this is how it should be

After unhelpful weather we were half a day from our new base. the weather is glorious but we had to go back to celebrate Mum's birthday.
After an hour we moored up and washed the boat, a pleasant occupation on a sunny day. Lottie Lurcher flopped on the bank enjoying her freedom until she spotted a cat strolling along the towpath. She sped up to it at full gallop but the cat stood its ground and braced itself for impact. Poor Lottie stopped dead, and looked at the cat as if to say you're no fun, you are supposed to run. Saddened she returned to me and received a treat as compensation while the cat strolled nearer and settled down to wash itself. what a tease.
Later we cruised along to a new friend who lives next to the canal, his unique oak boat at the bottom of his garden. Lottie played with his whippet Amber while we enjoyed relaxing in his garden.

As soon as we set out a hire boater pulled out in front of us. it was just as well we were not in a hurry. The boat had several changes of tiller man each worse than the first. It  was amazing how they scraped the boat round each corner but it did make fascinating cruising. Many hire boaters are excellent at cornering and going through bridge holes but these were the worst I've seen in a long time. Eventually we moored up less than an hour from base.

Next morning we cruised to the marina where Nick and Amanda the resident swans showed off their cygnets. By 11.30 we had packed the car and set out for home. The motorways were kind today, no holdups so we reached home in just over 3 hours.