A Work and Play Update

Not too many pictures again today I'm afraid :(  We have been cruising waters we have passed before and we are also on a mission, so not a lot of time or reason to take more pictures.  Although we did see a Kestrel today, so might just have to see if one of those ones is usable.

So an update!

I enjoyed my trip down south, but more because I was able to spend some time with my brother Jody and his wife, Gina, in their new house.  The job interview though did not go well.  Or at least that is what I thought. I have still not heard back so I am assuming it was the same from their side of the desk too.

On the bright side though, I managed to get a bunch of job applications off on Friday, Saturday and Monday and I am now fielding calls and emails.  Lots of fun when internet and phone signals are intermittent. We are crossing the fingers and toes that one of them will lead to a negotiation of sorts and that I shall soon be gainfully employed.

It does make us realise though, that the last year has slipped by very quickly and that the sabbatical is almost over.  What it has also done, is made us see that retirement is something to look forward too, not dreaded.  We will be able to fill the days quite easily I think :)  

I made it back to the boat late Monday afternoon.  Tuesday we pulled pins and over the past 3 days we have trekked from Gnosall to one of our favourites, Tixall Wide.

Shropshire Union view

We are making our way south at a reasonable speed and south is where I have been applying for jobs. Our initial idea had been to do the Wolverhampton 21 and make our way back through Birmingham. The problem was firstly, that in order to do this required a long day to make it from the top of the 21 all the way through to Birmingham, as there are very few safe mooring spots along the way. Secondly, on arrival in Birmingham mooring spots would be scarce.  There is a floating market organised for this weekend in Birmingham and as a result, many of the mooring spots have been assigned to the trading boats. So a Birmingham by-pass has been set.  We are happy though, as the rural cruising is far more fun. Not only that, we could find ourselves, that should probably read will find ourselves, big city placed for a good while. The final destination will not be known until the job is sorted but we would like to enjoy the quiet rural countryside for as long as we can.

Kestrel

As you can all probably work out, Andrew survived the 5 days without me very well. He was able to pig out on beans on toast for a few days, along with a couple of proper meals :)  He doesn't get to eat like that when I am around :)

So there is our news for another week.  Now that i am back on board and provided we have some internet, you might get the news a bit more frequently.

Cheerio for now