Update

On the day after reaching Milton Keynes, Mike took the train journey - including the tiny shuttle into Stourbridge Town - to collect the car where it had been parked at the Bonded Warehouse. At each of the connections he was able to catch an earlier train which meant that the rest of the day was a bit easier.

After he reported that he was on his way back to Milton Keynes, Christine set off to bring the boat down to the marina at Peartree Bridge where we had booked a space for the next couple of weeks or so whilst we returned home. Just as Mike reached there, Christine was turning the boat into the narrow marina entrance - just as well Mike arrived as it was hardly possible to run in without some traditional winding help at the bows. In any event, we were soon moored up and ready sort out arrangements for leaving the boat.

In the evening we went in to Milton Keynes for a meal - as a special for his birthday Mike got to choose and opted for Pizza Hut (shh! do not tell anyone or his reputation will be forever ruined!)

Next day, Mike popped to a local shop for a paper whilst Christine finished off packing and then Mike loaded up the car ready for the drive home.
It has been a busy couple of weeks - including several meetings or other activities every day. We have not had a day to ourselves. However, very considerable progress has been made in this time towards the transfer of the ownership of our business (holidays for people with learning disabilities) to the present management team. It is sufficiently well-advanced towards an expected completion on 31 December that we have been able to make a joint announcement to our staff. We will still be landlords and Mike will have at least 12 months commitment to IT support whilst an alternative is sourced.

This week has also seen us involved in a visit of the Bishop of Truro to our parish - Mike is a churchwarden - with today being a whole day tour of local businesses and other activities. Just as well good weather has broken out!

Tomorrow we expect to be returning to Milton Keynes, although we cannot set off until lunch time as Mike has a couple of appointments in the morning. We have just over a week to cruise down to Cowley Peachey to make our first visit - by boat at least - to our new winter mooring, even if this will hopefully not yet be our last trip of the year. It should be a well-paced trip but, as of a few minutes ago, we are now committed to looking after grand children on the Saturday before we return home. After all, this is one of the reasons we have found a new mooring within a 25 minutes drive of their house in Windsor.