That flaming Christmas pud, and how special do you have to be to work a lock?

Our Christmas hosts made sure that things were done properly as far as lunch was concerned. The burning issue was the Christmas pudding, made by our friend Willie, and set alight by brother David.

On Boxing Day we visited brother Peter in west London. He'd devised a treasure hunt for us, and we enjoyed walking round the area spotting the answers - where they still existed - to his clues. The route took us along part of the Thames: this is Barnes Bridge lit by the afternoon sun. The river was flowing swiftly here. I would not have fancied it in a narrowboat.

On Friday 27th December we drove up to Milton Keynes and reacquainted ourselves with Jubilee. It was good to be back on board - and good to get the fire going! The next day we set off for a mini-cruise to Stoke Bruerne. This is more than half-way up the flight of locks, Lock 16, I think, just below the long pound.

At the top we were slightly taken aback by the number of gongoozlers. They seemed to come out of nowhere. Jan was asked how long it would take to fill the lock; and if "ordinary" people were allowed to work the locks, or if you had to be "special". Well, of course, we know the answer to the second question, don't we? We're all special!