TAKING MY TIME

Today I went to pick blackberries along the tow path of the Grand Union Canal,with my buggy fully charged and a nice big box for the blackberries.

Many more narrow boats than usual plied the waters and there were long queues for the locks, mostly holiday boats ,brightly painted ,each sporting a clothes line full of towels or children's clothes.

It seem very odd to me that people who chose a canal boat holiday,of necessity a leisurely slowly paced vacation,should get themselves so steamed up about having to wait their turn at the locks. Really, what do they expect,flyovers and underpasses!

Canal boat holidays are certainly not for people who crave excitement,the speed of those lovely old narrow boats means that you are lucky to make twenty miles in a day,and in order to do that it would necessitate going flat out without a stop.

For me the whole pleasure of such a trip is the gentle pace of life on the water,no need to rush,plenty of time to stop at a canal side pub for lunch,or more up and cook a meal in the galley.

Time to watch the Moore hens and coots with their chicks and the huge brilliantly coloured dragon flies hunting their prey among the reeds.

Alas, there were very few blackberries but that did not matter at all. There were the great bulrushes to marvel at, swans and their signets trawling the water weeds for food,and every kind of butterfly adorning the canal side bushes of Budlea, of which there are a great multitude. So many wonders to delight the eye smooth the flustered spirit and make the heart glad. What a pity they are wasted of the hasty holiday makers who only care that they reach the farthest point they can,before turning around and heading back.

Our morning had begun with a breakfast of eggs and bacon and a guest to chat to while the food cooked,I like having breakfast guests it is much more fun than a formal dinner party.

We ate dinner en famile ,home made chicken ,bacon and mushroom pie served with roasted sweet potato and sweet corn.......lovely.

We have promised ourselves an early night as the last few have been,for one reason or another rather late. I must say that I am rather more sleepy than usual,perhaps the result of my time spent by the calm waters of the canal and the company of bank vole and ducks,if so,more please.