Hanging around Brum, again

It's been a month since my last blog entry but life has been a bit 'full on' so I hope I'm forgiven.

Ray's surgery went well, and he is now well on the way to recovery. He was in hospital a bit longer than we hoped because he developed a slight chest infection but as he was in less than two weeks I suppose that's fairly good after major surgery.

While he was in hospital I didn't seem to have any time to myself, so much of my time was spent travelling back and forth. When we are both here we share the workload but there was no less work to do on board but just me to do it and only half the time to do it in.

Just to add to my stress Gwynnie decided to go missing for four days. It did result in an example of social media at its best however. I know many people don't like Facebook etc. and there are many things about the whole social media thing that aren't good. However, Tracey, one of my fellow traders put messages out on Facebook and managed to contact the University and because of that Gwynnie was found, she had gone visiting the Uni, possibly followed my scent because I walked through there to get the bus. Some students had felt sorry for her when it was cold and wet and fed her, and even took her into their flat one night. In the four days she was there she became quite well known. Well, she is a very sociably cat. I had tried calling for her in the Uni grounds but it covers a huge area. When someone spotted her photo they got in touch with Tracey, who let me know so I went over and after being pointed in the direction where she had last been seen by various students we were reunited.

The Hobbins clan came to visit while Ray was still in hospital and then last Saturday they and the Bristol Jones came for a visit. We spent some time at the Christmas Market and then managed to all cram onto Morgana for a while. Ray wasn't up to the trek round the market but enjoyed seeing everyone.

Once Ray was back home we moved back into the center of Birmingham which is where we are now. We are probably going to move in the next couple of days as we now have a nearly four week break before Ray's next hospital appointment. Ray isn't yet back to normal but is beginning to be able to do more each day. He took the tiller for our trip to the boatyard and services today, but I was the one hauling 25k sacks of coal onto the top of the boat and replacing the gas cylinders.

Even though we have permission to 'overstay' I don't feel comfortable with it. There is  residential mooring available near here. CRT operated an auction system for moorings so we have no guarantee of getting it but we are considering bidding for it. We will have to remain in the area for at least 3 months, probably 6 months for Ray's chemotherapy so it would be good to have a base.

Since my last post we have travelled 5.4miles and 2 tunnels

This year we have travelled 436.1 miles, 420 locks, 7 swing bridges, 15 lift bridges and 28 tunnels

In 2012 we travelled 876.9 miles, 675 locks,  55 swing bridges, 23 lift bridges and 31 tunnels

In 2011 we travelled 461.4 miles, 444 locks, 3 swing bridges, 34 lift bridges and 15 tunnels

During 2010 we travelled 740.3 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels

Since Ray retired we have travelled 2514.7miles, 2181 locks, 118 swing bridges, 76 lift bridges and 99 tunnels