We have arrived!

We are here! The girls are very excited to see that we have chosen
Wicksteed park for our picnic, and cannot wait to go on some rides!

Off we go..

Today we have told Amelia and Hermione that we are going for a picnic,
which we are. We just haven't told them where we are going! They are
excited enough about the picnic so we can't wait to see their faces
when we arrive in about an hour! Check back soon to see where we are
going!

Messing about on the Welland!

>

> It was just before 2pm on Friday when my dad arrived. I had already
loaded the paddles and buoyancy aids into my car so we loaded up one
of the canoes on the roof and headed to the river in town. I left
dad on the river bank with the canoe while I went back for the other.

Soon I was back and we wasted no time in getting the canoes onto the
river Welland! It was fantastic to finally be on the river with my
dad, we last went canoeing together about 8 years ago on the river
Nene at Denford.

I was amazed to see how much weed has grown in the short time since
I went with my brother, Ashley. There are long strtches of green on
the surface... I was just as amazed (and rather dissapointed) to
see how much litter was in the river this time. I suspect a lot of
it has blown down from Stamford meadows since the 'Rock the meadows'
music festival last month. The next time I am out I will take a bin
bag and some rubber gloves and start clearing it up.

We went east to the weir that my brother and I stopped at. We too
stopped for a cuppa but no bacon sandwiches this time! We saw the
nest that my brother and I saw with the egg in it. It now has two
babies in it which I failed to get a picture of due to not wanting
to disturb them too much. The iPhone has a poor camera on it and I
didn't want to get too close.

We were out for a few very enjoyable hours before we loaded the
canoes up and headed to the pub for a few drinks before going home
for an Italian take-away.

Bottled the blush!

After a long wait the blush wine is finally bottled and ready to drink!

Fresh garden peas!

On Sunday we ate some peas and a few broad beans which the girls had
great fun picking and shelling.. Yum yum!

First potato harvest from containers!

A few days ago my daughters, Amelia and Hermione, had great fun
digging through the compost in one of my containers for new potatoes.
We ate them when we did the BBQ on Saturday when my brother visited.

Messing about on the river.

I had been looking forward to this day all week. Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of sharing one of my favourite hobbies with my brother, Ashley.  He and his partner Charlotte arrived in the morning and Ashley helped me load the canoes onto the cars, one on my car and one on my wife's car.  We then made our way through town to the car park at Stamford meadows only to find that the bridge had been closed for 'rock on the meadows' music festival.  So we had to mess around finding another suitable put in.

We eventually found a spot under some trees where we were able to finally get onto the River Welland.  Ashley was suprised at how 'wobbly' the canoe felt initially but he soon relaxed into it and off we paddled towards the town bridge.  We took our time, admiring some of the old
buildings that line the river.  We were amazed by the clarity of the water and the huge number of fish that we saw, next time I may take the
fishing rod!

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Soon we were passing under a footbridge and heading out of town towards the weir which was to be our breakfast stop.  As we neared the
weir we spotted what looked like an abandoned ducks nest so we went over to take a look.  There was an egg still inside so after a quick
photo we left it alone incase the mother was nearby wanting to get back to it.

We were soon at the weir and so out came the single ring gas stove.  Some may say that's cheating but I don't see the need for a proper fire just to cook some smoked bacon and make a cup of tea..

We hung around for a while chatting about when we were kids before packing up and making our return trip.  We got home and after unloading the canoes we fired up the BBQ and enjoyed lunch with our partners and my daughters.

It was fantastic to have my brother along for the trip, we don't see much of each other anymore and I hope that we can do this together more often, perhaps including my other siblings if they fancy trying it!  Thank you Ashley for a great day and thank you Elissa for ferrying one of the canoes to and from the river on your car for us!

Homebrew time!

Just got home from work and thought I better 'sample' the homebrew
before I give some to my brother, Ashley, on Saturday! It's rather
nice actually, a little watery perhaps, which means it needs to mature
for a while longer.

Looking after the old girl!

There is not much happening at work at the moment so I took the time
today to give the oldest truck on our fleet a good check over and
flushed the hoses.

I've just been to the fire section at work to use their hydrant to
fill my truck and thought some might like to see one of the airfield
fire trucks that they use... Ok, so actually I just like posting from
my iPhone now I figured out how!! Any excuse to post something now!

My pepper plants, I'm particularly pleased with these.

Amelia inspecting the potatoes!

My pees and broad beans.

I've just been out and watered my tomato plants before I go to work,
they are coming on well now. I am growing peppers, tomatoes, peas,
beans, carrots and more. All in containers because I have no room for
a veggie patch at the new house, and all grown from seed...

Bottling the homebrew!