We managed to go away for four nights!
It's the first time in (I think) 13 years that the two of us have been away from home together overnight. Apart from one night for each of DH's parents' funerals.
Right up to the last minute, despite ongoing preparations, we were in a shall we/shan't we kind of thing. We really didn't know if we were actually going to go.
In preparation, we bought yet more second hand Omlet Walk In Runs, to build a kind of "Catio" for the cats. We had visited a local cattery, and it was very pleasant... but ... (a) it was fully booked, and (b) we weren't sure how the kittens would react, being rescues and all that. The kittens are used to us being here all the time and we thought that taking them to a cattery would be a double whammy: no us, and a new environment.
The idea of the Catio was that the cats could still get "outside", even if they weren't free to roam the garden (and walk along the fence and get out). We didn't use it all, so we used some of the panels to extend the Girls' netted area, as Flockdown continues.
In the end, I asked our lovely friend D if she would consider coming to see to the cats every day. She agreed, and came twice a day, spending time with them. She also kept an eye on the Girls for us. The poor Girls had to be confined to barracks (which is actually 2 very large runs), and had no access to grass. The grassed area that we have netted is not foxproof, and this is of he worst times of year for fox attacks,
Then my lovely cousin had to go in to hospital, for an oeration the day before we were due to go. We delayed the start of the holiday. In the end, it was decided that it was better for Miss Teen to come with us rather than stay at home, so we set off a day late. We arrived late afternoon and only had time for a short cruise before mooring for the night.
The next day was lovely. Fab weather, Miss Teen learned how to do the locks and we had her doing supervised lock wheeling. It was marred, slightly, by me realising that i'd failed to wrtite and send birthday cards to my niece and to my best friend S. I'd bought a special pop up card for S as well!
And then I fell in.
Outside a lock.
Too deep to stand. No where to hoik myself out.
My first words were "It's f**king freezing". My second words were "Save the Dunton", as I passed my (apparently rare) windlass to Miss Teen.
DH propelled the boat back with a pole. He couldn't use the engine, because that would be too dangerous. I held on to one of the ropes which have rubber protectors on.
A lady from another boat told me to take of my coat, which I attempted to do. It was surprisingly difficult one handed. DH handed me a better rope, and I hung on while we discussed what to do. There was no way he could lift me out, and there wasn't anywhere obvious for me to swim to, to get out.
I managed to find a little ridge to stand on. It was just one spot, all around was too deep. A fish swam passed me, brushing against me, and I squealed in surprise. The lady on the bank said she'd get the life ring from her boat, which reminded us we had one. DH passed it to me, and I put it on. Meanwhile, the boat floated away a bit.
The lady at the bank suggested swimming to the steps where I'd slipped in. I knew it wasn't going to work, there wasn't enough elbow room for me to be able to pull myself out. But it seemed better than nothing, so I swam over. I cursed the effing freezing water as I swam.
When I got there, it was clear that there was no where for me to put my foot, and it was definitely to narrow for me to get my arms up.
And then I realised. The lock was open, and it was empty. I could swim in and climb the ladder - which is what I did.
When I got to the top, I took off my sodden jumper, and I was shocked at how heavy it was. Once I was on hte back of boat, I tool off my jeans and shoes as well, and they weighed a ton. I got insiode the boat and undressed and had a hot shower.
I was fine, but my left knee and right shoulder were really painful. I steered the boat whuek DH and Miss Teen did some locks, and then I did a lock, and then we walked into a own to try and get some bits for me (like another pair of shoes - fail) and a coat (fail - until I found an anglingstore, which came up trumps).
It was very painful overnight. During the day, I had paracetomol and I did the locks with Miss Teen. The walking really helped. All thoughts of the missed birthdays went out of my head, until we got home. It was too late then.
Two weeks on, my leg is still painful although muh better. I can walk normally. I can go up and down stairs, mostly. What I still can't do, is move my knee sideways at all. But it's getting there.
