Penkridge pastries – again

This is the third time we've come through Penkridge. We really only needed to go to the Co-op for some lacto-free milk. But Jaspers was just a few yards down the hill … well, such a good local emporium deserves your custom. So – some proper nourishment for lunch, and a couple of decidedly unbalanced items (hardly a smidgen of protein and distinctly lacking in vitamins) to go with our coffee  – though we did split them in half so there was some left to have tonight.

Some of the boating blogs I read record journeys that the blogger has undertaken previously – sometimes often. These few days will take us through places we've been before, and it will be interesting to see how we respond to the experience. Today we met a couple on a hire boat from Middlewich doing the Four Counties ring, in a week. They've done quite a bit of boating, but had some friends along for whom it is all new. I asked about the pressures and the long days, and she said it was about recognising the limits of a week's hire, and setting yourself a challenge. But she was also relishing the thought of eventually retiring to live on a boat and having the time to stop and explore the places they currently hurry through.

Although part of the joy with Erin Mae is doing the unexpected, I think we may also want to plan our stops a bit differently second time around, making sure we give some attention to spots we simply passed through last time.