We're getting close now, but I have to mention a vital tool, here it is:

It's a small thing, but my own!  Well to be fair it's not really my own, that is, it was a kind gift to me from a fellow bargee who had prior experience of its potency, owner/captain of Rangali.  Like me he had bought a nice jar opener, as recommended, to unscrew the oil filter, and like me it had snapped right apart.  This tool doesn't take prisoners, it just takes it off.  Thanks again Rangali!
That was my main task before the birthday weekend, but back to more recent journeys.  Did we hit the bridge?

No we didn't and they both survived.  This is a bit too far forward, as it misses the fact that we swapped our Leonberger Burdock for youngest son Marius, with the aim of his joining us on the cross Channel trip and into France.  Well!! No chance of that.  Before this swap we met up with more fellow bargees and friends on Grizzled Skipper (btw, it's a type of butterfly) with whom we shared some customary sundowners:

There's the captain giving a friendly wave!  Oh, the reason I mentioned bridge height is that I used our 10 foot barge pole to measure how much space there is below and above the boat, then for good measure I drove it under bridges that should be just okay.  In case of doubt then Nik took the helm and I undid a pin on the mast and sat with the cruciform across my shoulders ready to raise/lower to check my calculation.  Amusing but pretty heavy!  Some were good, others not, they keep raising and lowering the water you know!  Another test:

Is it wide enough too?  Will the captain sneeze from all the roof pollen and lose control.  Oh yes, he did, but not at the wheel.  He fell downstairs didn't he, all of them, twice (just to check it was the shoes and not just the alcohol) while moored at the Shepperton Marina and with guests aboard!  It was on the bad side of not good, but arnica, more booze, analgesics and rest helped for some days, until, until... he sneezed.  Oh dear, that was bad.  Next stop the doctors, which was during a 7 (yes seven) night stay at Windsor, look:

That flower garden has moved back, making a nice foreground to her little pile, well HM wasn't there then but she's back now, so that invite could come at any time....  The weather has been good here, and Windsor is really nice, like our own Carcasonne, lots of French, many patissiers (to be checked out) and pretty fair weather.  Well it was an accident really, because crossing weather did not appear, so we thought it'd be a nice place to go now we had Marius aboard - quite right too.  Here he is helping:

The herb gardens you see are birthday presents from friends and family - really useful and elegant.
Did I mention the broken dog ramp?  No?  We'd been mighty impressed with it, and then suddenly:

What was that?  Not me guv!  We can only assume that there was a little weakness near the handle or that Burdock had an extra bounce in his step.  Anyway we're hoping the supplier will honour the guarantee - you'll soon hear if he doesn't.  Meanwhile it sort of works with care, but no longer telescopes (oh dear!).
Then on Tuesday night our eldest son Tad came (late, after giving a personal training session) which suited well as we'd just been to see a play at the Royal Theatre (oh la la!) in the cheapest seats, well I say seats, they call it a bench, well it is a bench.  But it was just fine.  Here's the last pic on this entry of the family:

They've all gone back now, so I'm up to date, well I've missed out lots of boring details, but that's good.  Tomorrow (Monday 20th) we plan to go downstream again, but a crossing is probably out of the question before Friday, mainly because we sort of know the forecast up to Thursday!!  We'll let you know.  Ooh, one more pic, our mooring at Runnymede, beside the usual Burdock field, on our way down to Shepperton, i.e. out of order, but never mind!

The Bank Holiday Monday was lovely, meaning lots of boats on the river, so we decided to delay until Tuesday going downstream in preparation of a possible crossing on 14th May or thereafter.  Francis & Mumtaz had to return on Sunday (work!) but it was nice to have the other 2 boys with us:

So we said our farewells to each of the boys later that day and Tuesday morning we began our downstream trip, passing some lovely places, including Bisham Church, where we were married (no comment):

Other lovely sights too of course, the family you always wanted but dreaded when it came?:

We lost count too.  Then there was Bisham Sailing School, who taught us 1st Aid and Helmsmanship:

We also passed where Nik's father Luke, alias Fairy, worked, Harleford Marine:

I'm a bit ahead of myself, we actually spent the night moored up at Crookham, where we found a lovely pub called the Kings Head, dog friendly, excellent food and really quite reasonable prices.  I'm not just saying that because the boss kindly gave us a bottle of champagne (we had Burdock with us, and Nik was sporting I'm 60 badge!).  Oh I forgot, going near to T&K (Reading) we managed to not hit a good friend on their training day, so here's a picture of their boat, Lucie:

Lovely isn't she!  I mean the boat.  Now I know you'll say this isn't up to date, and you're right, we've motored a lot and moored a lot since then, but I think I'll quit while I'm ahead!  Bye for now.

So we had our away days upstream (Thursday to Tuesday) just short of Oxford, then had to return to Thames & Kennet Marina to buy everything for Nik's birthday bash on 5th May!  For this we went back upstream 2 locks to Mapledurham on Friday, to be sure of a mooring at this popular location.  In fact we were the first and for most of the time the only ones moored!  The complicated problem of getting the campervan home was solved by Marius coming down to take Nik shopping at Tesco, and drop me at the Marina, then drove (it went perfectly!) home then Tad picked me up and took me back to the boat.  Perfection.  Here's the cake:

So realistic - no really, Bern made it.  The scene was quite festive overall:

We now take the great yellow gazebo with us in the boat, after all we are hoping to need shade!!
I'll publish now as the connection is so slow the pix are taking ages to load, so I have to reduce the quality (not of the photography of course!).

