Attacked by the Cob again

So last night the 'grill night' was not such a good deal to be had after all. I had the Sirloin steak which was cooked to perfection, but a lot of fat surrounded the meat so once that was all cut off I only had half the amount. Ian went for the mixed grill and his steak was nearly all gristle and the kidneys were not even cooked!  Lynda and Tony's meals fared a lot better but then you cant really go to wrong with Sea Bass. That said the company was brilliant and after we all trekked back to boat for coffee, they left us by 10pm, not wanting to walk the towpath in the dark.

We also had another visitation from the swan family before we left for the Rising Sun. They must have followed us all the way back to Shackerstone, a total of about 3 miles. Having left them looking well at Snarestone this morning, they arrived at the boat just after 6pm. I first became aware of the family when a knocking on the side of the boat made me look out of the galley window. I was happy to see them after the upset of yesterday and even though we were down to our last crust of bread, I pushed open the window to give them their supper. Now I wonder........ do swans remember???? No sooner had I started throwing the bread through the open window then the Cob launched itself at me hissing and pecking at the window frame, side of the boat and anything else that he could try to grab hold of. I jumped back pretty smartly I can tell you. I did continue to feed the cygnets but had to aim the bread through the window from a distance. I dont know if this family are exceptionally hungry but the Pen stole most of the bread from the mouths of her children. Is this normal behavior I wondered?  Especially as the cygnets are still quite young and totally reliant on the parents. Having closed the window to stop any more attack on the boat, they swam off in the direction of the aqeduct.

Looks like the Cob is giving me the evil eye!

Today we have traveled the grand total of 1 mile. Our aim was to find a mooring with a wide enough towpath to store our roof furniture while we painted the roof and definitely no overhanging trees. We found exactly what we were looking for by bridge 47.

Roof ready for a wash

Ian has already painted the green strip along the roof edge, mushroom collars and round the Houdini hatch. Tomorrow we start masking up and then if weather is favorable, the painting will start.

I am not going to do an 'And finally' tonight. Instead I want show these photos taken today. They are a bit fuzzy in places but then again I was quite a long way from the action. I thought this might be of interest.