Wednesday, February 10, 2021

The Best Laid Schemes…

…oft Gang aft agley…

As the Scottish poet once wrote. Well our plans went agley!

We left Whixall Moss last Thursday, heading for Ellesmere.

A last romp on the moss before we left.

Back through Ellesmere Tunnel

We were able to get a mooring on the arm, making it easy to get the shopping to top up the cupboards.

Signs of Spring on our morning walk…

Cupboards, freezer and fridge replenished we set off on a blustery Saturday morning, heading up towards Chirk.

Empty moorings above Frankton Locks.

With the forecast looking grim for Sunday we pushed on, past Frankton Junction and Maestermyn, up New Marton Locks and moored above looking out across St Martins Moor. That left us just 3 miles to cover to get to the moorings outside The Poachers next to Bridge 19W.

It actually wasn’t as bad as predicted, at least over here in the west. They had it worse on the opposite coast. Arriving at the moorings we settled in for what was intended to be several days.

Everything was organised. A car was booked from Enterprise to get us to Shrewsbury for Mag’s Covid test, with taxis to take me to and pick me up from the Wrexham branch. They’re not doing the pick-up and drop-off service during lock-down.

Then on Wednesday Mags’ son Howard, who has been isolating, was coming down to take us for the pre-med in the afternoon, and the actual ERCP on Thursday.

That all went out of the window when we got a phone call yesterday lunchtime, postponing the procedure to next Friday. We don’t know the outcome of the Covid test but it’s irrelevant now as we’ve got to do it again on Tuesday.

So rather than hang around the Poachers for over a week we decided to turn around and head out into the sticks for a bit.

Nature’s ice sculptures at New Marton Locks.

Anyone speak Mandarin?

We’re now moored near Maestermyn, a sunny spot that we use often. I’ve a few jobs to do while we’re killing time, the engine and gearbox need oil and filter changes and I’m modifying one of the kitchen cabinets to fit drawers inside, keeping the door though. Should improve the storage. We’ll probably head back to the Poachers on Sunday. Mobile reception is poor here and we’ve a family Zoom meeting in the afternoon. It’s Mags’ first great-great grand-daughter’s first birthday!

Locks 4, miles 15½

4 comments:

Carol said...

Wow Geoff what a blog! Spring has definitely sprung in your neck of the woods. Fantastic photos of the first spring lambs, fabulous spread of snowdrops and aconites (I think) and those mandarins. Sorry to hear that your plans went awry though. Good luck next with the renewed one. Love to you both.

KevinTOO said...

Hope you are both keeping nice and warm and out of harms way 😀 Annoying that Mags procedure was cancelled, but not unexpected I guess in these 'different' times. Hope all goes well for the next appointment 😉

nb Bonjour said...

Thanks for taking those fab flower photos Geoff! Good for the spirits. And those ice pics were interesting, we've seen similar on a welsh mountain. Bet Amber's cosy in her warm fur! We had to put skinny little Meg's coat on for the coldest days.
Best wishes to you both, especially for your various journeys and procedures next week
Debby

Geoff and Mags said...

Hi Carol. It was a fine few days, but I don't envy the new-borns at the moment! we've been recording -7 some nights...

Thanks KevinToo. We're fine, plenty of fuel, plenty of Scotch! All being well Mag's procedure will go ahead this week.

Hi Debbie. Yes, It is nice to have a splash of colour at this time of year isn't it. Amber's coat is designed for this weather, but she still likes her spot near the stove in the evening. Hope you're keeping warm and safe.