...And home

We packed half our gear into the car last night so there wasn't too much to do today. It was all in the cars by 08:00 this morning and we made our way toward the M5. Surprisingly there wasn't much traffic about and even Cribs Causeway was quiet.
Home by 10:15 and Lucy was first to find herself somewhere to shoot the zeds...

Nice and warmy by the fire.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you blog readers.

It's Christmas Day aboard the good ship Tranquility and all is well.
We've sampled the sloe gin made from September's crop picked locally, and very nice it is too. To water things down a bit we're now on the elderflower presse.
The turkey is in, as are the vegetables, the table is laid and Pink Floyd is playing in the background.
Outside it's trying to rain, but the strong winds haven't arrived yet, but I'm sure it'll get windy soon. (And nothing to do with Brussels Sprouts).

After a belly full of Turkey, some zeds are required!

Rain wind, wind rain sort of a day.

It hammered down in the early hours of the morning and we waited for it to abate before making our move. Although it was still windy the sunshine was pleasant as we wended a our way back to the marina.
I noticed, today, that the cow parsley has its first new leaves poking through the ground. Spring has sprung?
I realise I've been a bit short on pix in recent blogs, so here's some more:-

Last nights mooring.

Oddingley...

We spent Christmas here a few years ago.

Shernal Green.

More of Shernal Green.

And more...

I remember when this was being built.

Hanbury Locks are deep!

Lucy?

Just settling down for some Zeds.

Best day of the week weather wise and au revoir to Worcester.

The forecast was for wall to wall sunshine but there were clouds, a lot of clouds, in fact there was a very light shower at one point.
I had to reverse TQ out of the basin as it was chock-a-block with boats and the space I intended to reverse into to turn around in had filled with another boat.
The trip back to Tibberton was in pleasant sunshine and light winds and we moored outside The Boat with the intention of going in for a meal. It was not to be as the chef was ill and there wasn't a temp so no food was being served. We had a nice drink near the coal fire in the bar and decided we'd eat on TQ instead.
Lucy?

Still in Zeds.

A stroll around Worcester.

Worcester is a lovely city, there are many small independent shops with a balanced measure of the larger chains, a 'High Street' precinct where traffic is severely restricted and a Cathedral of significant structure. It also boasts a canal, (Worcester and Birmingham) a river (The Severn) and a racecourse.
After some shopping we planned to go in the Pig and Drum for lunch but found it was closed! Shock Horror! So we went in the Horn and Trumpet instead. Oh! Dear, we sat right at the back and just through some nearby doors were the smokers. And every time someone opened the door the smoke blew in so we moved to the far end near the entrance.
I had a pint of Hob Goblin and Lin had a Bacardi and Coke. Oh! Dear, the ale was too cold and tasted brackish and I didn't drink it all, and the menu didn't look inspiring either so we left and bought fish and chips on the way back to the boat.

A shallow journey to Worcester

We slipped our moorings at around 08:30 this morning and wended our way toward Worcester. After negotiating the six Offerton Locks there was a small pound before Tolladine Lock and again to Black Pole Lock. We had a message from a passer by telling us that there was no water in the canal further ahead.
Sure enough it go very shallow after Bilford Locks and at Gregory's Mill Lock there were workmen clearing up having been repairing a culvert. We managed to get through the first lock but soon became grounded before the next. I had to let some extra water through the lock to get TQ floating again.
Through the lower lock and the water level was normal and we made it all the way to Lowesmoor Basin.

TQ in a packed Lowesmoor Basin.

We had a late lunch in O'Neils, mine was a Steak and Guinness pie with chips and peas, Lin had a burger with bacon and cheese. Both were very nice and for once the pie was a proper pie, not some minced beef in a bowl with a flakey pastry topping. I hate that, it's cheap and cheating.

Back aboard TQ, now and I watched a Fast and Furious movie while Lin fell asleep.

Lucy?

zzzZZZ! 

We'll stay here for a couple of nights and explore the City.

And then there were three.

Lin arrived this morning after a good journey up the M5, and after unpacking more supplies we went into Droitwich to fill the car with petrol because we'll be going home on Boxing day and there won't be many garages open.
We've moved out of the marina and headed South toward Worcester and stopped in a nice little spot near Tibberton.

Lucy?...

Zedsville!

Last job completed. Now I'm on holiday.

Yeah, the new bathroom extractor fan is fitted. No problem with this one, twist the bezel to remove it and unscrew the four (three in this case) retaining screws. Disconnect the wires and connect the new fan. Refit the screws and bezel and swap the halogen capsule for the LED. Job done.

The Kenwood mini mixer we use for Lucy's food developed a bare wire where it enters the cable strain. The conductor wasn't exposed, but the inner insulation was.
It's held together with two normal screws and one security screw which meant a modification to a cheap (Christmas cracker) screwdriver. The cable is soldered into a circuit board so it was out with the soldering iron to remove the old wires and re-terminate after cutting off the damaged cable. Another one done, almost as good as new.

Lucy's mini mixer.

This is where the damage was.

Busy with this and that.

Had a fix it day today, out with the old and in with the new. First up, which I thought was going to be an easy job was to change the carbon filter element on the black water tank breather. Reach in and unscrew the cap, pull out the old filter and replace with new, screw the cap back on. Nah! I had a job getting the new filter in, it seemed slightly bigger in diameter than the old one and it was definately longer by about 6mm. The cap would not go back on, every time it would end up cross threaded. I tried taking the filter out and screwing the cap back on without, but no, still no joy.
Ended up taking out the 'O' ring seal from the cap, putting the filter in and hey presto, it fits. It'll still seal, as there's a ridge inside the cap to retain the 'O' ring and this sits down onto the foam end of the filter.

Domestic water pump next and this had been leaking internally for quite some while. Every minute or so the pump would pulse to regenerate the pressure, a nuisance at night when you're trying to sleep.

This was a straight forward swap as there was a repaired one standing by next to the one in use. Firstly isolate the pump electrically and turn off the water valve from the tank. Disconnect the old and reconnect the new - simples! All went well this time and water now pumps merrily on demand without repeat pulsing.
Then there was the gas regulator, this was relatively easy to sort, turn off at the cylinder and remove the regulator and hose. Replace with new using new Jubilee clips on the hose. Tested for leaks using the approved gas detection fluid, all OK.

Note the new regulator is a hand tighten type, no need for spanners.

Oh! Hello. T time? Thought so.

Bathroom extractor fan tomorrow - stay tuned for another exciting adventure.

Christmas will soon be here.

I went to work this morning and using up the last of my holiday entitlement before the end of the year meant I could leave at 09:15 hours. Hardly worth going in for but they insist right down to the last minute.
Got home and after a few chores began packing the car. Had an awful journey, busy traffic and heavy rain most of the way, but made it safely.
There are a few little jobs I need to do first while I'm on my own, Lin has to work on Saturday so will be joining me on Sunday. Gives me a chance to get things done, you know how it is.
Had a lovely tea, cottage pie and mushy peas, a ready meal from Chez Moi, it was delicious.

Oh! Hello, it must be tea time for you too.

More tomorrow.