Mellowed out.

We set the alarm for 0330 and duly got up to see the lunar eclipse. What a beautiful sky there was the stars and constellations were easily visible and only the light pollution prevented us seeing the Milky Way disc. Venus was very bright indeed and looked like a hovering helicopter. It took me back to being at sea and taking star sights, before the days of GPS. Every day, morning and evening, I would take sights of about six or eight stars. It is surprising how many I have remembered and can recognise. I used the air tables which meant that you can pre-compute and set the sextant ready for each sight. The trick was waiting until the the stars were visible but the horizon was still visible as you have to line up the star with the horizon to obtain the altitude. Nautical twilight is actually when the sun is a diameter below the horizon. It was a matter of setting the sextant to the expected altitude and looking along the expected bearing. Once aligned with the horizon you had to count as you walked to the chronometer so as to get an exact time of the sight. It was extremely rewarding to have six or eight position lines, one from each sight, cross together in a small 'cocked hat'. There was a great satisfaction in crossing the great oceans and with nothing more than sun and star sights arrive exactly where you expected to.

Sadly not my photo but one from the Evening Standards site. Whilst we were star and moon gazing Macy the cat got out. She is grey and at night we take her collar off so she was out like a ghost. We wondered where the plantif cries were coming from at about 0530. Mind you we left out there until our normal hour to teach her a lesson!

What an absolutely brilliant morning. First thing there wasn't a cloud in the sky and sun was delicious on the back with not a breath of wind as we approached out first lock of the day. No.10 on the Athertone flight is even slower than the rest.

This time of year is by far my most favourite. The light is special as the sun is low and the leaves are changing. I love this weather when the air is still and the sun shines. There is a nip in the air when out of the sun or early morning/late evening, but when the sun is warming you it has a special feeling. I real sense of well being passes through the body and the oft used word 'mellow' seems to be appropriate. It is like the feeling when you have been gardening all day and then get into bed. The body relaxes and the warmth of the duvet just makes you want to purr like a cat. The spring is okay as there is a bursting of new life, but it gives you a feeling of hectic activity. Autumn has the feeling of a job well done and a well being before the harshness of the coming winter. This gives it a feeling of a slower pace and so a melancholy to it all. 

Even the close proximity of the main railway line did nothing to change my mood. The trains, especially the Pendalinos, give me a sense of power and a journey.

The leaves haven't started to fall yet but they are lacking the vibrant greens of the spring and are just about to change to the yellows and browns before falling. We pottered along not wanting to really arrive anywhere as the journey was the thing. We allowed this boat to pass so as not to disturb the feeling.

I like these canal building just by the bridge at Polesworth. Just past here we watched a sparrow hawk plucking a wood pigeon that it had just caught.

What bloke wouldn't love to have a little tug like this to play with. I'm sure somebody will have bagged a bargain. It is sat at Narrow Craft at Alvecote and I can't wait to see it when it is finished.

We tied up a little further past Alvecote Marina in the sunshine. After lunch I set to touching up some paint work and checking the batteries and measuring up jobs for the winter. Helen was very busy baking ginger biscuits and a victoria sponge and preparing a fruit loaf for tomorrow.

We then went for a walk to Alvecote Priory ruins just past the Marina towards Polesworth. The Priory was founded in 1159 but was always small with only about four monks living there. After Henry VIII did his thing with the establishment the ruins were incorporated into a country house in the early 18th Century. We went looking to see if the pears were ripe. We had picked loads last year but there were very few this year and were definitely not ripe. 

We left the pears but picked up far too many horse chestnuts to act as spider deterrents over the winter. The oils form last years nuts will have waned so to try to keep spiders out during the lay up we will replenish them with new. Just the other side of this building is the canal. It could be mistaken for a pill box. But no, it was built in 1291 and is a dove cote for the original Priory and is a listed building.

The dove cote still have about 300 nest holes so it must have been very big when in use. To try to save it for the future the roof has been remade of concrete which was what made me think it may have been a pill box. It is amazing to think the a 700 year old building is just next to the canal, with not even a sign to explain what it is! These old derelict buildings added to me feeling of something coming to an end, and the fact that we are almost at the end of our shortened cruise this year, gives me a some glum outlook today.