Poor Lucy visits the Vet at St Noets

Mon 11th and Today – Moored Gt Barford Old Lock, River Great Ouse
Sun 10th – St Noets to Gt Barford Old Lock, 8.5 miles, 3 locks
Sat 9th – Great Paxton to St Noets, 3 miles 1 lock

Well we never did stay the weekend on that lovely mooring at Great Paxton.  We will try to get in there on the way back down the river later.

We woke up to Lucy being on three legs, she was in so much pain she couldn’t put her paw to the ground.  Thank goodness I have the internet because it didn’t take me long to find a vet in St Noets and the phone number.. The trouble was the vets closed at 12 noon, and they told me that the latest appointment they could give me was 11.30, but that I must be there by 11.45 at the very latest.  By the time I had got up and found the information I needed, it was just gone 10am when we set off.  I was cursing that I had laid in that morning!

It was then a race to get up river the three miles and get through St Noets lock.  When we arrived at the lock it was against us..

With first a narrowboat exiting then a couple of very wide plastic cruisers who took so long to come out I felt like shouting at them.  This lock has been completely rebuilt this year, a wonderful job they have done too, but oh dear me, it took so long to fill.. the time was moving on! 

It took half an hour to navigate the lock, and at 11.30 we still had another half mile or so to do to reach St Noets town itself.  I couldn’t get off and walk to the vet from the lock as Lucy was obviously in a lot of pain.

It took 10 mins longer to get to the bridge, and as soon as we reached the landing stage I left Vic to tie up NP while I rushed along the streets to the vets, with Lucy trying to keep up on three legs.. we made it with minutes to spare..

It was a grass seed!  The darn thing had got into between her toes and travelled up her leg infecting it as it went.. one of those seeds with husks on it like a barbed hook.  There was nothing else to do but to put Lucy under and have the vet cut it out immediately.. it couldn’t wait till Monday.  Two hours later I had a call to go pick her up, and she dozily walked slowly back to the boat using all four legs this time.. phew!

On Saturday we stayed in St Noets to make sure Lucy recovered properly, but by Sunday she was back to her perky self again and we decided to move on into the countryside..

Passing Great Barford lock all the moorings were full on both sides of the river, and there was some raft racing going on.. we headed for the old disused lock bywater hoping there would be room to moor.  Here the old lock built in the 17th century that became redundant when improvements were made to the river.

So here we have stayed since… it is very nice indeed on the backwater, with shade from the trees in the afternoon and a cool breeze blowing from the north, very pleasant..  Lucy and I have been walking a bit.. about 3 miles yesterday saw no ill effects for her..

This then my backyard today..