The year wears on…

Halloween has come and gone, and bonfire night is upon us, though I reckon that most of the celebrations took place over last weekend. Saturday and Sunday evenings were marked by a smattering of bonfires across the valley, and the occasional whoosh – pop and shower of sparks disturbed the night sky. 
I suspect that Catesby, Fawkes and their group of co-conspirators had the right idea, only 415 years too early and for the wrong reasons. I don’t think we’d miss this band of self-serving indecisive hypocrites but it’d be a shame about the building…

We moved out to Bradley on Tuesday to avoid any fun and games the Skipton youth may have got up to now that we seem to have adopted the American Trick-or Treat. The weather has been typically autumnal, Some sharp, frosty wooly-jumper nights, followed by beautiful, sunny tee-shirt days. Mixed in we’ve seen rain, wind that threatened to clear the gear off the roof, and mild misty mornings.


Passing Victoria Mill in Skipton


Dramatic skies as we head to Bradley
 

Moonrise and a rainbow over Bradley village
















We’ve not been up to much. I had to swap the Eberspacher water heater for the serviced and prepared Webasto I had on standby, as the Eber was getting a bit unreliable on start-up. It’s been running happily for 18 months but is probably a bit coked up. I’ve a service kit on the way, so will sort it out then put it away for the next 18 months till the Webasto starts playing up!
I spent just over an hour swapping the two units, it’s a bit awkward as they are positioned under the counter off to one side, so you have to hang upside down through the counter hatch. But I’ve made it easier by modifying the wiring on the Webasto so that it plugs straight into the Eberspacher wiring loom for power supply and the controller. The exhaust and fuel feed swap straight over, but the plumbing has to played about with a bit.
I’ve got sore ribs though as a result. I slipped and dropped chest-first onto the stern cants while I was checking the exhaust and I’ve badly bruised or even cracked a rib. It’s been 10 or 11 days now and it still hurts when I breathe in hard. Slowly improving, though.

I also knocked up a step for Meg for when we’ve low banks like here at Bradley.
She was a bit wary at first, but now she’s got used to it I’m not having to lift her on and off umpteen times a day!

We’ve got neighbours now, too. The farmer has put cattle in the field alongside.

We’ve had visitors, Mags’ grand-daughter Melanie came over to see us, and long-time boating buddy Carol and her partner Victoria came and spent an hour with us one afternoon.




I’ve been re-reading Terry and Monica Darlington’s Narrow Dog books, enjoying their adventures in France and the US, delivered in Terry’s inimitable style. Well worth a look if you haven’t already.






Mags should have gone to see her GP tomorrow but that’s been cancelled. She has an appointment with a specialist at Airedale Hospital on the 27th to discuss her gallstones then we might have a better idea of what we’re doing for the winter. Meanwhile we’ll keep pottering up and down this stretch of cut. We’re heading back to Skipton tomorrow, stopping for a couple of nights before heading off to Gargrave. Getting a little stir crazy. I must be, I’ve been looking at a Dutch barge, a Kotter, for sale on Apollo Duck. It’s in the south of France….
Now wouldn’t that be an epic adventure! A thousand miles up through France, via Paris, to Calais. Then across the channel. Not sure I can convince the skipper, though.

Locks 0, miles 3