Systems

Yesterday afternoon we took a walk into Adderley village – partly for the exercise and partly to see if we could find a way of getting on-line to put up the blog post. There's a bridge over a disused railway line, and that's where the lady pointed, with a wry laugh, when I asked her about the best spot for a mobile signal.

I stood there, laptop in hand, dongle in laptop. Not a hope! So it was onto WiFi – one of our reasons for being a BT customer at home is that everyone who uses a BT internet hub makes available a local hotspot by default. Sure enough, as I stood by the bridge, I was picking up a strong WiFi signal. I just couldn't see where it was coming from. The only likely source within range was the fibre broadband junction box opposite.

I had no idea that such things might broadcast a WiFi signal, but there didn't seem to be anything else near enough. Be that as it may, the actual speed of connection didn't match the apparent strength of the signal, certainly not enough to log on to Blogger. What to do? Easy! We wandered down Rectory Lane between some houses until my computer showed I had another strong signal. Logged on, and this time it worked a treat. I have only the vaguest idea of whose BT hub we piggy-backed on, but it was enough to send yesterday's blog post. I've occasionally used BT WiFi hotspots in cafés and so on, but this was a first – sauntering down a road, laptop in hand, waiting for a signal to show up!

It great when you have a working system. Today we came down 13 of the 15 locks of the Audlem flight.

We've developed ways of managing such a task, which involves us both in paddle and gate operations. My best beloved does one side, while I do the other and then climb down onto Erin Mae to take her out of the lock once the bottom gates are open. Occasionally it is helpful, while the water level is dropping, for me to walk on down to the next lock to get it set and the top gates open, so that I can take Erin Mae straight in without trying the negotiate the shallow edges of the pounds.

So we've tied up in Audlem, and found ourselves just behind Adrian and Dawn in NB Chalico, our neighbours at Great Haywood. Thanks for the help getting into the space, Adrian! We're well in time for the folk session in the Shroppie Fly tomorrow night, but the rain has come early. In fact it's so miserable outside that, instead of putting up a photo of our mooring, I'm going to finish with a shot out of the side-hatch from last night, just to remind us that not every evening is as awful as this one.