A return to normal service

So Reader I am delighted to inform you that we have returned to the lovely WaL for a few weeks more.  Its been a bit of a disjointed summer for us with more and extended trips home, but I can tell you that the lawns are mown, the garage doors are painted and everything in the garden is rosy, not that I was responsible for any of that.  
My role is that of mainly catching up with beloved friends in the form of having lunches out.  I am very good at this.

But back to WaL.  It was a slow start, we arrived at Great Hayward Marina in the afternoon.  All was well with the boat at this lovely marina with the lovely Lynn running the show but we stopped there overnight after filling the fridges and freezer and to keep them on the Leckkie.  

We had arrangements to meet Boatie Friends John and Louise who have NB Plodding Along.  Previously David had stumbled on a pub at Salt, a short distance north of Great Hayward and a pub there called The Holly Bush.  HERE
A lovely evening and thank you for driving over to meet us. Sorry there's no photo.

The Nicholson's says its the oldest pub in Staffordshire.... I always like the sound of that so we went there and had a great meal.  If you moored up at Bridge  82  its a shortish walk of about 200-300 metres, well worth it.  

The next morning bright and not very early we walked the 250 metres or so and had a coffee in the sunshine at the Café by the Farm Shop at Great Hayward,  then we had another.....

Only later again did we actually leave.  We travelled about a mile and moored up just past Tixall Wide, in our newly favourite spot, we were all on our own but had the benefits of a long evenings sunshine, something I am very fond of.  Quite a few boats passed us going in both directions.

Supper was a bit of a smorgasbord with Italian cold meats, couscous, cheeses, tomatoes and kettle chips, washed down with a very very fine sparkling wine from the Chapel Down vineyard,  seems we were celebrating!!   

The slightly worrying thing was that when we looked online the price of the stuff was drastically more than we could recall paying for it on a visit last summer.....  But most enjoyable in the sun, without a care in the world, watching boats go past.

The next morning, David took these shots at dawn. 

He says autumn is a coming.....