It all began for me at Hixon on Trent and Mersey

Moored Ingestre, Trent and Mersey Canal

This is the place where my Mum and Dad first met.. The Cock Inn at Stowe by Chartley

They were both stationed at the nearby, what was, RAF Hixon.  Now it is just a huge open space with an industrial estate taking over the perimeter and some of the old buildings.  Some of the buildings have been restored and adapted with offices which is nice, and the centre of the airfield is now planted with winter wheat.  I wonder what they will do with it in years to come…I don’t know if anyone is interested in old RAF bases, but I have put together some pics for my Dad with maps to show where each pic was taken from.. linky.

The runways are still in place there, and I walked all the way round and up to the village of Stowe by Chartley where my Dad was billeted.  “I am 18 again!” says he on the phone after he looked at the photo gallery!

Mr Tesco came this morning, what a nice guy he is bringing our groceries right up to the boat along the bumpy lane.  We had walked to the main road thinking that there would be no way he would fetch his van to the boat.. but nope, bumpity bump.. “Better check your eggs” says he passing them to me with a wry smile!

Walked the other way today to the village of Weston upon Trent, there were loads of chickens running loose on the towpath.. Meg has not seen chickens on the loose before.. phew just about stopped her from culling the small flock.. here too she would have liked to have been able to go play with the local sheep..

I am glad I am not the only one without a licence disc.  It seems there are quite a few.. Mo and Ness on Blamahahaha don’t have one.. nor do they have a blog that is working at the moment!.. Although if you follow this link through technorati you can see a bit of the latest posts.  Time for a change of blog software me thinks Mo?! The two D’s don’t have a Gold licence disc on NB Gypsy Rover.. either

“Don't worry Sue, we are also members of TUBA (Technically Unlicenced Boaters Association) despite personally presenting ourselves for a new Gold Licence on 22nd November at BW headquarters at the Grange in Watford.”

And hey what about this grumpy boater who commented on the last blog “All boats not showing a licence should be scuttled”!!! 

I jest, but as Les says, at least the wardens normally carry their hand held computers to check up on licence dodgers.

Hey, all these Gold Licences.. does that mean it is going to be a mass bloggers exodus from the canals to East Anglia for the summer then?

Finally.. look at the left hand column, my weight chart – not one pound dropped this week!