Retail Therapy Day

Now moored at Fenny Stratford (Bletchley).
Total of 151 locks and 114^1/₂ miles since 5th Nov 2006

After heavy overnight rain the morning turned out fine again. With the aid of Google maps we have worked out the lay of the land and found a quicker way into town which we took this morning. Along the way we passed a lake at Mount Farm Park which as the name suggests used to be part of a local farm before urbanisation took over. The lake is a worked out gravel pit that was worked from 1928 to 1937 and is now part of the towns water drainage system to avoid flooding. It apparently is well stocked with fish presumably for the local fishing club and is a wetland haven for birds.

We spotted a Great Crested Grebe sitting on a nest in the long reeds which we managed to photograph.
Our first retail call was to the Ikea store which was a real eye opener. Admittedly everything is modular and to set sizes but you could refurbish a whole house from the one store. The Milton Keynes/Bletchley store is on 2 levels with escalators, lifts and moving walk ways to help people get around the store which is enormous. We were very impressed although we only found a few bits and pieces we were in need of.
The B&Q DIY store is right next door so we called in there to see if they had anything new or different from other stores we had visited. We came away with some dowelling which I have to cut into 2mm pieces to plug screw holes and a drawer kit which if I can adapt to fit I will buy some more.
Back aboard the boat it was back to work to finish the radiator cover/bookcase and cut the timber for a new set of front steps/storage boxes. Heron originally just made a step which of course is a waste of valuable space even though it is a well made step.
As the evening creeps in the weather is turning nasty. Heavy rain and a hail storm have lashed the area so far tonight.