Saturday 30th May, Days Lock, River Thames
I awoke to the sight of reflected sunshine on the cabin roof; another good day in the making. Caleb and Madeleine arrived one nanosecond later; I must remember to check where they have installed the video camera.
After breakfast, we walked to Dorchester to have another look at the Abbey and on the way back, to buy a paper. The grandchildren had a free hand wash by courtesy of Barney, an 18 month old Labrador who, together with his owner, was sharing the same path into the village.
We passed by a stall selling plants and free range eggs; displaying two interesting notices. The first one explained that the egg boxes were inside the plastic container owing to the attention of birds that had been pecking them and cracking the eggs.
The second one was giving instructions as to where the money should be placed.
How lovely that such trust is still in evidence in places; even in the south!
At the main road junction, we saw a ‘For Sale’ sign on yet another closed pub that had been converted to housing and by the new fence and gravel drive, very recently.
This highly desirable residence could be yours for a mere £625,000. On second thoughts, this could be a useful second home; I must see about getting myself selected as a prospective Parliamentary candidate.
We arrived at the Abbey; the children busied themselves in the area set aside for them whilst we took in the splendour of the building once again. Outside and back in the village, we discovered that the Post Office does not sell newspapers; we were forced into the Coop shop.
I choose the verb carefully: the prices seem to us to be high for almost everything in stock. Their idea of lollies or ice creams for children has the prices starting at £1.35; you have been warned!
On our way back, we took a different path. This led across the allotments and between two large fields. We had gone a few hundred yards into the field when we heard a Skylark and saw it slowly ascending; the song was beautiful and to us, a constant source of wonder that the clear, pure sound travels so far.
We watched a Kite soaring around the area, effortlessly gaining height very fast.
I managed to slip on the edge of the grass bank whilst climbing onto the boat, something that we had been warning the grandchildren about. A bruise appeared on my shin almost as quickly as in a cartoon; and yes dear reader, it did hurt, but thank you for asking.
Mummy and Daddy collected Caleb and Madeleine after spending the afternoon with us all: Martlet is now very quiet. We will be fairly close to them for most of the summer and we hope that they will be joining us again soon.
2009 Totals – Locks 204; Miles 380; Bus pass uses 8
