A(nother) Splendiferous Early-Morning Round-Trip Trip to the Bins, the Water Tap, and the Outside Lav

The header image is of the Cardinal performing a fouetté virage en trois points in the winding hole at Bunbury this morning. We’ve almost turned to head back the way we came.

I opened my piggy little blood-shot peepers at 0530hrs this morning, and the madness was upon me. To be more accurate, of late should I try to sneak in another quick snooze I have been subject to the most peculiar dreams, so I got up instead.

Example: yesterday morning’s snooze-time dream saw me in a hotel that I think was the old vicarage from my youth at Hartford, a hotel where some sort of funicular mountain-railway ski-lift with v.dodgy rails indeed ferried passengers to their rooms, miles away and uphill, in entirely separate buildings. Suffice it to say that I was the subject of much approbation and woke with the usual feelings of utter non-adequacy. Not wanting a repeat of same, I didn’t put my head back on the pillow for a snooze this morning…

At about 05:50 Messrs Engine-Room answered the Chadburn and we spun the planet slowly beneath us*.

*It’s a point of view. Other points of scientifical viewpointery are available, see interwebnettings for details, and choose one that suits you.

I love that time of day. There’s absolutely no blanket social obligation on me to be Composted Mentos, and even the Bark-Bark dogs of the S-Bend bridge were still a-bed in their kennels.

As hoped, the Service wharf was the exact opposite of full. Splendid, most splendid indeed. Potable water, main water tank, rubbish to the bins, gazunders de-gazundered in the sluice room. Since there was nay b’ger about I took the ottorpunity to give the solar panels a swift wash down with more water than they ordinarily see from Old Stinge-Bucket.

Servicing took about half of a modern hour. All things water first, then rubbish, then gazunders and then a quick trip back to the bins with soiled perv-gloves and wipey-wipey paper towel as used to cleany-weany. Then a hand-scrub and then back out among the vast oil-tankers and cruise-liners of the main channel…

Had I wanted to moor at Calveley there was room a-plenty, but I didn’t – I’ve recently been there, and I mun show the Canal Rozzers my freshly-washed pink little arse face cheeks in different places, hoping to be seen by the raggedy-tag “system”. Sometimes Calveley is full from bridge to horizon – usually when I do want to moor there.

Once past the hijacked “visitor moorings” it am most ‘portant morethanusual to pass moored boats on the slow and slow, since they’ll all be moored on pins. Tis easy to pull a boat off the bank, and popular it does not make one, Little One.

I passed like wind in the night.

I also remembered, wonder of wonders, to bung the old polarising shades (prescription: Coke-Bottle Bottoms, as usual) out and in easy reach. Heading roughly north the sun warms one’s wotsit, but after turning, heading south is akin to flying into a Java sun.

SBD does it, Cardinal.

The night vapours had largely cleared by the hour of our return journey, although warmth was still missing, presumed “couldn’t be bothered, in action”.

Once more under the old S-Bend Bridge hereabouts – with Messrs Guard-Dawgs still a-bed in their kennels – no barkery want-to-killery – and back from whence we’d come, albeit volte face.

There’s a sort of kind of ish lay-by right on top of the bridge, and this morning there was what I took to be a long-distance lorry parked up there. All of the cab curtains were closed, so I assumed that the driver was off-shift and asleep – and I forewent the customary use of Mr Horn.

How polite am I?

😉

Once moored up again I brewed a small litre of thick, black coffee, consumed it and promised myself another sometime this after of the noon. I spoil myself rotten sometimes.

There are boats moving now as I type this. I do hope that none of them ever experience the supercalifragilisticexpialidociousnessnous of cruising at or soon after dawn. I would rather that the practice become no more popular than it already is. 😉

I wonder if I can get away with a brief nap this afternoon, without being subject to the weird dreams? It’s worth a go, but I’m not laying odds.

We’re all full and/or empty now, and in a day or two – when I have the oomf and the necessary be-botheredness – we’ll head off and either turn left to explore the stoppage at Stanthorne, or keep on towards the South Pacific and see if they’ve mended Audlem yet.

You gotta have a dream, if you don’t have a dream how you gonna have a dream come true? Talk about a moon floatin’ in the sky, lookin’ like a lily on a lake. Talk about a bird learnin’ how to fly, makin’ all the music he can make. Happy happy talk keep talkin’ happy talk… damn, we’re back to nightmare dreams again. Who mentioned the South Pacific?

On a more practical note, the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a new link on the menu at the top of these pages – ‘Buy Cards Jigsaws Prints Posters Mugs‘.

It does what it says on the tin. Images from this bloggery pokery that are technically suitable are (or will be soon) available on that highly respectabode website – Fine Art America / Pixels dot com – in all manner of formats from jigsaws to shower curtains and mugs, as well as posters, prints and even – whoo et ye gods; expensive – framed prints. Oh yes, and as Les Greetings Cards, too.

I’ll be adding to the portfolio as swiftly as I can. Would be much appreciated if you could share the link on the The Social Media &etc – the more folk see it, the more the odds are in my favour of making a third sale….

…thank’ee most kindly to J for the first two sales! You shouldn’t have, but I am totally Gladys that you did. 😉

Let me know if there’s anything in particular that you’d like to see there, and I’ll do what I Can-Can. There’s a lot of fine-tooning to be done yet of course, but I am working on it.

Damn.

Stomach-gland is tugging on my shirt-sleeve and looking tearful and muttering something about ‘has our throat been cut then or is there a better reason why we’ve not been fed?’

Luncheon, methinks.

Splendid day here, most splendid indeed. Keep well, keep kicking and above all, keep young and beautiful if you want to be loved.

Chin-chin, Ian H., and Cardinal W., Dawn Raiders, Fully Serviced, Ya Boo Sucks &etc.