Hi, Your comments are always most welcome
i hear napton is nice at this time of year............
Bones, Napton is always a great place to be, I love it. I remember one night in the Folly Pub we were the only people in there, the fire was roaring and the pie and chips was good along with a couple of pints.. a great night.
The locks are a delight to work through, and the only complaint I have about Napton is the bloomin sandy towpath when the hose pipe is out and then reeled in after filling with water... gritty pipe ughhhh!! 
Hi Sue and Vic,
It seems very early in the year for you to be heading out on the Nene. Two and three years ago it seemed like it was late spring before you made this jump. Hope you have an enjoyable Easter weekend and that your trip next week is a happy one.
Best wishes,
Mark
Wonderful blog, have been avid 'hidden' reader for about a year, many thanks for livening up my days in the farm office.
I thought you may be interested to know the 'true price' of red diesel as it is something we use a lot of on the farm. At the moment it is a volatile market - from 4/1/08 @ 50p/l to 14/3/08 @ 54p/l. This is a wholesale price without VAT (which we pay and then reclaim). The problem is, as ever, that the City Boys are playing with the futures markets ($111.8 a barrel for April) so basically if we need the stuff we have to pay!
I look forward to the day when my wife and I can
close the gate and set off in our boat for more than three weeks, however we are lucky in that we can take time off when not busy.
With Very Best Wishes
Farmer Giles (aka Simon)
NB Davy Bach (St Neots)
ps if you want the latest prices for comparison - just ask as they come through to my desk weekly.
Sx
Hi Sue
Note you had thought of joining Nene before Easter. A 'strong stream advice' was issued by EA on 16/03 when the river was running very fast and the locks were 'reversed' in our area (Yarwell), so no movement possible. Water levels are going down but I don't know what weather the weekend will bring, winter again by the sound of it.
Best wishes
Michael Daking Nb. Ellisiana, Yarwell Mill
Hi,
Enjoying reading your blog, perhaps you could check mine out when you have time @
http://ukcanals.blogspot.com
ATB Ken
Mark, Yes it has been later in other years, I think it is because Easter is very early this year, and we aim to sort of start off around Easter time wherever we are going.
But the reports are that the Nene is in flood, so we may have to wait a while.. Have a great Easter break yourself 
Farmer Giles, I am pleased you are enjoying my jottings, and many thanks for the information about the diesel. It amazes me how volitile the market is at the moment, even the same boatyard can be 10p dearer or even cheaper from one day to the next with a new delivery.
Your price plus VAT is not far off what we are paying in general at the moment though. I just dread to think how much it is going to cost in November. We are making a huge effort now to make sure we don't run our engine any longer than necessary to recharge our batteries and we are running tests to see just how long the engine is run for..
Michael Daking, Oh many thanks for that Michael. I have not looked on the EA site of late, I had better go take a good look. It may well be then that we have to wait a little longer than the back end of next week to venture to the Nene.
As I write it is absolutely pouring with rain..
Ken, Glad you are enjoying my jottings.. with the weather the way it is I have no doubt at all that I will be able to check out your blog over the weekend instead of taking the girls out rambling!! 
