Abbi and Jan Visit

Saturday 14th May, 2016 at Willoughby.
Awoke to a lovely sunny morning.

M, while sitting quietly with her first cup of tea, was delighted to see a reed bunting perch in the hedge beside MM. It was the first one that she had seen for many years.

We got to know Jan and Abbi at Mary Arden's Farm where they provide the falconry displays and Jan acts as "Master Palmer", the owner of the Palmer House. They live close by to where we are moored and tonight they are coming to dinner on MM, so we needed to go shopping in Daventry six miles away and R researched the bus times. On the way to the bus stop, we dropped in to see Abbi in Willoughby, where they are building a new house so that they can have all their birds close to hand. Thus far the foundations are in - so there is still a huge amount of work to do - not least because they are doing it themselves.
The Waitrose in Daventry is a big store, even larger than when M worked there in 1977, so the "few bits" that M bought more than filled two large shopping bags. Thankfully for R, it was not too far from the bus stop to MM!
Lots of boats on the move today, probably because of the good weather. An unwelcome guest was a large crow who boldly perched on MM's tiller arm before walking noisily across the roof and leaving large muddy footprints!

When we remonstrated with him, he went and sat on the top of the hedge and glared at us.

Very welcome guests were Jan and Abbi, who arrived about 7:00pm, having walked up from Willoughby.

We had a super evening together and it was lovely to get to know them better as their modern selves rather than their Tudor alter egos - Master Palmer and Mistress Abbi.
Today: Just 2.6 hours for power.
Trip: 71 miles, 24 locks and 44.6 hours.