have paid a sizeable chunk of money for the pleasure of coming here, it is a pleasure too, but it would be appreciated if when pontoons were installed they put in two of them.  
Now for Nene Virgins out there lock work differently here. Going upstream arriving at the lock you should find the guillotine bottom gate raised and sail straight in. On leaving you should do the same, that is to say empty the lock to leave the bottom gate raised unless of course another boat is waiting to enter, so far this hasn't happened to us but we live in hope, surely if another boat is waiting its a fair assumption that he will be waiting on the lock landing, one landing yesterday was around a right angled corner out of sight.  Now being a women, I can work around this, but life would be  frankly safer and more peachy with longer landings, end of.

Keeping an eye out with my binocs handy off we went, a nice bendy section, herons, swallows, house martins, red kites and terns but no king fisher.

I did however spot these two, heads down swimming hard not looking out for boats, I did text Lesley though to warn them behind us.

Approaching Castor Lock

Bish bash bosh moored up, forget lunch lets walk to the pub, dog ready.

Passed this by on a most enjoyable walk a ghost of a previous life of the village of Castor three fields away

Lesley took this of us.

We landed at Castor after a mammoth cruise of five hours.  After  bunny hopping down the Fossdyke canal to Boston the other side of the Wash due mostly to the weather delay of three days or so it was quite novel to be cruising again.  The village is three fields away the four of us ambled to The Prince of Wales pub and sat in the garden in the sun where everyone bar me enjoyed Woodford Wherry beer I think it was called.  Lovely pint said David with a creamy moustache.

A sunny evening, a salmon salad, my favourite chocolate opened and I finished my book.  Book 9 from the Poldark Series by Winston Graham. Number ten ready and waiting, only twelve in the series and I shall be so upset when I have finished them.