Living Aboard Vincent Joseph: 15th April

We're now well on our way down the Grand Union towards London, having left Braunston as soon as Easter was over.

On our way to London

The holiday weekend saw an explosion of boating activity on the cut - over the winter we've become used to seeing only the occasional boat passing, but suddenly it was like being on a watery M1! It was lovely to spend time with various grandchildren while they were off school, and as always to see friends while still close to home.

Roger with Jim and Norma

Most days we have made the effort to get up early and set off after just a cup of tea, getting several miles and/or locks under our belts before mooring up for a well-earned brunch of sausage and eggs. The weather has been mixed - some glorious sunny days, interspersed with cold rainy hours when we needed to dress up in full wet-weather gear. The trees have burst into leaf, the flowers are blooming,

Daffodils in a canal cottage garden

and as for the wildlife .... love is in the air,and we've spotted many besotted couples, be they ducks, moorhens, geese, swans,

Nesting swan

and even a pair of herons,

Heron attempting to swallow breakfast

usually solitary sentinels on the bank.

We travelled from Braunston through Weedon, Stoke Bruerne, the long and very leaky Blisworth Tunnel (1and 3/4 miles) past the juntion with the Northampton Arm, bringing memories of our trip on the River Nene last autumn;

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard,

A sunny morning at Berkhampstead

Berkhampstead and are now at Hemel Hempstead, having resisted the temptation to divert down the Aylesbury or Wendover Arms. We met a working boat selling fuel halfway to Hemel,

Buying diesel from a passing boat

and took the opportunity to fill our diesel cans while waiting for him to vacate a lock!

We've seen lots of interesting boats (an increasing number of wide-beams the nearer London we get)