A bad day.

 Morning darling, said David as he opened the sliding hatch and shot bright sunlight into the bedroom.

How did you sleep?

Oh quite well thank you, says I.  

It was about 07:45 on his return from planting the car further down the line.

Well I've had a terrible morning, I've got a £40 fine for using a bus only bridge which I swear hadn't any signs on and I've crashed the car.

I sat bolt upright in bed to hear the details.  He wasn't hurt, but he'd stopped to read the map and had a collision with a Sherman Tank otherwise known as a Land Rover.  So no David wasn't hurt but his car was.  Badly hurt.

Well it was all a kerfuffle.  To report the accident as soon as possible to the insurance company, he couldn't find the correct number on his phone, I couldn't find my glasses but eventually I googled a phone number to report accidents to the NFU.

He called up at 09:01, we'll call you back they said.  We waited, David shaved, I got the boat ready for the off.  We watered up and thought we might as well go, when they call back I can drive, no locks for ages.  

Some considerable time later he called again, ah Mr Carr I'm glad you called back, you are not with this insurance company, we have no details for you.  So quite a misleading advert on Google.

Well he called up again using the correct number, drove WaL one handed while fielding several calls, it was a Friday morning the weekend loomed but eventually we were told that the recovery vehicle usually takes 24hours.  

That nice couple from yesterday came down behind us again, I apologised for being a bit slow at the locks and explained why David was on the phone.  He offered there and then to drive us Friday afternoon or Saturday morning anywhere if we needed it but after that he was off to Wales for the week.

So kind.

Several hours later we landed down in Middlewich  had breakfast and relaxed after a fraught morning.

There was the car looking forlorn right alongside the famous Fish & Chip Shop, well actually the car looked a right mess, more like the collision had taken place at speed rather than just rolling forward.

At 11am he had a phone call from the hire car company in Northwich to say if he could get there for Midday they had a car for us...  It was eight miles away, he was just about to get on a bus to Crewe in the opposite direction to take his bike to a bike repair shop (There is a bike repair place just outside of Middlewich but the owner, a keen mountain biker declined to mend it as he was closing early to go biking all weekend).  So the hire car would have to wait for Monday morning.

Well it was the first of the boiling hot weather that day.  By chance we had moored up with the cratch under a tree.  When David got back some time later from Crewe with his bike all repaired, a sit down and then without much choice and still hoping that his car would be collected we went to the pub.  The Kings Lock pub.  This pub has great beer that David loves.  Are you doing food? We asked, last year when passing through the chef was on his way home from a holiday in Alaska.  No we aren't serving food but in the car park is a Pop-Up Caribbean Food place tonight, he's the menu she said..

The food was gorgeous.   I had a halloumi wrap and David had a chicken one filled with all sorts of spices and coleslaw, all freshly cooked to order.  

When we finished, we had another each!!!

Later again the live music started with two local singer song-writers making a very memorable even in the sun and then the dark.

The car wasn't collected

Not long afterwards the Caribbean food was sold out  

I'm still hating those Leylandii type monstrous trees in the garden here.  

Somewhere on this blog is a photo of this spot and in the background where these houses now stand are enormous salt mountains.  I am waiting for Amanda to tell me which year it was as she was there.

and today's solitary pretty, I'm guessing a type of orchid.