To the seaside ...

North on the M6 ... a bit faster than our slow cruising speed ... about three hours after setting off from Abingdon ...

if you can enlarge this picture and see what I can see on the horizon you'll be able to guess where we're going ...

it's actually to my sister's home where the sun is hot in their back garden and from there I can see a young seagull on the nest in the chimney stack and that the birds who visit her feeders are mostly noisy, quarrelsome starlings.

Mid-afternoon we take a tram ride along the coast ... it must be over 40 years since I was here last

George, sister Sandra and her hubby Rugsa ...

on a windy promenade ... I'm sure you've guessed which one by now!

We had an early evening meal at the huge and very busy local Weatherspoons where a trainee member of staff managed to get both mine and George's order wrong!

Looking towards the Pleasure Beach on South Pier

A cloudless, hot day in Blackpool ... that's a rarity!

Walking towards North Pier just before 8pm ...

and looking back over the sea wall

Catching the tram back to Sandra's house ...

where we enjoyed a lovely evening in her new conservatory chatting and looking though the old family photos.

A really great and enjoyable day!

On the move again ...

5:30 on Tuesday afternoon (25th) whilst moored at Abingdon along came Ryan on mb Southern Cross and butty (non-moter nb) Cedar and moored up on the town side opposite and
I wondered if they're going to trade on the River Thames

The following day we're on the move again ... pulling the pins just before midday and me walking up to Abingdon Lock ...

The Lime trees are in flower and the smell as I walk is heady 

A Thames Conservancy Boundary Marker seen at the lock ...

as I wait for George to bring Still Rockin' in so that I can lift and hold the bow rope as we rise in the deep(ish) lock ...

once through the lock George reversed onto the lock island mooring above the weir where the boat will be safe and looked after for a couple of days.

Friday morning as we were loading up the car for our adventure by road, Ryan (Jules Fuels) came through the lock and we had a quick catch up with me asking where Jules and Richard were ... 'on their way down the Thames' he said ... apparently Jules is on her holidays!

Just 30 minutes away ...

was our destination yesterday (Monday 24th June) ...

 we left our mooring at five to ten on a very dull morning in the drizzly rain and uncomfortable humidity ...

and are enjoying the approach to Abingdon by 10:15 ...

 just look at the height of those chimneys!

 Will we be lucky to get a mooring today, we wonder?

 Yea, loads of them!  But not these George says ...

 we'll go under the bridge ...

 where we can see plenty of space on the park side as we wait for this narrowboat to pull out of its mooring ... but no, not those says George ...

 that's the one ... he says! It's now just 10:25.

 Even on a miserable day the views are exceptional ... on the river ...

 on the meadow ...

 and over on the park.

 An hour later we see 'Lily' the 15' giant duck on which volunteers are raising money for the RNLI.  

Trip boat Goring slowed down considerably to be able to safely pass the moored boats as well as the moving duck!

The first/last time we saw the duck was at Beale Park on the 12th June.

The weather brightened up a little after lunch so we took the opportunity to walk into town for a few provisions and by the time we got back to Still Rockin' the sun was shining and it was hot, hot, hot, but still very humid.  

We spent the rest of the day on the deck soaking up the sun before the forecasted thunderstorms overnight and all day tomorrow (Tuesday) when we probably won't go far at all.

A weekend of surprise visitors ...

We're still at our favourite, peaceful mooring and guess what ...

 it was bbq time (Thursday 21st) of course and summer solstice too!

A couple of hours afterwards as the bbq was cooling down ...

 we had our first visitors ... they're very curious ...

 This one actually licked the top and jumped away, startling the others ... the bbq fell over and George managed to retrieve it and persuade the cows to be on their way.

 The sun going down behind the trees 9 o'clock

George is playing with some coloured LED lights on the rear deck so that we can stay up there in the evenings but the lights don't quite reach the back of the deck where we would be sitting and they are also blinding if you looked directly at them ... time for a rethink.

We first walked into Sutton Courtenay back in 2017 when we saw this beautiful house being re-thatched

  and today (Saturday 22nd)  it was looking spectacular!

 It's a walk of about two miles each way through some lovely countryside.

 Just after 8pm the calves made a return visit ... they're a mixture of bulls and heifers ...

 and they just loved being petted ...

 so much so that ...

 they were reluctant to leave and once again had to be persuaded!

 Yesterday's dawn (Sunday) was very peaceful and calm, not a breath of wind.

We were having a 'clean-up' day and I had the vacuum cleaner out when I noticed through the window that a boat was coming alongside ... what the ** I thought ... who would do that without being invited ...

It was nb Milly M ... Maffi and the lovely Susan and not forgetting Molly too.  The vacuum cleaner was soon moved away and they were invited in for a cuppa and we had a lovely catchup too.  

They were on a mission and couldn't stay long but it was so good to see Maffi and the slimline Molly again and to meet Susan for the first time of hopefully many more.

Once they'd cruised away the clean-up continued and was soon accomplished and the remainder of Sunday was spent relaxing in the now very humid heat ... there are thunderstorms forecast over the next few days ... 

but for today (it's now Monday the 24th June) we shall be on the move again ourselves.