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:-) after a busy morning with moi touching up the paint on pykebirds boat while she was still at work, I then set to sewing all the pretty flowers on my new straw hat .. while nattering to all the lovely boaters passing by. Moi was in awe at the skills of a couple of narrow boats edging around a right big Beastie of a Dutchbarge. Then after causing chaos in Long Eaton with moi bartering with the chap selling pretty frocks on his stall..we both treated ourselves to one, well with our hats we got to look nice on our river travels, being 1 member short ..huggles deckhand..of our canal world divas band.We did intend to get to Cranfleet to catch up with Dyad,but I blame pykebird for getting carried away in the shops..she even bought a new pair of shoes!!! Anyway before moi gets carried away..literally we set off and what fabulous greetings we got from everyone that we passed. Secret being ahem!!! Pykebirds boat is completely PINK,with a black stripe along the roof, even her Gerry cans and life ring.So there we were the two of us moi in my flowery downtown abbey hat and pykebird in her pink Stetson lol.. Moi was left in charge of the map reading while fan Ann steered, as neither one of us had been this way before..the scenery was so tranquil and surprisingly on the stretch from Trent lock to Bees ton, we only had 4 narrow boats pass us and 6 river cruisers. Moi did the lock work at Cranfleet and it went a dream :-). The river then meanders around gracefully and the atmosphere is one of calmness and beauty. We saw some stunning private moorings just past the bit for Ferry Farm (p.140 waterways guide 6) and a mooring there was going for £90,000, most moorers had summer houses and very nice too. They all waved and smiled even the fishermen, this so far has been a lovely trip, nice weather, boat going like a dream and lots of lovely people. We decided to stop for the night just after Bees ton Lock, now as we were approaching moi got a bit confuddled..as it was a bit confusing as to where the lock was (yes moi had her specs on lol), but as soon as we passed the pub it became apparent. Pykebird pulled into the nice landing stage while moi toodled off to sort out the lock ( bear in mind folks its quite a sharp turn, but we know now lol). Hmm.. This is interesting as two of the paddles offside are painted RED, and you have to leave them OPEN, when you leave the lock. After what seemed an age we got through them, but I must admit it was OK with the two of us, but if I had been doing this lock solo, it would have taken moi a lot lot longer. Suddenly after being on such an open expanse of water..it was then a surprise to now be on what looked like a canal :-) proudly steered on the river for all of 15 mins ..ERM Pykebird will say ' more like 5 mins you wuss ) well it felt like more..but moi was chatting to and waving to boaters,fishermen,kayakers, dog walkers, joggers...hellfire I was busy..well that is my excuse and time sticking to it :-) after walking the wolves and a freshen up we went to the local pub next to the chandlery..a very nice place, reasonable price for drinks and a welcoming atmosphere, we joined in with a pub qwiz..and then chilled outside. Its lovely and very child friendly as well, as lots of families around like us just enjoying the evening. We are going to check out the cafe there in the morning :-) I will download the piccies of today in the morning. We have decided to spend the next 3 days mooching around Nottingham, visiting places of interest ..and of course lol a list of pubs doing karaoke yippee:-) this is such a lovely area and river to visit that we both said that we feel as if we have been on holiday for a week lol. So if any of you see us on 50 ft of lovely pinknesss and we will be weari g our hats lol..don't be shy wave and say hello. Look out Nottingham here we come yippe doodle too :-)