Solace Day 11 Heaven And Hell

We were so pleased to be able to moor here last night, it's our favourite place on the canal system and great to wake up to this heavenly view as we did on Christmas Day in 2016.

We were due to turn around to day and head back for the marina. A busy day again on the cut, we had to queue for locks. We cruised through Shobnal to the winding hole at Horninglow Basin at the next lock I got off the boat to do a 55 minute run. Is that the "hell" you might ask. No! I planned to arrive back at Branston Water Park at midday and wait there to join the men for lunch.

My plan was spot on. THEN CAME THE HELL.

I felt a pain in my leg and bent to rub it and realised I was surrounded by bees/wasps. I screamed, I ran, I flailed my arms about. They followed, flying around my head. I could feel their stings. I stumbled and fell. I was terrified, now I couldn't escape them. That was my salvation: I'd dropped beneath their radar. They'd lost me! I got up again and people were coming towards me. I warned them to keep back away from the angry insects. I went to a chap waiting at the lock to ask him if there was still anything crawling on my back. He reassured me there wasn't.

I asked a lady on a boat coming through the lock if she would look out for our boat and tell the men what had happened and to meet me up at the lock. "Were they honey bees, bumble bees or wasps?" The Man asked. Well, I know my Hymenoptera, but had I hung around to identify them? Not likely! "What did you do to upset them?" he then asked. Me? I try very hard not to upset anything or anyone, and certainly not wasps, which they had been due to their being no stingers left in my skin.

I took antihistamines and got into the shower. I counted 12 stings over my body. My ears and bare shoulders had been easy targets but they even got me through my thick Lycra leggings!