BEALTAINE IS THE CELTIC INTRODUCTION TO SAMHRADH

Bealtaine is MY month. All month.  Always has been.  Two sisters have birthdays in May as I do.  Back in the day we were seven: two parents, five children.  Three sprogs had May birthdays and in 1954 I was 10 on Sunday 16th.  Brenda had been 8 a few days earlier and Catherine had her birthday on May 1.  We have a photo from that day on the lawn outside our house where Ma had spread a rug and laid out a fine repast in glorious sunshine. 

The world was ahead of us and ours to conquer.  May has remained the month we try to get together and this year decided to make my 80th birthday the excuse for getting together at Mill House in Hook which is a favoured watering hole adjacent to RAF Odiham.

The blog should have opened 23rd but the birthday lasted from 13th to 19th as, apart from the splash at Mill House, I relaxed all week as a guest of Karl and Brenda in Ivanhoe and was treated to a birthday dinner with their family before travelling to Whaddon, Cambs. to be wined and dined by my Icelandic family on 19th.  Three birthday parties in one week for a cove who has never willingly celebrated a birthday in his life

 IN OTHER NEWS 
20th I travelled back to my Peterborough land base to drop a large dolly bag, pick up a small one, travel to the boat at Weedon Bec and then progress through Whilton, Norton Junction, Braunston tunnel and down the Braunston flight to  fetch up eventually at Butchers Bridge on the bank holiday (27/05/24). 

On 23rd I had been at Long Buckby Wharf to meet a marine engineer who advises me as I upgrade the boat's electrics and electronics.  He was supposed to call on Wed.22nd but it pissed rain all day and we both agreed to wait for the drier morrow.  After meeting Simon I moved up the Buckby flight overnighting below the top lock.

On 25th I went through the tunnel, stopping above Braunston to clean the well, later dropping to Admiral Nelson.  ​The short pounds cause a lot of boat movement due to water transfer from lock to lock making it is almost impossible to write or concentrate so I dropped below the bottom lock to  within reach of a Gongoozler's breakfast on the 26th. 

No buses pass through Braunston on Sundays or Bank Holidays so those days were given over to restarting The Great Painting Project aka wabi sabi and the photo below taken some weeks later show how the overall scheme is developing.  The whole plan is outlined in detail at Curly Wurly Concepts and is a long term project which will be ready when it is ready.