Wednesday 20th October

Blue sky and sunshine today but there was a VERY chilly wind. Richard was steering with a hat, scarf and gloves on plus sunglasses as the wind was making his eyes water. I took the opportunity to stay below and give the bathroom a good clean and also wash the galley floor. I also decided to wash some jeans as it was such a lovely day. We were just entering Boveney Lock and I was at my post on the bow ready to lasso a bollard when Richard yelled at me to say that the washing machine had fallen out of its cupboard! I rushed from end of the boat to the other to find the machine tipped over but happily spinning away! I pushed it back in and all seemed fine. Richard suddenly thought that maybe the waste pipe may have come adrift and the machine would be flooding the boat – but all was OK. I think the shelf that the machine sits on will need to be screwed down and not just balanced from now on! We tied up in Maidenhead and had lunch but we didn’t move on as we were meeting Wendy and Terry here for dinner. As I was getting ready to go out Millie was asking very nicely to go out of the front doors. I let her out – big mistake!! About 10 minutes before we due to leave I called her in – but she was having none of it and thought it was a great game having me chase her around!! I tried heading her off but she slipped by me and ran into someone’s garden. I left her for a few minutes and tried calling again but there was sight nor sound of her. We decided that we would have to go out and leave her. We had a lovely evening though I was worried about her. When we got back I called her once and there was a very pitiful miaow and she appeared. She wasn’t very cold but she was hungry. Hopefully she has learnt her lesson and won’t play the game again!