An unexpected visitor ...

 

Lisa and Sandra work the two Glascote locks like seasoned professionals!

 

 

 

 

 

Housing development at Fazeley on the Coventry Canal 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday evening we moved a short way from Glascote to just past Fazeley and fortuitously moored up right behind Granny Buttons! 

 

 

Granny Buttons gleams in the setting sun

 

 

 

 

 

It literally felt as though fate had led us to that very spot - I'd just suggested to Barry that dinner was almost ready and only at that point did he check the map and realise that we were almost at the last winding hole for a while.  He duly slowed down, spotted a gap and reversed in.  As he was doing so he saw the boat logo alongside and was beside himself!  Andrew wasn't aboard so we checked on his blog to see if he had a phone number - and lo and behold he did!  So, at around 2045 (a bit late I know, but you have to grasp opportunities when they present themselves as they may not present themselves twice!), Barry made the call  - "Hi there, it's Barry here from Northern Pride, we've just moored up behind Granny Buttons and we were wondering if you're anywhere nearby?" Bless Andrew, despite probably enjoying a quiet night at home, he dropped everything and came to have a drink with us.

 

Sandra, Andrew aka Granny Buttons and Barry

We had a very pleasant evening getting to know one another better.  Poor Lisa, my daughter, was a little outnumbered amongst three avid canal bloggers!  However, the conversation soon turned to photography so it was I who was outnumbered then as the language was understandable to Lisa but not really to me!

We all loved getting up close to the ducklings again, soooo cute!

Andrew was off to the Crick boat show on Saturday morning, so we said a reluctant goodbye and hope to catch up again at some point; it was really good to meet .  As I'd said in a previous post, Barry would soak up Granny Buttons' blog long before we first arrived 'on the cut' and we're grateful to him for sharing his vast knowledge of the British waterways with us.  Subsequently, we were chuffed to bits when a whole post was dedicated to Northern Pride - bless you Andrew.

Of course our other very important visitors have been our daughters, Lisa and Jamie.  Lisa left us Saturday afternoon and we then cruised to The Dog and Doublet in Bodymoor Heath, arriving a little later than expected around 8pm.  We had dinner and a few drinks with a number of friends who'd been able to make it which was very enjoyable.  Jim and his wife at us a hearty welcome - it was neat to return to our English wedding venue, though ironic that last time we'd been there in the early autumn the temperature was about 10 degrees higher than in late spring!  Maybe the British summer occurred in the heatwave the week before we arrived?!

Sandra, Arlene, Jill, Jamie and John in the Dog and Doublet - apologies to the others who came and went before we remembered to take a photo! 

Today we had an early start and made the mammoth journey involving 36 locks to Birmingham, picking up Mikey and Sophie along the way ...