I had some friends come over last night to join me for dinner in the Junction. I let Ali (that's the landlady) know that there would be about ten of us placing a food order, but I wasn't able to confirm a time as I told her they were arriving by hot air balloon. Well, she thought I was barmy or winding her up because she kept asking me "how long will they be?", my reply being "when the get blown here". Brownie even spotted the balloon in the distance, but Ali still was concerned that I was being serious. It wasn't until they walked through the door at about 8pm and we showed her the pictures, that she actually believed me!

They had taken off at Shugborough hall and their path had brought them over Gnosall, Norbury and finally landing at Sutton just a couple of miles away. We had all spoken earlier in the day and said that we would meet for dinner, but none of us expected the balloon to land so close to Norbury - we couldn't of planned it any better if we had tried.

It's been another glorious day here at Norbury. Temperatures are soaring, although they are still dropping cold over night. When I took Annie out this morning there was even ice on the boat next to me.

It was really busy here over lunchtime which kept Kim and Joyce busy in the tearoom. I've manned the office on my own, although Joyce has taken a number of hire boat bookings and given me a hand when she can. Bernard has blacked the boat that we currently have on the dock and has been doing some ferckling on one of the brokerage boats whilst Matt has painted the gunnel tops and sides of the boat on the dock and started prepping the boat that has just arrived for painting after Mick finished removing all of the roof fittings etc.

I've been sent a short film by a couple who hired Phantom back in February. They originate and live in Australia and thoroughly enjoyed their time with us. So here we go!

So that's it from me today.

Until tomorrow.

Best regards,

David