Mixed bag

Mmm, a bit of a curate's egg, this week with a couple of highs, a sad low and a corking finish. The sad low revolved around a report from Greyhound Gap about a greyhound that had gone missing off a walk in the New Forest. Despite a concerted search effort over six days, little Meg was found too late - my thoughts are with the owner, as this must be every dog owner's worst nightmare. The boys and girls got an extra hug that night.

On a more upbeat note, I am writing this post with my lovely new Mac laptop. I have been thinking about 'going over to the other side' for a while now as I have become increasingly frustrated with just how crap Microsoft is. It's so bloated and generally rubbish that it's turned my powerful Sony Vaio into something resembling a Fisher Price toy. I was in the 'should I, shouldn't I' stage when I happily read of Nev off Water Lily's positive experiences with his new MacBook. Then I recalled that the undisputed Mac blogging 

king, Bruce of Sanity, never seems to suffer the same PC-related trauma that the rest of us endure on a regular basis. That more or less sealed it so I went onto Amazon, gritted my teeth, avoided looking at the price, and popped a shiny new plaything into my basket. And the verdict? Well, I was converted in about...er....10 seconds...Not only is it a thing of beauty but it is incredible intuitive, quick and reliable. No more waiting for a week for my Vaio to wake up from hibernation...no more applications going crash, bang, wallop in that disobliging way they have. I have seen the future and it is Apple shaped. Like me...

Another high spot of the week was tootling off to London to see French and Saunders live. We're great fans and as it's their last ever tour, we thought it worth the effort of pushing through the crowds on a rainy evening. They gave us a cracking couple of hours and it was really quite poignant at the end as they said their goodbyes and called time on their 30 year partnership.

But leaving the best to last, we come to yesterday's visit to new stalking targets...oh, no, sorry,  I meant, new pals, Joe and Lesley on Caxton. First of all I got some grief off A as I'd forgotten that there's quite a bit to Penkridge and we'd parked up at possibly the furthest point away from our intended target. It wasn't that much of a walk but he is such a delicate flower...After waking the dead with my slap on the roof, doors were opened, greetings exchanged, dogs fuzzed before the royal tour commenced.

 I'm delighted to report that Caxton is a fine, fine ship with a particularly comfortable cross-bed. I think it's the first time I've conducted a meaningful conversation from someone else's duvet, but Lesley was insistent that we tried everything. Mind you, she kept the boatman's cupboard-cum-gin-repository firmly shut... 

What really impressed me was just how easily and neatly the downsizing's been effected - all necessary goods and chattels had their place but there was storage that still hadn't been pressed into service - I mean, how on earth did they do that? It's also wonderful to see Joe and Lesley both looking very settled on board already, like they've been doing it for years. With some luck and a fair wind, we'll be meeting up on our respective boats some time next year - it'll be a pleasure as they are a great couple and we only had time for three pints on Saturday. I think that qualifies as 'unfinished business'....

P.S. En route to Caxton, we diverted to Braunston to renew our acquaintance with the Gongoozlers' Rest. One large cooked breakfast and one mug of tea later, we squeezed out of the side doors and rolled down the towpath, vowing not to eat again, ever. That lasted until a pack of Revels was smuggled into the car at about 4pm...