To and fro

It's been windy. On Erin Mae's roof sits the paint can I converted for use as chimney spout cover for the times when the actual chimney gets put away. It's tied on with a piece of cord so it doesn't blow away or get nicked, but is free to be blown across the roof (within limits) – and to rock. It doesn't rock much in the wind, just enough to make a noise that echoes down through the insulation and is like the sound the ducks make when they start nibbling at the weed around the water-line. It's been getting into my head as I've been sitting inside practising a song or two for tonight's folk session at the Shroppie Fly. I went out and found a new position which didn't help much, though it's now quietened down. I guess I was just too lazy to untie it and stow it somewhere else.

Faced with my best beloved's dental disintegration yesterday, we had three or four options about which direction we would take. We could soldier on, doing what we'd planned for October, and sort it all out at the end of the month. Convenient, but not very attractive. Or we could turn around and go back to Great Haywood now, and make an appointment for next week some time. Sad, but not disastrous. Thirdly, we could push on towards Chester and leave Erin Mae in the sister marina at Tattenhall – something we've done before. That then entails a cross-country trip to Great Haywood by bus and train and bus to pick up the car for the journey south. Possible, but it would save us only a couple of days compared with turning round. Or we could go a few miles to OverWater marina and leave Erin Mae there. That would be the emergency plan, with corresponding expense.

The dentist wasn't in the practice today, but they told me (a) there was an appointment available late next week, and (b) to send him an email about the problem. Surprisingly, he emailed back to confirm he'd sort it all out on Thursday week. So tomorrow we shall go down two locks to wind, and then retrace our steps.

There's an old, seasonal song by the Incredible String Band that I'm thinking of singing tonight – October Song. It's got a couple of lines I don't like, but I've re-written those. It ends: "…but mostly I just stroll along the path that he is taking." Seems rather appropriate for the moment.