It aint arf hot mum....*

Well if I thought it was hot walking up to the Wittenham Clumps.... well by golly it *got much hotter over the next few days and then hotter still.

Last evening the sun put on a good show, it had been breezy all day, a bit too breezy to sit out in, but then as if by magic the wind dropped and this happened.

No photo jiggery pokery used here either.


David went off early on his bike and I was awake too at 05:30, I actually got up too and looked out.  Lovely clouds of mistiness.

Wittenham Clumps invisible.

A 28a Pill box from WW2.

Upstream towards Abingdon.

Days Lock weir.

I went back to bed.  

Much later we set off.  A smart black wide beam arrived last evening, called Mariemba or some such.  This morning as we set about leaving, the owner strolled over to say Hello, a very nice chap.  

He knows George & Carol (The owners of Still Rockin'), he follows their blog so knew we  were onboard, he sends his regards both!


It was a nice easy run after the lock, the narrowboat that we were in the lock with shot off and but the time David had coiled his ropes, checked on me and then exited Days Lock they were out of sight.  
I had forgotten this stretch was a bit narrow here, it did widen out presently and we passed where we had moored up with Carol & George last year at one point  but I was twitchy in case something wide arrived around a corner....

A few stunning properties at Shillingford, this one just sold I think it said.

Such a big garden I couldn't even see the house.

Muguteu Wuame I can't find any information on this but how beautiful.  I love vintage craft.

A zonking great well... what is it exactly?

As we approached Wallingford this wide bean came into view, this exactly what I dread meeting on narrow overgrown bends.

Five years ago on a two day flit from the K&A t Oxford and as Wallingford was full in a downpour pulled into these bushes, now they are taken over with Continuous Moorers.

I really like Wallingford.  I like the moorings, nice and sunny, I like the trees to sit under in hot weather, I like the Waitrose here and the pretty town.  What was a surprise was that over the last four years, the mooring fee has leapt from £5 to £7 last year and this year £10.....  That's more than the inflation rate, but there again we all know that Local Authorities are under huge financial pressures.

We moored on the left hand side going downstream and I was delighted.  First things first moor up, this took a bit longer than normal as we were trying not to leave a Git Gap.

A git gap for non boaters is when boats leave a big space in-between themselves and the next boat in busy times on very popular moorings.  But as it happens we had cross words with each other and had to leave a small gap.  Trouble is with a hard of hearing husband at the other end of the boat is; 

He asks me a question.

I answer him.

He mis-hears me. 

He contradicts my answer.

I am bemused as he is talking nonsense mostly off subject.....  This repeats itself daily in different situations.

Reader I sent him to have a hearing test on his bad ear but the results were baffling, his bad ear is his good ear and he isn't nearly bad enough to have a hearing aid.  This is clearly mad and the tester should live with him.

It was really hot by now, we made a long cool drink, rolled up all the sides of SR's canopy, got out the much more comfy than our sun chairs and relaxed.

The afternoon was spent thus but with books and more cold drinks and in the late afternoon donned our swimmers and went swimming in The Thames.  

Please don't tell my mother    HERE   so very sad for their families.  But here in Wallingford its shallow, slow moving and there are marker bouys at the river beach.

It was fabulous.  We sat out till 9 or 10pm.

Wallingford at night.

*  Please don't report me to JRM   HERE