Farewell, Windmill End

Dudley No.1 Canal, Merry Hill

Well, we stayed a week, but the time has come to continue my adventures. So it's farewell to all my mates in the Windmill End Gang.
I don't know many of the names of the guys that I met, though there were definitely two called Max, and Max the Collie was an ace footballer even though his owner didn't know it before he met me.
I met Alan who already had a Collie, and now has a young pup to look after. I've seen the pictures and he's really cute (the puppy not Alan), but then again, I was cute at that age, and look at me now........

The trip along the canal to the Black Country Museum went quite well, at least Mum and Dad seemed to enjoy it. I, apparently, wasn't allowed in unless I was in the Guides, or some such silly rule, so I had to stay and guard the boat; which has its compensations, such as having the whole double-bed to recline upon instead of having to share it.

We've come a few miles along the canal to a big shopping place called Merry Hill so that Dad can replace the beer and bacon that he had to 'get rid of' when the electric thingy that made the fridge work broke.
While we were going along, (or 'gooing' as they say round here), we came across loads of guys on the towpath sat on stools and dressed in green Army clothing.
They had really long poles with hooks on the end, which they seemed to be using to pull all sorts of plastic and rubbish out of the canal.
One guy had a huge lump of it on the end of his hook, and although his mates were laughing, he didn't look that pleased. If he'd had gone a bit further along the path, there was a massive patch of stuff caught under a bridge and he could have pulled out huge chunks of it all day with his pole.

Got to go now, 'cos Mum and Dad are back from the shops and I need to get off the bed and pretend I've been on guard all the time they've been away

xx Beau





Note the absence of ducks and geese on the banks............

  

'Brum' Revisited

Dudley No.2 Canal, Windmill End

On our travels last September, we went round one side of a place called 'Brum', which I think Dad really liked, because he said that he was glad that he'd seen the back of it.....
Which is all the more confusing because on this trip, we've come around another way and Dad said 'I thought the other way was bad!!'......
Anyway, whether we like it or not (and I'm not sure that we do), it seems that to get to wherever it is we're heading for, we've either got to go around the front side, or the back side, and I'm still not sure which Dad actually prefers.
Personally, I've had a great time, 'cos there are loads of other dogs here to play with, and I've picked up some really good tips on stalking and bashing the geese and ducks that have gathered near our parking place.
Mum says that the geese and ducks have gathered here to look for their mates, but obviously they've got their dates wrong, because they've been here over a week now and their mates still haven't turned up. Unlike the geese, Dad normally meets his mates in the pub. In fact, more often than not, he relies on them to help him remember where he's parked the boat.

This weekend, we're supposed to be going to a 'Living Museum'. Mum says it's a place where all the people dress up in old-fashioned clothing and pretend to work just like they did in the old days.......sounds like Dad will fit right in............

xx Beau



The old decoy duck routine still works....

Aint sleepin'............Just thinkin'.........



We're Still Here...

Wootton Wawen, Stratford upon Avon Canal.

Things have moved on since last I wrote....but we haven't. The thing at the back of the boat which makes the electric for the fridge where Dad keeps his beer and bacon has stopped working.

There's been a lot of teeth sucking, head scratching and trips to a shop which sell bits and pieces for broken cars; which is a bit odd 'cos the thing that's broken is on a boat.

If I've got it straight, there's bits for cars which can be used as bits for boats, but bits on boats can't be used as bits for cars unless they are Land Rovers or Tractors.....I hope that you're following this....
Anyway, the bit that should be used on a Land Rover (if it was made just after the war, but not on a Friday afternoon), can be used on a boat as long as it's green, and is exactly the thing that we had to have to get the power back onto Dad's beer and bacon fridge, otherwise all the beer will have to be drunk, and the bacon turned into butties to stop it all from going off.

It's taken so long to get the boat bit from the car place that there isn't much beer or bacon left anyway, so I'm wondering why we're bothering, but doubtless there will be a trip to the beer and bacon emporium before too long in order to re-stock the fridge now that the electric is, apparently, working properly.

When we finally get moving again, I'll let you know where we are. 

xx Beau

P.S.      Not many berries left in the hedgerows...................................

On The Road Again....Sort Of..

Wootton Wawen, Stratford Canal

After 5 months of doing not a lot except for keeping the Wharf a 'Duck Free' zone, apparently, the time has come for us to go out and about on the boat to meet the public at large, (and since Christmas, some are larger than others!!) No offence Dad......
This week has seen a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, with Dad and Mum sorting out the final, essential bits and pieces, without which, apparently, its not safe to set out on our travels. A lot of these 'essentials' seem to be in liquid form, which Dad says is easier to transport than solids.
I'm pleased to see that a sack of my 'working dog' food has also made it onto the back of the boat although Dad did say he wasn't going to buy it any more because, after 4 years of putting it in my bowl, I've never done a days work yet....I could be wrong, but I think that he's trying to be just a little bit cheeky.

So far, we have made it to a place called Wootton Wawen which is only about 10 miles from where we started out from, but it has taken us 2 days to get here. Dad says that we are heading 'up North' towards a place called Macclesfield.
I've seen the map and its right near the top, and though I might not be the the sharpest pencil in the box, I've worked out that (a) We haven't packed enough dog biscuits for me, (b) we haven't packed enough beer for Dad and (c) I'm going to be a lot older by the time I get back.

Got to go now now because there is some large public coming past that might not know how cute I am....

Keep watching this site in case something interesting happens.....

xx Beau



Watch Out Ducks!!!!!




Beau.........Stile Guru