After the storm

Storm Aileen left us unscathed. We were moored towards the southern edge of the amber warning area, and the winds were less strong than a little further north. Whatever we had, I slept through it. This morning we needed a quick trip to Rugeley's excellent fruit and veg shop before getting under way in the sun – that was not to last. Sunshine and showers was what they promised, and sunshine and showers was what we got, some of them heavy.

There was more traffic on the move than we'd expected, and we had an interesting moment under a bridge on a blind corner when the canal was so shallow that both Erin Mae and the boat coming the other way found it hard to stop in time, and even harder to manoeuvre back into position afterwards. You can never get a photo of situations like that, because you're so busy avoiding calamity.

At Wood End lock we found ourselves in a queue of four boats. It was drizzling, so we thought about tying up for some lunch. But we thought again, because we were bound to still be in a queue when we were ready to move again, so we just waited our turn and it wasn't long before the sun came out again. Then it was down the lock and round the corner to Fradley junction, followed by others who'd been also been queuing.

Fradley's helpful volunteers were helpfully volunteering, as usual.

Fradley itself wasn't exactly buzzing – blame it on the weather.

We turned right through the little swing bridge and, by the time we'd filled the water tank, decided we'd come far enough for the day. We found a spot at the end of the visitor moorings.

One of my mooring hooks is squeaking on the armco, so I shall sort it in a minute.

And then, I think, I'll light a fire.