8
May 2005
Calcutt to the Folly Pie & back
(6 miles, 6 locks, 3.7 engine hours)
We went up on 7 May to potter and get ready for the Sunday when friends Julia and Jerry were coming up for their first trip on Per Angusta.
Sunday morning I was sitting in the cratch reading part of the Sunday paper and Ian was on the sofa. The dogs were mooching around, with Jasper on the sofa when Ian looked up and saw blood all over the place! Jasper was sitting there licking his paw from which blood was freely flowing. I picked him up whilst Ian got a wet cloth. We managed to get the cloth round his paw, but Jasper wouldn't let us touch or look at it. At that point we heard the roar of a motorcycle and up came Julia & Jerry. This was excellent timing on their part as Julia is a vet. She managed to get a look at the paw and it turned out that somehow he had managed to rip one of his claws out. The first aid kit gave us enough bits and pieces to bandage him up - including a temporary waterproof protection in the form of one of the gloves from the first aid kit. We couldn't work out how he had done it, but later in the day when I was closing up the front doors, I found the entire claw in the bolt hole for the door.
Emergency
measures out of the way, it was time for some breakfast and then we were
off on our usual 'introducer' cruise up to the Folly Pie. The narrowboat
was a bit of a different experience for J&J as Jerry is into sailing.
This time when we got to the Folly Pie we went in for a meal instead of eating on board. Although we didn't have brilliant weather, it was still reasonable and I am sure, when we can get everybody's schedules sorted out there will be more trips with Julia & Jerry.