Up betimes

Got up early this morning to pay a wee visit to the bathroom, and it was cold! So I checked the batteries to make sure they could stand having the central heating on, and started the Webasto. Then, since the coal scuttle contained a fair amount of SuperTherm, I had a go at regenerating the fire and soon had a nice blaze. By now I wasn't feeling much like going back to bed, realised the Japanese Grand Prix was getting under way, and found that by using Channel 4 + 1 I could watch it from the start, accompanied by a warming cup of tea. Haven't had so much fun before 7.30 for a long time!

It was bright, but still damp and chilly, as we set out later to walk to Great Haywood Junction, down to Haywood Lock, and then across the Essex Bridge to Shugborough for coffee.

A heron, pterodactyl-like as ever, took fright at a walker and her dog, and flew across to the island to continue fishing.

The coffee was good, but we didn't think much of what Shugborough was offering for Sunday lunch, so we walked back to the junction and across to the Canalside Café, to find they had a roast on the menu. Very nice too.

I'd hoped to continue with a bit of boat painting this afternoon, but by the time we were back on Erin Mae (or, truth to tell, by the time I'd roused myself again after another coffee) the conditions felt not quite right. I'm not entirely certain what combinations of temperature, timing and humidity make painting a fruitless occupation in October, but it's a sufficiently fraught exercise for me anyway, without having to remove and repeat tomorrow. So tomorrow it will be. The weather forecast currently tells me I should be able to get a good bit done over the next few days.