Today we escaped from interminable Milton Keynes. The suburban sprawl was extended by Wolverton. We stopped in Cosgrove for lunch, a village in danger of being overwhelmed by a huge caravan site (US: mobile home park). North of Cosgrove we were back in the English countryside, though, with cows grazing and church towers visible in the distance.

The sun came out, and the afternoon was a delightful (and lock free) cruise. Of course, while I was enjoying the scenery from the tiller, Paula was caulking the shower. To each his or her own.

Tonight we are in Stoke Bruerne, where we are meeting an electrician tomorrow to have some changes made to the wiring, including adding a 12v outlet in the bedroom so Paula can run her CPAP without turning on the inverter.

Here’s some other fun things spotted from the canal today. First, someone who got tired of people calling the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals about their sick alpaca.

Then there was this.

Just mow them down, I say.

A solar electric boat made out of repurposed surfboards.

There’s actually been enough sun this summer that it might be able to go several hundred yards.

Mermaid.

Mermaids are pretty rare on the canals, if there is any figure on a canal boat is is usually a garden gnome, a rubber duck, or Buddha.

The start of an exceedingly long train mural in Wolverton.

Wonderful decoration on the bow of a narrowboat.

We passed close to Grafton Regis today, and I was reminded that our friend Nick used to have a door snake called Metzengerstein Midgard von Grafton Regis. A door snake is part stuffie and part draft excluder, and was very useful in Ancient Britain (where we grew up) because you only heated one room at a time and the door didn’t fit right. Besides, everyone needs a pair of beady eyes staring up at them from the floor.