Shake down cruise

It is normally the woman's perogative to change her mind but in this case it was the man's. At Geoff's suggestion we decided to go by boat to Braunston to do the bits of shopping we needed. This would give us a chance to check that everything was working as it should. Having had the cistern leak there was always the thought of what else could go.....being pessimistic....which Geoff is!! The first thing we discovered as we set off just after 8 on this slightly chilly morning was that we (I) had somehow left behind the bag with all the woolly hats, gloves and scarves.......more shopping to do. The forecast was for no rain (wrong again!) however we managed to have a by pleasant first run of the year. At each of the three Hillmorton locks there was someone helping. The first and last had volunteer lock keepers and the middle one had a passing boater. One set of locks is padlocked as restrictions are still indorse. However we did not perceive a lack of water! All shopping was completed successfully apart from gloves, including a new whistling kettle to replace ours which has become dumb!! The new also appears to have lost it's tongue.........where have all the whistles gone??? We also paid a visit to the very good butchers in the village. After all was done we turned and retraced our steps until we found a congenial mooring in the open. Back to Hillmorton tomorrow to meet Fran and Keith for dinner at the Bistro.
10.2 miles, 3 locks