Finally....A kingfisher!

 

Windsor Castle at night 

 And in the morning just as we were leaving......the heavens opened again.

 There was a long wait at Boulters Lock but it was interesting reading  about it. Apparently all the wealthy and famous people used to pass through the lock on the Sunday after Royal Ascot and all the spectators used to go to the lock to watch them, which is why the lock has Iron railings all the way round it.

 We went past a big house which had some unusual sculptures in the grounds.

 As we turned to go up the long straight bit at Henley where they have the rowing races- the heavens opened again.

                                                       Under the bridge..........

We found a lovely quiet place to moor and dry off. In the morning at 7.50 a helicopter landed on the front lawn of the house opposite us and left at 8 am....how easy would that be to get to work.

 

                                                               A young cygnet.

                         Some pictures from our mooring spot...............

 Greg found a young toad....It was hopping everywhere and very hard to get a picture of.

          Later that evening we watched a Red Kite land on a dead tree stump.

 These are the 2 boats that came past today.....Very posh!!

.

 Finally this little chap sat and posed for me whilst having a quick wash...he was there for ages.

                                                  The weir by Benson Lock.

                                                    Happy days

Onto the Thames.

After spending hours trying to get a picture of a tiny shrew the night before we started our journey at Somerton Deep Lock.

Over in the field we saw some deer happily munching away.

One of the Oxford canal signs

We were going to stop on the meadow and play ball with Molly but there were very few spaces to stop.

One just for you Dot...We ve seen quite a few rabbits on this trip.

Molly thought she was being very clever jumping up on the top of the boat to get her ball back.....

But when Greg got off to hold the boat while I shut the lock gates she dropped it on the floor behind him...and we left without it!! Another 1 gone.

These Radar domes can be seen from Enslow....We used to have a lovely ploughmans at" The rock of Gibralter"  pub but when we went past it had all been boarded up...no stopping this time.

Along Dukes Cut and onto the River Thames. There seems to be more and more boats moored up down here now.

We found a lovely mooring for the night on one of the meadows......

Next morning Greg decided to go for a swim...he said it was lovely and warm-but I didn't believe him....he didn't stay in for very long.

We didn't see any lock keepers on Friday. The locks were'nt very busy, though there were so many people swimming cos it was such a gorgeous day.

This monastery ruin is at Godstow Lock.

As we went through Oxford the pubs were quite busy.

None of the Salters Steamers were out which was a shame although people were being very brave and going out on the punts and nobody fell in Jordanna.

On Saturday Ben, Kerry and Chloe came down and met us at Abingdon..We carried on along the River for a while and found a lovely spot to have a BBQ. It was a lovely day.

                                  Me and my best friend.....

Shes so funny.

Trying to blow bubbles....It took a while to realise we hadn't added any water and that s why they wouldn't blow.

                                 On the way into Oxford again today.

                             Some amazing art work on the bridges.

All the boat houses are shut due to the coronavirus at the minute...I would imagine that they wont open until September now.

                   A huge house that is now a retreat and its boathouse.

We re going to moor up just round the next bend.........

Unfortunatly I missed the 2 kingfishers that went shooting by....I ll try again tomorrow.

Happy Days