To all our readers ...

So this is Christmas ...

 Just a bit off the wall ... my wild strawberry plant is still giving me ripe strawberries!

Today we start our Christmas ...

 bags in a boat ...

 taken for a walk along the pontoon ...

 turn right at the gangplank ...

up onto the grass and carried to our transport

See you in 2020!

Hambleden Lock ...

Posted by Hambleden Lock Keeper today to Facebook ...

Hambleden Lock UNOFFICIAL river conditions update, Monday 23rd December 1045hrs. Only a trace of rainwater recorded here this morning. Headwater has only crept up two inches in the last 24 hours and is now up to +23” (19”higher than normal summer levels). The tail level has only come up another 3” inches in the same period and is now up to 13’3” (5’9” higher than normal summer levels). The flow is now up around 235m3/Sec. (235 metric tonnes per second). Most weirs fully open now. Red Boards displayed entire length of the Thames. Towpath underwater in many places. Access from this lock to The Flowerpot now requires wellies.

My note -  at the tail gate of the lock the river is 5' 9" higher than normal summer levels .... no wonder we're needing another boat to escape!

Up to his neck in it ...

 Managed to get a photo of the little Grebe late yesterday afternoon... brilliant!

 My wish for the river to subside a little overnight didn't materialise and today it's even higher ...

as I said in the title ... he's ......

 The longer gangplanks didn't stay dry either, we've now placed a tyre under our own plank (left) to lift it out of the water so that I can get onto dry(ish) land. There is now just an inch between the fire extinguisher box and the water!

This is what its like on the 'other side' of the mill stream here at Hambleden (taken by George)

 Hope no-one needs to get on this boat!

This little boat is for our use in the morning.

We've brought it along our pontoon, lifted it out of the water and turned it over so that it will stay dry inside, then tomorrow we'll use it to carry our bags out to the hire car, dragging it onto the bank to empty it ... got to be better than carrying bags up and down a narrow plank with an opportunity to fall in!

It's apparently going to rain heavily overnight ... oh joy!

OMG ...

I thought it was bad yesterday!

 This is the scene we woke up to this morning ...

 We got a longer plank yesterday afternoon but this morning even that one is not long enough!

 It's getting scarily near the electric points!

The bird feeders need to be refilled ... but not today!

The archway of the footbridge is submerged too!

 But the sun is shining today ...

 and according the the weather forecast there will be less rain in the next 3-4 days so perhaps (fingers crossed) the river will subside a little ... if the weirs can cope with the volume that is.

 

Forgot to post this yesterday ... the heron has a new fishing ground!

The past few days ... wildlife, rain and a rising river ...

Wednesday (18th) the river is still in flood and we've had a lot more torrential downpours ... the bottom step off the pontoon is very nearly under water ...

 and the swollen river is encroaching even more onto the grass at the other end of the pontoon by Still Rockin's stern.

Over the last week or so I've seen 2 male and 1 female Mallard with a poorly leg which appears to be very painful as they try to walk and they kept lying down to rest.  I wonder if there's a carp or a pike come into the stream with the deep water and are attacking the poor creatures.  I saw the ducks with the bad legs a few times afterwards but now I haven't seen them for a few days and so hope they're ok.

The squirrels are out and about, chasing each other through the trees but so far I've not seen them trying to get at the bird feeders.  It's funny to watch them hunting for their winter nuts in the grass, fascinating the see them smell one out, dig it up and eat it!

We've seen some lovely sights too ... we often see the crested grebe but the other day saw a little grebe diving for fish.  I happened to glance out of the galley window and saw a disturbance in the water and waited to see what had just dived in ... and out came a cormorant with a fish in its mouth!  Through the window as we rise up on the river we can see the top of the beam which raises the pontoon, and that's where the kingfisher regularly sits now before diving for his dinner!   It really is a lovely mooring here at Hambleden.

 Later in the morning we walked up to Hambleden village, it's still frosty ...

 and the mist hangs in the trees on the edge of the Chiltern Hills

 On the way home the sun has broken through ...

 but not penetrated those trees yet

Beautiful!

 A Tesco delivery is due too so George finds a plank so that he can carry the shopping trays onto the pontoon and the back deck

The Tesco van has arrived and here is George and the driver delivering our supplies.

 A nuthatch on the nuts of course ...

(pictures taken through a wet window!)

and ducks swimming about on the wrong side of the pontoon!

Yesterday (20th) after yet another night of heavy rain, the bottom step is now covered with an inch of water ...

and today (21st), I needed a helping hand as both steps are now submerged as I leave to pop into Henley.

  The Thames weir is in full flow, you can usually see the 4 steps that the water drops down, where you see the turbulence is now and the water is perilously near to those electricity points.

 The fenders you can see above are usually floating on top of the water but are now standing up at the end of their tether ... the water from the main river route comes into the mill stream under the bridge above but today the top of the bridge arch can hardly be seen ...

this is how it is is when the River Thames is at its normal level!

 When I returned from Henley George had found a plank so that we can step onto the pontoon without getting our feet wet ...

 at the other end of the pontoon alongside Still Rockin' we are normally able to step off the pontoon straight onto the grass ...

and it's still raining!

Wishing all our readers A Happy Winter Solstice.