We are now old hands at eating outside having spent the past ten days searching for pubs with gardens which are selling food. One or two seem to use covid as an excuse to do less for the customer but others have risen to the challenge. We quickly came to the conclusion that lunchtime or mid afternoon meals are preferable to the evening as it has been very cold, we have had a couple of meals where we have been wearing woolly hats although we have not had to resort to gloves as well. Most customers seem to be showing good British spirit by pretending to enjoy the experience but I suspect this enthusiasm will wane soon unless it warms up although on the plus side it has not rained (yet). All the pubs which have opened have been very busy.
One disappointment was the basin in the centre of Loughborough, the picture on this page shows its rather sad and neglected state, it could be really lively, it seems such a shame.
Today we had a rest day and were joined by Ray and Gael who have the misfortune to live in Scotland where eating out under any circumstances is still banned (they escaped due to work commitments – just in case they get reported to the covid police). In fact it was the first meal out they have had since last October so perhaps it was a miracle that they could remember the etiquette. Ray was so overcome by the experience he insisted in paying which was very generous and most uncalled for. The picture shows three relaxed folk having returned to the boat to sample a glass of very nice wine to wash down the lunch. Gael took the photo. After lunch Gill and I had a slow cruise back to the bottom of the Foxton locks which we tackle tomorrow. Ray and Gael returned to their daughters house (which is nearby) to do a bit of baby sitting.
The locks are part of the Grand Union Canal, we will then no longer be on rivers which the regular narrowboaters get terribly excited about and talk of floods and danger.
We are now at the stage of the holiday where we are counting the number of days left (six) and therefore the number of tee shirts and pairs of underpants required before going home. We are also running short of wine having brought what I thought would be a sufficient number of bottles. So this morning we had an early morning excursion to the supermarket to buy a few more bottles as well as stocking up the kitchen, we don’t think there will be many places open for food on the next stage of our exciting adventure. But you never know, we might find a pub garden, in the sunshine with some decent food.