Picture Post.

Take one great grandmother, two grandmothers, three mothers, five daughters, five sisters, one brother, one father and one grandfather, and what do you have?
A boatload! - Oh - that works out as six of us by the way before you try to find spare excess relatives.
Today we celebrated Great-Grannie's birthday by taking a boat up the river.
Something my mother has wanted to do ever since she moved here 37 years ago.
It's pretty, the Thames.
Lots of rather nice houses.
And lots of other things to stare at watch
Peaceful countryside.
And rather jolly nice boat houses. Stuff the boats, I'll live here!
Little Fish was not convinced about the locks
Going into a dead end seemed like a bit of a waste of time to her.
And then the end sprung a leak - Help!
Apparently she wasn't the only one to worry - I want to know who put this dog into a life jacket and more importantly, how and why? Don't dogs swim?Finally much to Little Fish's relief, the gates opened and we were off again.
Not photographed here is the lock keeper in his electric wheelchair; Little Fish was impressed with him. Grannie thinks this may be a better option than dustbin man; LF is not convinced. We'll give it time.
Pretty Lock Keeper's Cottages though - she could keep me in one of them quite happily.
This boat was called the Watertight Alibi. We wondered whether this one's Alibi was less watertight.

Poor joke you say?
Mog thought it was funny!

Past more pretty houses
And lots of boat houses, the university boat houses, people walking, dogs swimming, swans congregating and Canada geese honking. Round a corner

And suddenly we were in Oxford.Time to get off the boat.

Mum had phoned the company who assured us the boats were wheelchair accessible. Not bad for a boat built in 1912; nice level access onto the deck although we'd have had fun trying to get to the saloon if it had been raining. Only two steps down into the boat at the home end too.

It was a slightly different picture at the Oxford end! These two boatmen decided not to moor up next to the ramp as "they're only children, and we'll help you carry them up the steps".
I have a feeling they may have regretted that decision once they realised how much Mog's wheelchair weighed.

Across Oxford to find a nice cafe for lunch, and I came across a worrying baby changing bench.
Intended for use by children under 12 months old. Maximum weight, 24Kilos. That's 55lbs! I know children are getting bigger, but a 55lb baby? I went by weight not age and both girls were thankful.

Home via the big red bus, and back to normality with evening stuff. I'd be grateful if someone could explain this to me though. Remember that pic of Little Fish's foot yesterday? Here's an update.
She has touched nothing, worn nothing but soft fleece slippers (no socks even, as they caused marks around her shins), she has not been hiking or kicking or moving her legs (she can't), they haven't been resting on anything. And tonight this.

I know she likes to keep my life interesting but this is getting ridiculous!
Tia