We had planned to use the weekend to do a couple of jobs onboard and do a bit of Christmas shopping in Kidderminster. The cold weather and the fact that Heddi wasn’t feeling too good meant we abandoned the jobs on board, and decided instead to just have a bit of a chill out and do some shopping.

To keep us warm I had brought a whole load of wood and two bags of ‘Maxibrite’ that the coal merchant had recommended instead of Taybrite. It certainly seemed to be good. The fire stayed in well overnight and kept the boat plenty warm during the day.

We went into town to do the shopping. Normally I hate Christmas shopping, but it wasn’t too bad – not too crowded, and it was good that the boat was only 10 mins walk away.