Wednesday 12^th September. Spent a most enjoyable evening with Jonathan and Julie last night – thank you both for the food and the wine – it all added to the enjoyment of trying to find our way back to the boat through a wood, following a footpath up the side of a field, dodging the puddles on the towpath and trying not to fall in the water – this accompanied by Brigid constantly calling out: ‘Slow down, my legs aren’t as long as yours and you’ve got the torch!’ Anyway we made it safely back and a quick check on the fridge showed that the temperature was dropping. Off to bed.

Woke up feeling decidedly chilly with wall-to-wall drizzle outside. Also, the fridge still isn’t working! After its initial burst of enthusiasm it has gone back to being just as warm (or cold) as the rest of the boat. Decided to give up for today, light a fire and hibernate. The weather did clear a bit during the morning so we walked along the towpath to Disley where we bought some milk – only 1 pint which will last us long enough – more eggs and bacon and vegetables. We met Phil the butcher and in the greengrocers had a long chat about narrowboats with the owner who had lived aboard for 9 years but was selling her boat because they couldn’t stand the frozen in winters on the canal. Have included a picture of a heron that didn’t fly off as we approached it. 

Usually these birds take flight as soon as they see you but this one just looked disdainfully down its beak humming ‘Walk on bye’ to itself. Gastronomically a good day with lamb chops at lunch time and pork risotto for supper. The only problem now is that I don’t know what day it is – you see, we only have a cooked midday meal on Sunday and pottering about all day with the fire alight, etc., it feels just like Sunday! Never mind, I’m sure I’ll adjust – in time.