Another Month!

As another month passes by and the daffodils and crocus are starting to appear are we in for another cold spell to the beginning of March? The much milder second half of February that we are experiencing continues through to the end of the month before the new month brings a pattern change. Even some significant accumulations of snow are on the cards once more in a very unsettled start! In like a lion and hopefully out like a lamb so the saying goes.

Anyway for the first time this year we've been out onto the system having been unable to travel due to the icy conditions of previous weeks. I took the cruise out alone on Sunday as Dee was working but now she has her own set of wheels things are much simpler. Mooring up around bridge 101 enabled Dee to drive over afterwards, parking at a spot which is a 10 minute towpath walk to our 3 day mooring. We had an excellent 3 days with only about a dozen boats passing us during our stay. A pleasant change to the hoards of weekend traffic that now appear on this particular stretch. What was striking is the amount of work now being carried out by British Waterways (pictured) in relation to tow path repair. The banks looked in far better condition than on previous cruises and a lot of armco metal protection was being installed. However, no room for complacency as a lot more work is still required.

For me my conservation work is still continuing in earnest at Brandon Marsh and I find myself spending more and more time on the reserve. I'm now looking forward to the coming months as the other team members tell me that as Spring arrives, naturally so do our Summer resident birds. I look forward with great anticipation.
We made our annual jaunt to the National Boat and Caravan Outdoor Show at the Birmingham NEC on the 18th and were not really surprised to find a somewhat smaller show. Having said that the displays of narrowboats on offer seems to have increased, a sign of hard selling in difficult times maybe!

For those of you subscribers to our blog who are interested in how the heating is going (Johnny for one) I can report that a breakdown of 2 hours is the only hitch this winter. A choked up glow plug and wick being the downfall on this occasion. The Kabola however is another matter with regular cleaning required, even though I fully serviced it in October. A real fire installation draws ever closer.
A far as Red Diesel is concerned and the loss of our rebated price last November we are not suffering as yet. Currently we are using all purchased supplies for heating, with the exception of last weeks cruise and in fairness to our marina are getting a further 10p a litre discount as a moorer, 57P the current price for heating. To avoid any confusion and not having a second fuel tank I've safely rigged up a double jerry can system into the engine bay compartment and am using this solely to feed the Mikuni central heating system. It works perfectly with a weekly top up.

Well not much more to report for February, the wedding plans for Canada in May are on track and Dee is flying off to Scotland for the week so It will be birding all the way for me next week. That's the feathered kind of course!!! Talking of which I'm delighted to have completed my new birding blog which can be accessed here or from the side bar.