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                                                                    Last Day of Cruising FINAL DAYS   Our last two days cruising the canal were splendid. There was no more grating sounds of ice breaking and the sun continued to shine on us. I was so grateful to have the tranquility of the canal return as my last memory of this incredible adventure. Because the ice conditions no longer existed, we saw several boats cruising. We were used to being the only ones in motion for over a week so seeing an approaching boat gave us a start. Kayakers were everywhere on Sunday. It seemed that the canal was suddenly brought back to life with the great thaw. The locks on this section of the Oxford Canal are in a bad state. They were tough ones, and you could easily see the need for repair and replacement of gates and pad...
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    NAPTON ON THE HILL and FENNY COMPTON   Diane needed to replace her tiller pin which had performed a swan dive into the water when a line caught underneath it. She found one two days ago that had a deer on top at a small charming gift shop on the canal. While there she spotted a rocking chair pin at the same time which she really was taken with but did not purchase. This morning before we left, she walked over to the nearby marina shop. A rocking chair tiller pin was there waiting for her to take home. Upon her return, Diane knocked on our boat and showed me a monkey’s knot kit that she found for her grandkids. I got my shoes on and walked over to purchase some, as well. Would be fun to do such a project with the little ones, and they could hang it on their backpacks. The tiny store was also filled with huge rope woven buttons that are placed at the bow and stern of the narrow boats to help buffer bumps against other boats and banks.   The craftsmanship ...
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                                                                      Ice on ice     CRICK THEN BACK TO BRAUNSTON Jan. 25   Yesterday, we had a smorgasbord of the Good, Bad, and the Ugly of canal life. With our boat owner’s blessing we pressed on through the never-ending ice aiming for the water station two miles down the canal. Mike once again led the parade doing the hard work cutting a path through the ice. At times, the ice was so thick (2 ½-3 inches) he would need to back up and charge again several times. Along the way, we passed by The Squire which eventually joined our convoy. The “Bad” was the relentless ice itself and the effort it took to break through, the time it took to do it, and the affect it had on our bodies, minds, and spirits. We did eventually arrive at the water statio...
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                                                        Glamping on the canal with hot tub   YELVERTOFT Jan. 23 rd   Mike and Diane joined us this morning for oatmeal and Bailey’s Cream. If you have never tried it, you should. Dave also found some triple cream at the market and that adds a lot of richness, as well. It is creamy goodness either way. We discussed our options for today and decided to call David Dare. He had offered to drive out to meet us with anything we needed. We requested bags of coal and fuel if he was able to make it out to us. He agreed to meet us. We managed to move a hundred yards closer to the next bridge to make delivery easier. Since we weren’t cruising today, we decided to walk into the nearby village. It was about a 3-mile stroll with Diane power walking ahead of us. Our hope was to shop at the local...
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