Messing About on the River

 ... or, more accurately, the canal.

Last year we booked to hire a small narrow boat for the day with a group of friends but, inevitably, the pandemic intervened. Twice. Yesterday we finally got our day cruise at the third attempt. Most of us met originally through brass banding and it has become a friendship group that we all value highly - although we have a wide mix of ages and personalities, we share a similar sense of humour and enjoy each other's company. It is also one of those rare and valuable truly supportive groups where if anyone needs help, someone will step up and give it. 

After a rainy day on Friday the weather cleared and it was a lovely sunny day. It was a very, very slow boat - narrow boats are a very leisurely form of transport, and this one had a maximum speed considerably slower than walking pace - so we didn't get very far. We chugged up the canal for a couple of hours, stopped for a picnic lunch, then turned round and chugged back. After we handed the boat back we went to the pub next door for an early dinner. Some of us hadn't seen each other since before the winter lockdown, so it was lovely to have the opportunity to catch up.

Today we had planned to do another leg of the Thames Path through London, but after a busy week we decided we didn't have the energy and would rather have a lazy day. We did manage a walk into town and went into Waitrose to pick up a few things. When we got to the checkout we discovered they were having the day from hell as their tills were not talking to Visa, contactless payments wouldn't work at all, and card payments were being very erratic. I normally pay using Apple Pay on my phone or watch, but for once I had actually put a card in my pocket, but the machine refused to accept it. A helpful but frazzled member of staff tried various things, but in the end we had to go and find an ATM and withdraw some cash. After we got home I spent a couple of hours relaxing in the hammock in the garden. After the miserable May weather I am so enjoying being able to spend time outdoors.