Yes Melva. !!!!   You've got it. !!   Hurrah

We are now at Reading, and will be starting down the Kennet and Avon within the next few days.  Back onto a canal. Great.   However, the Thames is something else.  It is extremely beautiful in parts, one can imagine crinollined  ladies strolling the immense lawns etc.  The houses and gardens and boathouses have to be seen to be believed.  Anyone who says that there IS NOT a North/South divide wants to come and take a look. Anyway, enough of that.

Waiting at a lock we have watched a Red Kite swoop down a few feet from Trundle, and grab a fish, and with mouths agape, we didn't have a camera ready.  The Thames seems to have plenty of kites.

At another small town with a sailing club, we had to go very gently , as very young children were learning to sail. I asked one young lady if the water was cold.  She said " I am wearing a wet suit, so no. ".  Ok, little Madam  .

Marylyn and I have watched the rippling  muscles of the rowing eights with awe, but moving our gaze upwards , a lot of them were chinless wonders. !   such us life.

We have seen  grebes on a nest,  swans mating and then doing their neck stretching dance. and we watched some cygnets paddling frantically against the current at Goring, and , finally, make it onto Mums back.  all bar 1.  AAAaaah.

The weather has been cold, nice and sunny, cold and dull etc. But at Goring Mick announced that he was going to do his Onesy Challenge.
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For those of you that do not know.  Mick was bought a Onesy by our dear friends, Roger and Bridget and Jackie.   Bit of a laugh, although he was a bit taken aback.  However, R and B's son, Young Rog, said to Mick that if he wore it, on the back of Trundle, in view of people passing by, and as long as he received photographic  evidence. of the event, He would buy Mick a large  bottle of single malt whisky.  Mick likes his whisky, so challenge accepted.

So, here we are on  Trundle on Thames at Goring on Thames.  Mick in his onesy, asking us to take pics as quick as possible as it was very, very hot in this garment.

A genteel lady, with her elderly genteel mother were passing with their hobble-di-hoy( look it up ) of a son. and I told her what was going on.  The old lady said, she had never had such a fun and interesting sunday walk, and then I looked at M ick and requested LOUDLY that he pull his zip up. !!!!  He had un-zipped all the way down to the start of his pubes, for gods sake.
  I looked at the middle aged lady, and she had her eyes closed, was howling with laughter and was extremely red in the face.  She didn't have another crafty gander, either.   But they went off laughing their heads off, except the hobble-di=hoy.

 Mick and his admirers??? 

 Isn't he cute?  he is such a character.

 Boathouse !!!!!!!

can you spot Wee Ben ( near the line of trees, a small white bit? that's him curled up in some weeds) 

Curtis Mayfly.

hold on tight 

 afternoon tea and cakes at Dorchester Abbey. Thanks for looking, Finno. ! He was trying to cosy up to that old bloke, who still had cakes on his plate. !!!