What did you do New Year 2014?..

I painted a 60 year old Dinky model of my A40 Somerset. What on earth?!! One to remember.

Before the Champagne was popped of course.

That's probably as good as I wanted to get it. Don't think I have a steady enough hand to add the reg. number. Silver pen maybe?...

Minus temperatures drive to Reading Central Pool!

OK, really ummed and ahhed about driving Amy this morning. It was around -7° overnight and only about -4° at 9.30am when it was time to leave for Rob's Diving in Reading. But it was bright, and dry. Probably as ideal driving conditions in that kind of temp that you could ask for. It would be a REAL test and I still feel the need to put her under pressure for some reason.

Again, as with in November, the cover was frozen solid to the roof. Bits of tarp were left in place when I pulled it off - that was a bit of a mistake!! Was already thinking of investing in a proper, breathable cover to replace it anyway, so no big deal just aided the decision along a bit.

Was not hopeful initially though, turnover was REALLY sluggish. Even more so than a couple of days ago due to the temperature being that much colder. It had that real "dead battery" sound, but ye of little faith. Oil pressure came up, few blips on the accelerator after that and she came to life easily again. I don't know why I harbor doubts frankly.

Rob was not impressed, cold car journey to Reading for him. He got over it, but admitted that he was hoping she wouldn't go when he heard me trying to start up. He was happy in a nice warm hoody though, winter motoring 50's style!! The "heater" was just enough to keep the windscreen clear and melt the remaining ice - but that was all you could really ask for.

But she was warmed up and purring along within 10 mins and got us there with no doubts at all. Mandatory location picture, Amy at Diving, Reading Central Pool:

Warmed up to 0° for the journey home mind you! Balmy.

Little boys toys

Bought a Dinky Somerset for a tenner. Sole intention is to make it roughly look like mine, not to be original or anything.

First coat, probably wont look great even when done and probably will be worth LESS than before! But that wasn't the point. Only for fun.

 



Bright, cold Christmas country drive

Blow out those Christmas cobwebs, bright sunny day, really cold overnight. Pulled finger out and cleaned up the sparkplugs at least! Long overdue as not done since CH Gasket repair over 9 months ago. Good news is that they all looked pretty much OK. Touch dark perhaps, but in OK nick with 1400 miles under their belt.

Starting took a little bit of effort, but nothing sinister. Not driven in over a week, cold thick oil. Highlighted the benefit of having a good strong battery. Initial turnover was slow, gradulally sped up as oil pressure came up. Then fired up pretty easily after that and ran quite nicely for temps of around 2°

Drove out into the country a bit and here's Amy in some random farmland scenery!

Another day, another drive. Judo Club / Youth Centre plus Seats upkeep

This blog is approaching a boring normality level, which is good. If the most interesting thing to note is where Amy was driven today then that's fine by me!

Therefore, Amy at "her" parking space at Isabelle's Judo Christmas party at Wokingham Youth Centre:

Also a small piece of work, must retreat the seats on a regular basis. The bases anyway. Noticed some early wear and tear and now that they are fitted they are much easier to treat.

Looking Back. 2014.

Was just glancing through a few old entries of this blog. About a year ago, end of Nov / start of Dec 2013 was a key point. I had problems, but was determined to work through them. Most importantly I had decided NOT to try to make Amy my exclusive daily drive and that I would keep two cars. Becky the Citroen arrived around then. 107,000 miles on the clock! So that may have been a questionable choice but annual mileage was so low, it seemed like an OK gamble.

But since then, my working pattern has changed, whereas I was probably only doing 2000 miles a year TOTAL before (due to Train travel) this changed. Becky was called into play far more, she's now done approaching 5000 miles in the last year. Regular trips to Staines and back. She passed her MOT with only new front tyres needed. The only problem is the radiator fan does not work properly so you have to turn the heater on in traffic jams! Not so nice in the summer - but bearable!! So despite NEEDING a car more than before, it's all worked out nicely.

Amy has done about 1500 miles in that year period too and it's the opposite problem for her, trying to get her nicely warmed up is the challenge there!!

But either way, since that important decision last year, the fact that mechanicals all fine now and we've had a nice summer of trips and shows, it's all good.

For now......!!!

Out and about - nothing much but ... Pinewood & Heathlake pictures

Saturday was a bright, icy cold day but had too much to do to get out in Amy for a drive. Sunday was also pretty nice so despite having quite a "head" from two nights of pre-Christmas celebrating(!), Amy had to get out for a nice drive. All FIVE of us pootling up to Gymnastics.

Isabelle dropped off first then it was off to a local venue, Heathlake, for a nice fresh dog walk.

Met some fellow dog walkers who were as enamored with Amy as they were with Reggie. AND wanted a picture of their dog in front of the car!! Random but my indulgence from last year (Amy) combines nicely with the Wife's indulgence of this year (Reggie).

Occasional Daily Driver Still - Roebuck Pub, Binfield

Still an element of bloody minded-ness that I can't shift, but anyway, today was similar to a few weeks ago. Sunny Friday slated, very cold, damp start. Ice. Took two or three attempts to start up, but still relatively easy. Haven't had to resort to easy-start like I did last year so all good.

In the office by 8.00am. Even after over a year, still can't help looking down at the Car Park and smiling. But resisted the photo this time.

But I just had to take a shot outside the Friday lunchtime pub!