Blues on the cut

ready to touch up the blue

It was great to be at the boat again after a prolonged absence. Paul felt his back had recovered enough to service the engine and paint over the various scrape wounds from tunnels, locks and boats that kissed us while moored. after a 3 hour drive along 4 motorways we unpacked our supplies, filled with diesel and headed off... but the engine cut out so we glided into a clump of reeds by the marina entrance.
"Forgot to switch on the diesel," Paul confessed. It does help!
We cruised for an hour to charge the batteries then pulled over for the night. 
Next morning we cruised on to a wide verge ideal for painting. We spent the morning rubbing down and applying paint while our lurcher relaxed watching the world floating by. After lunch we cruised to a nearby winding hole spun round and moored up to tackle the other side. It was great to hide all the blemishes, but the paint had faded badly.
Next morning Paul prepared the side for painting while I walked Lottie Lurcher, and then I tackled the paint. I was slapping the blue paint on happily when a narrow boat slid round the corner. There where three crew members grouped round the tiller but they were yelling encouragements to a small black and white spaniel which was trotting after them along the towpath. I was surprised there was nobody with it as it is easy to get onto the roads and the one they had just gone under was bustling with lorries.
The little dog had clearly had enough of her walk. First she stopped and looked at me appealingly but got no response as I had a paint tin in one hand and a loaded brush in the other. Ignoring Lottie she leapt aboard our boat and curled up on our bed.
Meanwhile the owners were calling Jilly, Jilly, Jilly as they floated into the distance.
Jilly ignored them and closed her eyes before a bemused Lottie, who clearly thought it was bad manners to visit and go straight asleep.
I waved my paintbrush madly at the disappearing boat, yelling "she's in here." At last they pulled over and a reluctant crew member came trotting back to reclaim the visitor. I just hope Lottie doesn't follow Jilly's example and start dropping in on other boaters. At 35 kilograms she could be a touch intimidating in a narrow space.
One thing is for certain - it's never boring on the cut.