Hand Signals and Other Ramblings

As we have been in Diggle for a couple of days 
I thought I would use this opportunity to tell you stuff I had meant to tell you before.  We are heading to Upper Mill tomorrow so if you are wanting boaty type of post then check in after tomorrow and your prayers will be answered.  If , however you are happy to carry on reading my ramblings then feel free to do so :0)


The first thing I wanted to show you was one of the things that had been made by the women at the Craft Cafe in Marsden.  It was sitting on the stairs as we made our way up to the cafe. 

I also spotted some pretty orange flowers next to one of the locks.  I thought they may have been wild marigolds or something.  But it turns out that they were Orange Hawkweed.  No medicinal qualities that I can find which is a shame, but apparently the name Hawkweed is a slang name taken from folklore which says that hawks would chew on the plant to improve their eyesight. They look nice next to the sink anyway and they brighten my day when I look at them.

I also collected some Red Clover Blossoms between the reservoir and Marsden.  I knew they had medicinal qualities but couldn't remember what they were.  When I checked I found out they are traditionally used for menopause issues!  lol ideal for me at the moment ;0)  They help balance the oestrogen levels during that time. Also it can apparently be used in herbal cancer fighting treatments. So I am going to have a play with that and see if it helps me with the hot flushes.






With regard to hand signals and communicating with each other whilst at opposite sides of the lock I would like to share this with you :0)  


Over the last couple of months Yogi and I have developed a basic understanding of each others had signals for transferring information to each other.  ie 'the lock needs do empty apx 3 feet out of it before you can go in so wait there' This would be signalled by one hand on head and other at waist, to show the approximate amount of water in the lock.  'The gates are closed' would be slapping finger tips together whilst hands are in shape of gate.  LOL this is really hard to describe LOL  Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is because I had a new one the other day.  'That noise that you can hear is not coming from Silver Blue, its coming from the blow hole next to the paddle gear'.  I wont even try to explain what I did I will leave that to your imagination lol

To the left is my state of the art blister prevention device.  I am pondering taking out a patent to protect my marvellous idea!!  Its just a tube of felt over the windlass, I know it looks a lot more complicated than that, but really, its not. lol


Lastly, I took the opportunity to grab some shopping in town.  I  arranged to meet Pamela  there on Saturday for a spot of lunch and supply collecting.
It was at lunch  when it all went a bit pear-shaped!  The journey there took 40 minutes on the bus, highlighted by the driver stopping on route to have a fag, which felt most unusual I have to say!!  
As I said, it was only supposed to be lunch, sewing shop, butchers, Tesco's, home. Unfortunately it turned into lunch, 3 bottles of wine, sewing shop, butchers, another bottle of wine, miss last bus back, get bus to Marsden, wait at bus stop in torrential rain for a cab to take me the rest of the way.  Needless to say I wasn't the most popular boat wife in the world when I got home at 9pm :0(


So today I have been nursing the most enormous hangover, feeling sorry for myself and basically being a pathetic excuse for a human being.  Hopefully we will be back to normality tomorrow. Normality??? What am I saying!!!