Day 8 Weaver Cruise - Homeward bound

Well, yet another apology for not finishing the Weaver cruise posts sooner so here goes....

Last time I posted we were moored above Cholmoneston Lock near Venetian marina.  It was grey and cloudy as we left with a bitter Northerly breeze blowing.  To allow us to warm up it was decided we would stop at the Cheese Factory for breakfast at Calverley.  We like eating there and its good value.

Preparing to get underway

After a super full English and pot of tea we were suitabely warmed up so next stop was the services at Calverley for water and to empty the cassette.  Word must have gone along the cut that the Nantwich services are closed for maintenance as the Calverely services were very busy.  We were lucky to get alongside just as one boat left.  Even as we moored up more boats came along and waited their turn.

Very busy at the Calverley services with boats queuing for their turn.

 Having completed the jobs needed at the services we next moved on to Bunbury locks.  Here too there was a queue but we did not have to wait long.  We locked Mal and Eric down first then we locked down with another boat that had turned up in the mean time.

Waiting our turn to descend the Bunbury locks

Meanwhile we had thought Smudge was on the mend but in fact he took a turn for the worse.  He was slow to get out of bed in the mornings and would not eat until lunchtime.  He just walked a few feet when walked, did what he need to, then returned to AmyJo and slept.

On Friday we took him to the vet and she took some blood for tests.  After examining him she thought he might have Addison's desease but the tests would confirm this.

Addison's disease, also called adrenal insufficiency, is an uncommon disorder that occurs when your body doesn't produce enough of certain hormones. In Addison's disease, your adrenal glands, located just above your kidneys, produce too little cortisol and, often, too little aldosterone.  Some sympthoms include (although in humans there are more):

Lethargy

Weakness 

Poor appetite

Vomiting

Dehydration

Diarrhea

Excessive thirst 

Cool to touch

Shaking

All of which Smudge seemed to be exhibiting

A very poorly Smudge is allow to sit in my chair by the fire.

That evening after making sure Smudge was settled we took ourselves off to the Shady Oak for their Halloween  party.  We had a ball and the costumes were fantastic. We stumbled back to AmyJo in the early hours.

Landlord Pete as Alfie Solomon in Peaky Blinders

Marie, Yvonne and Kas behind the bar

Graham as a dead convict

Eric the Nife

On Sunday morning Smudge was late rising preferring to lay in bed long after we got up.  He never asked to go out so I lead him out but he just lay in the grass by the boat in the rain.  Clearly he was very unwell. I carried him back in and let him sleep on the armchair.  By now I was really getting very worried.  Fortunately in the afternoon the vet rang with good news, Smudge's blood test came back OK and no signs of anything amiss, ruling out Addisons.  That was a big relief.

The vet then suggested he had a gut problem and suggested a course of Amsoprazole antacid.  I quipped I am on Lansoprazole but she agreed he could have 10mg twice a day of that.  

The vets diagnosis must have been correct for after 3 days on the Lansoprazole Smudge is once again his old self and eating well.  He's running around on walks and has his appetite back.  He has even started to want to play. You can imagine our relief. It really upsets me to see him suffer so much I confess I was close to tears for him.  I guess I'm a big kid at heart.

Anywho, thats our season wrapped up for another year.  We're back at Tattenhall marina for a month then we'll see how it goes.  Depending on the weather we may go back out and resume our life out on the cut for our first full winter.  This is to get ready for when Chris retires in two years time.

This year we travelled 380 miles over 300 hours.  We locked through 292 locks.  Canals we travelled on include:

Shroppshire union

Trent and Mersey

Staffordshire and Worecestershire

B.C.N

B.C.N main Line