15 October 2023

Sunday! The day of rest!!! So we did!!! We took it easy today and it was a perfect day do just that. We had pushed ourselves pretty hard this last week and it was time to sit back and bask in the sunshine.

The sun shone ALL DAY! The birds were chirping ( if geese honking counts) and everything was good!

We had a leisurely breakfast before drawing tasks for the day. Once again, no one was in charge, but it was a bit of a worry that Judi drew Mutineer again!! I think something may be brewing! The rest of us were kept below decks in menial roles. (Grahame was Cabin boy, I was Galley Slave and John was General Dogsbody.) Today, it didn’t matter!

We weighed anchor much later than usual and started heading back down the Llangollen Canal. It was clear and crisp and the mist was rising.

We putt-putt-putted along, enjoyed the sun on our backs and just soaked it all in.

We helped out at a couple of locks, meeting up with the people we crossed the aqueduct behind yesterday.

The general conversation was naturally weather related. “Beautiful day’”, “Great weather”, “How nice is that sunshine”, “Much better than Wednesday”!

John and Judi had morning Tiller duties so once I’d cleaned the galley, I snuck up on deck with a cuppa and put my feet up. Life as a galley slave isn’t all that bad!!

Even the cows the sheep and the ducks were having a great day.

Around midday we arrived at the Montgomery canal turnoff and the bridge number system changed. No more “W” ( Wales???? ) bridges.

Not long after Bridge 61, we moored and went exploring the village of Ellesmere.

We had hoped to have Sunday Roast at one of the pubs, but no such luck. England were playing Fiji in the Rugby later in the day and the pubs were not taking anymore lunch bookings despite having plenty of spare tables. Oh well, that’s their loss!

We wandered down to the Mere, or lake, and back up through the High Street before we came across “The Swan” for a quick cleansing ale and then, a Chippie! We bought Fish and Chips, instead of a Sunday roast, and ate back on board Ellie. Not so shabby!!!

Grahame and I shared the driving after lunch.

We “putted” (max.speed 4 mph) past those other Meres from a few days ago. They looked much nicer in the sunshine.

As the sun set on what was a perfect day, we moored up near the little village of Bettisfield.

We celebrated our day with a bevvy or two and a cheese plate for dinner.

Grahame and I had a win at Euchre in yet another nail biter. John and I are both on 5, Grahame is on 4 and Judi is on 2.

I’m pretty sure we’ve got a big day of locks tomorrow and regardless of what the weather throws at us, we can rejoice in the fact that today was perfect!!