Birthday treat

What did you do on your birthday, mum? Came down the Anderton Boat Lift! We hadn't planned it, but it seemed the right sort of celebration on a wet day. 50 feet from the Trent and Mersey down to the River Weaver.

We were the only boat going up or down the lift that trip, so Neil and David who were supervising it took the time to chat to us – helped to make it really interesting.

Was she nervous? 

Finally, our first experience of cruising a river as we ran up to the centre of Northwich.

The rain was soft (as they say in Donegal where my best beloved grew up) and not even finding that the recommended Italian restaurant in Northwich had recently closed could spoil our day – we bought a couple of properly aged steaks from Mr Sainsbury and I cooked them with a Stilton sauce and roast parsnips. Yummee!