Feeling Spring Like In Birmingham... and a visit from LJ's namesake.

The Christmas Season in Birmingham is finally over. The last of the Frankfurt market debris was cleared away soon after Boxing day and this week the big wheel and ice rink have been dismantled and removed. There is something to be said for mooring in the middle of a city over winter. Aside the convenience of the facilities, I hadn't really appreciated the effect that the extra couple of degrees Celsius would have on the urban sprawl. Tucked down beneath the 'storage heater' effect of the surrounding tower blocks and offices we have yet to have a good hard frost. Reports from as close as Warwick suggest at least a couple of mornings with thickly iced canals. Most evenings we are in short sleeves whilst the Becton Bunny ticks over on a minimum amount of fuel, we have had the diesel central heating on for two hours since the 27th December (just for topping up the hot water) and the winter blanket has yet to fortify the bed. Who knows maybe our fourteen year old boat is just so well insulted eh Tom...(sorry that's a bloggers 'in joke'). In fact when the wind is slight the towpaths feel positively spring like - maybe the polar vortex from America will pass us by.

Going back to New Years Eve we had an early start with a coal delivery organised by our next door neighbours Peter and Heather. We hadn't expected a delivery much before 10.00 but Heather knocked on the door at about 07.30 to let us know that it was time to reverse LJ a few hundred yards to the pick up point. Much later that evening (about fifteen hours later) we partook in the city centre festivities enjoying the atmosphere, fireworks and the odd glimps of the blond locks of the back of the head of a former X-Factor contestant. Keri Roberts sounded good, and was very relaxed. I don't really watch any of the 'reality' TV programs (or much TV at all come to that) but if you followed last years, Keri was one of a trio who had the bust up on live TV as the judges wanted Keri to perform solo rather than in a mediocre group. 

There she is, somewhere in the middle

I wasn't alone in taking photos on my phone, look at all those tiny screens poking above the headline

By the time we had weaved through the hoards of people trying to edge their way out of a grid-locked Birmingham centre the balcony of the flapper was heaving with revelers, who would be at least a couple more hours before they started to move on (the bar was open until 03.00). Peter, Heather, Deb and I took back to LJ to see what booze we could rustle up. Not a lot sadly because we had drunk it all before we had left. Luckily Peter's daughter had provided him with a Christmas gift of a nice bottle of Brandy which he shared with us - most appreciated. By the end of our celebrating and chatting the Flapper had gone quiet and Peter and Heather managed to find their way, all of one boats length, back to their home 'Blackberry Way'

We have had a relaxing few days to start the year, the most strenuous being a couple of miles walk with a fortnights shopping and a couple of walks along the canal to pick up some more petrol for the ever faithful (and fairly frugal) old Honda geni. I wonder how much more 'green' a 100cc petrol engine is over a 2200cc diesel one). The solar panels continue to trickle power into the battery bank and provide us with just over one free power day per week.

We had a lovely visit from Geoff and ('THE' LOIS) Jane Wilson this week the former owners of out Lois Jane and therefore the first ever clients of Sandhills Narrowboats. We had a fantastic couple of hours nattering and are really looking forward to our reciprocated invite at Geoff and Jane's city residence in a few weeks when they are back in the area on business.

At last a pic of 'THE' Lois Jane, Geoff and young Weimarana Coco

Our evening stroll took us past the library last night where I stopped to take a few pics and waited for Deb who had to pop down to the post office.

Panorama across the skyline - LJ is moored between the two tower blocks to the bottom left

Over Symphony Hall towards Broad Street

Towards The Cube (right of centre) Geoff and Jane are at the top somewhere there

One of my favorite inside parts of the library - you've got to time it right to get it this empty!

From the secret gardens

Has anybody seen it?... pt2

Jess arrived after a busy weeks work (hers not mine) on the 20th November into New Street Station. She arrived bearing gifts - Gingerbread persons (politically correct I believe) and gold coloured Christmasy star cookies. Surprisingly they arrived in very good condition after her train journey.

Biiiiggg plate of biccies

Tradition aboard would be to sit in with Deb's home cooked dinner on Jess's first night (can you guess what it would have been Jess?) But we had decided to hike the few hundred yards into the city centre for a bite to eat. This would involve walking through the Frankfurt xmas market with blinkers on because we would be coming back for a proper look the next day.Before we left we had a trawl through the available options of restaurant who were part of the Tesco voucher scheme and settled on Bella Italia. There are quite a few new participants in and around Birmingham, although a few of the smaller independent ones were either too far away or poorly rated.

On the way we popped in to show Jess 'our' new super library. It was a great weather day to be out on the hidden (but not particularly well hidden) gardens of the fantastic library in central Birmingham. Chilly but crisp and fairly clear, we were able to pick out a rough route that we would have taken on the previous days trip.

The top level garden and seating area

View westwards and down towards Cambrian Wharf, that's how close we are to the centre

I always try and get Jess chuckling with a family photo, this wasn't the grinniest photo either!

I use the same code words every time and its not 'say cheese'. I wonder how long the effects will work - six years and counting!

After the grand library tour we headed (blinkered) through the markets and waited for a seat in Bella Italia for a pretty good meal at reasonable prices with attentive service. The next day was an important one, we were kicking off with a trip to Birmingham's markets, not the Christmas ones but the proper ones. Today Deb was going to cook what ever Jess wanted and we were going to buy it all fresh in the market. I was pretty certain what it would be and soon we were looking at a massive joint of thick flank, a good all round beef joint. Unfortunately too pricey for me. We would have probably squeezed a good 12 portions out of it (keeping the rest in our little freezer) but I was about to walk away for £20 before I was offered it for £17.50, we settled on £15 well under £5 per kg. 

Deb didn't disappoint, we enjoyed a massive roast with yorkies spilling off the plates and too many veg for any day other than Christmas all washed down with glasses of fairly robust rose (sadly out of supply of Merlot) . It took a while to digest but by 4.30 we were off out again. This time to the Symphony hall, all of two minutes walk away. When I say Symphony hall it was actually the cafe bar for a freebe gig. We saw the excellent Big Tent and The Gypsy Lantern who had just got back from the last of their tour dates on the south coast.

We weren't finished with the day yet, we were off to have an unblinkered look around the German markets which stretched from just outside the library through Chamberlain (below) and Victoria squares and all the way down New Street to the Bullring shopping centre. All told, just under a mile and a half of stalls, beer and half metre hotdogs.  

By Jess's final day we were pleased to have a chill out morning on LJ but no trip to Birmingham would have been complete without a visit to Jimmy Spices. A place we happened upon for a meal out the last tine we were here in September 2012. I had been having some real problems with what turned out a few days later (after a mad rush to A&E) to be problematic gallstones and acute pancreatitis. So when Pip and Jess were up for a visit I looked for a buffet style place so that I could graze over a few different options and eat as much or as little as I wanted. This years visit was just as good and we rolled out back to the boat to watch a DVD (rented from the library). I had planned an evening at one of the many shows in Brum but by the time we had got here nearly everything was booked - it was a shame though, if I was a couple of days earlier we would have been able to get tickets for the Nutcracker at the Hippodrome. 

For Saturday we had arranged a hire car to take Jess part of the way home (to Basingstoke so she could get the train back to Poole) and pick up our new chimney pot from Deb's mums and spend the weekend with her before Deb's checkup appointment at the Audiology department in Reading. Double car upgrade this time, we paid the for the lowest category and managed to get a Peugeot 3008 people carrier.

Next Blog (pt 3) Two sets of boaty visitors... with a connected history, and Mum and Dad arrive for their first stay aboard.