A day out

The last couple of days have been beautiful. The sun has shone even if the temperature has never been far from freezing point. The Lakeland fells have a thin scattering of snow covering them, sufficient to emphasise the contours of the land rather than to bury them in whiteness.

We made the most of it. On Wednesday we set off for Kendal for a change. Our trip into Lancaster had been a bit of a rush. We'd collected the computer (thankfully now working) but that was about it.

In Kendal we thought we'd start with a visit to a shop we've never often visited. We came out armed with some things for the kitchen we've been seeking for ages, plus a pair of high heels shoes & some boots for me. As we had to go back to the car with all the parcels anyhow, we decided to quit while we were ahead. The shop had been effortless. The only thing we hadn't got was a new sweater for the Fox but, as winter is drawing to an end (we hope), we felt that could wait a bit longer.

On the way back we stopped in Carnforth. First we had a quick visit to the Booth's supermarket. It isn't often we visit Booth's. It tends to be a bit pricey, but it does have a far more interesting range of products, especially cheeses, than we usually get here in Morecambe. We also bought about some of their special frozen meals. These may be expensive but they are good, a quality I wouldn't be ashamed of having made myself from scratch. It's always useful to have a few in the freezer for those days when you don't feel much like cooking. Some of them microwave in just minutes.

Then we moved on to the Canal Turn. This pub is right on the canal. They have a lovely conservatory . Here we sat over a sandwich & a drink, snug in the warmth, watching the activity on the canal.

The canal is wider at this point allowing even long narrowboats to turn. There's dry dock facilities on the other side of the canal from the pub. There were a fair number of boats on the water that day, mainly brightly coloured narrowboats though there were a few white fibreglass ones too. One narrowboat leisurely came up the canal & moored alongside.

There's a gap between buildings where the drive leads up from the main road to the pub car park. The water along this more open stretch was ruffled into waves by the breeze. In the more shaded spots there was a thin layer of ice.

People come regularly to feed the birds here, with the result there are always birds on the water. This day it was mallards & black-headed gulls. They made a bee-line to the edge if anyone stood near there rummaging in a bag. They obviously knew the signs of din-din time.

From time to time the birds got out of the water onto the ice. They waddled around. Every couple of steps a leg could be seen slip-sliding one way or the other. They're clearly no better at walking on ice than humans are. On the ice it was obvious how much larger mallards are compared to the gulls, how much bird is under the water when they're swimming.

All in all it made an enjoyable break. This pub is always pleasant to visit on a sunny day. In summer you can sit out virtually on the towpath. There is always so much activity, be it human or avian. Something to see & make you smile.

We headed home, thinking we should have more days like this. It was a pleasant change, both of routine & place, a real morale boost.