Family Day

Sometimes you find that things you need at home are on the boat.  This week I started the process of relicensing Briar Rose (the current licence was bought by the previous owner, so this is the first time we've licensed which means we have to start from scratch with a full application form) only to find that some of the paperwork I needed was on the boat.

As it happens, I was due at my parents today because my sister and her family are visiting, so I had a very enjoyable day with my two neices, Rachel and Emily.  They had belated Christmas and birthday presents to open, and Emily quite liked sitting in a cardboard box.

We went for a walk in the woods, and Rachel enjoyed climbing a tree.  Both girls are now owners of Tilley Hats, much to the delight of their father (although the child versions are rather more colourful than the adult ones).

I left there at 6.30pm, heading for Briar Rose.  The journey should have been about an hour and a half, but one of the Dartford Tunnels was closed, causing a long delay.  Then there are 50mph sections on the M25 and the M1, so it was almost dark by the time I got here.  It's clearly been raining a lot here because there are large puddles, so with luck the reservoirs serving this part of the Grand Union are gradually filling up.  It promises to be quite a cold night, so I lit the fire as soon as I arrived, and it's going well.