I know, you want to see us moving this floating home, not titivating it, but first here is a 'fun' picture of water leaking into our engine room, over the electrics and across towards the engine, protected by my precious sheets of oak for our new wheelhouse table (more of that another time I'm afraid!):

Now a picture of us underway on our first jaunt, being the first time the Thames allowed travel in 2013:

We were told off here because there were fishermen (a long way away) and we might disturb them, even tho' I was just giving a burst of speed for the cameraman, fellow barge owner Richard.
Then here is us moored up safely at Wallingford - we're on the right, the left bank has a fellow Marina escapee !

Idyllic eh?  Lovely Italian restaurant just up the road, and good ales even nearer - why would we ever leave UK you ask!  This was £5/night/boat, the same price we paid for our two canoes in 1976 !  This was our first overnight stop upstream, and then we pressed on to Abingdon, and here is us in a lock going there:

Will this summer never end, I hear you ask.  Then moored just by a Burdock paddock:

It was then that Bollinger (the moggie) showed, as he had at Wallingford a bit, his real desperation to dominate the several square miles around as he had at home.  It seemed that the only reason holding him back was the lack of a really good satnav that showed the way off the pontoons of the marina to dry land.  At Abingdon we lost sight of him at about 11pm (the eye glow) at the furthest corner of the field.  He returned (thu' an porthole left for the purpose) at 3.10 am!
Of course, it's not all unspoilt open fields, as we found going upstream

You just need to suspend Envy Mode and use the Gloat one - you may have a moat, but you can't float, so here you are stuck!  Something like that - I know, it needs work!  We had visitors in both locations, a lovely lot of them, and on Sunday did a trip with Nik's sister & husband up to 2 locks short of Oxford.  Then we re-moored upstream of Abingdon bridge:

Where I pictured the early morning mist and Archangel now surrounded by others:

I think in view of internet connectivity and its fragility, along with blog software and my lack of skill, I'd better publish this while I appear to be ahead!  This takes us up to 30th April, oh wait a moment, here's a shot of Burdock bathing at Ab's:

As you can see, we're not impressed, except maybe by the river smell once he's inside - shampoo to follow.

Then I did something I'd never had the nerve to do before, to bid for something on ebay.  I'd never have managed any of it without masses of help from son Marius - especially as it was a fair bit of money.  I'd seen a clock in an antique shop which inspired us to buy an old Dutch clock to go on our old-style Dutch barge, then saw this one on ebay and fell for it.  I bid less than the one in the shop, but paid a lot less, even with postage from Germany - I don't understand how it works, but I like it!  The clock pic is here, then a sunset from February, if they'll load via my dingly dongle!  This all dates back to mid-early Feb.

The pic doesn't do it justice - it has angels and mermaids on it, so couldn't be better, goes for 5+ days on one wind and strikes on a bell just like a grandfather clock.  Now that sunset:

I had 5 pix and then chose the one with Nik's flower collection dominating it, as they did our greenhouse/wheelhouse - nice but rather overwhelming!  Another attempt at publishing now!

Well, well, hasn't it been a long time.  My followers must both have dispaired of logging in.  But basically, Vodphone's dongle only allows 2 GBytes/month, but also the Weather only allowed us boaters only to stay in the marina, until a week ago that is.  So, pretty dull pickings.  Here is a picture (if my dongle allows it)

What you see here comes from late January planning and early Feb for the picture, when I worked out a really clever way to use the smaller kitchen partition board to make a table, without any mods to it, and using three bits of wood just hinged together with, oh well, it's complex but only takes 1 minute 24 seconds to erect from Nik saying go!  Well, I like it!

I'll publish this now, as I'm getting tired and I've taken all evening to get Blogspot to let me back on !

Christmas present

All present and correct, except we're still clinging on to our house and only visiting Archangel.  Only just tho'.  We start to live aboard in the next few weeks;  our few visits have shown we still have a few problems, including water in the bilges, possibly from the seal where the drive shaft goes thru', but certainly a leak of engine coolant (which is pink!).  That certainly is new, and means we dare not use the engine until it is found and cured.  I put several litres into the expansion tank a week ago and yesterday it was dry.  Time for a picture, showing the two pieces of furniture bought expressly for the space:

The carved chair and shiny table in fact.  Yes, I know, there's a cat, Bollinger.  It was his trial visit, and pretty much at home right away. We were surprised the chair went down the stairs (just!) which was good as it was raining (not forecast!).  We had plans for more jobs, but time, weather and fortune were against the idea, also we helped another couple whose barge was trying to leave the mooring due to the high current around them;  the Thames is again flooding into the marina and takes the shortest route to the fields.  It took some time and more ropes to secure them close enough for safety.  Another snap:

I refer you to earlier, tidier versions of this, but detailed examination will show bookcases pretty much filled, That Cat again, rheindeer hearth rug, plus 2 chairs and table.  Exciting stuff!  No, I mean, I've not put on an  up to date view for ages, and it wasn't 'staged'.  So the outboard is out and locked on, the inflatable deflated and dumped in a too-small hold awaiting relocation, and we just have to move onboard the remaining detritis of our lives before vacating home to make Archangel our long-term new home.  Pix:

Bollinger looks as tho' he's always been there!

The chair also fits in beautifully

Bye for now!