Hardy souls ...

 The setting sun casting its reflections onto the eastern clouds at Sonning on Sunday evening (6th October) ...

 and the same scene just 12 hours later as the sun started to rise again.

We pulled the pins at 8:30 to continue our journey upstream ... in light rain ... 

 We passed a couple of boats moored on the offside with no obvious way of getting off due to all the trees and vegetation on the bank ... but perhaps those onboard don't need to get off?

 Reading town centre in the gloomy distance as we round the bend and ...

approach the Tesco moorings where there are plenty of spaces on the pontoon at the end here.  The chestnut trees have turned to autumn colours and are fast shedding their fruits ... I had to be careful as I walked to the shop not to turn my ankles or slip on the chestnuts.

 Twenty past ten and we're heading for Better Boating ... we're pretty desperate for diesel as our Thames fuel boat is out of action currently and we also need a gas bottle, so whilst George sorted all that, I found space in the cupboards for the Tesco shopping.

 Half an hour later we leave with a large dent in the wallet ... 273ltrs of fuel @ 81ppl and a gas bottle costing £40 ... 40 quid!  What's that all about?

A bit of blue sky as we approach Caversham Lock but it didn't last long ... 

 Through the pretty Reading Bridge ... we'll see if there's a mooring available just beyond the tree on the right above at Christchurch Meadow ...

 and there was.   Reading doesn't have a very good reputation for mooring and we wouldn't stay overnight here at the weekend but on a wet Monday we hoped that we'd get a quiet night's sleep.

No sooner moored up than we set off again ... walking in the drizzly rain into Reading over the pedestrian bridge for some essentials, then I walked back to Still Rockin' while George caught a bus back to Marlow for a couple of parcels.

So ... back to the title ... it's not often we cruise in the rain ... why should we when we're retired and there's no pressing need ... but I needed to prove ... even though only to myself ... that we're still quite hardy souls!

And ... we've had that quiet night's sleep!