Tucked up for winter?

The tax on the Commer runs out at the end of the month, and I'm planning on taking her off the road for the winter, so I just need to sort out the rust on the gutter so I don't get a nasty surprise. Blummin well run out of welding gas though haven't I...




And I've been pimping my ride too. What do you think?

Four wheels good, 2 wheels bad

I have always hankered after a scooter, not just any scooter, but a Vespa PX125. I used to watch in awe as the Scooterboys of Burton-on-Trent hung out at the courts (probably waiting for one of their pals to come out from their hearing). I will get one one day - hopefully soon, when I have the money, and space and deep deep need (oh and the licence).

Why all this babbling about 2 wheels, when I've firmly put myself in the 4 wheeled camp? Well some idiot pulled out into my Dad on his motorbike last weekend. He and his pillion were badly hurt, and he's still in Lincoln County hospital with 5 broken ribs. I spent most of last week up and down the county visiting him.

He's getting better, but I can't seem to get over the injustice of it all. He's a safe rider, the traffic was slow, and he was riding a big - sensible bike (not a sporty job). My dad is was in the process of easing himself into retirement by way of longer and longer trips out on his bike. I want him to be happy, I want him to be able to go out and enjoy life, without careless idiots spoiling it for him. I don't want him to be put off, and to prove it, I won't be put off either. I'm going to join the 2 wheeled world, and find out what all the fuss is about.

So be safe out there guys - watch out for those bikes will you? It might be me or my dad you are pulling out in front of.

Wetter not better

...but I'm sure Noah would have an order in to Screwfix by now...

white water action

mind the first step - its a little slippy

follow the snail to dry land!

van-boat-van

I want to spend the winter here...

I spent tonight mopping up the garage, and it looks a lot worse than it is, and what with the superb drainage system its lots easier than it used to be.

Dry dry dry-delight-ah!

Its bin raining you see....

wet or dry?

wet? - dry?

dry!

Dry dry dry-ving me mad!

As some of you may know, I have been known to suffer from terrible water retention and have come up with numerous methods to address it in the past (the patented indoor gutter the glue the garage shut method and the drill some holes in the garage floor method), but none of these has really cut the mustard and given me a usable water-free garage so I decided to do something waaaay out of left-field and - wait for it - do the job properly!

A drain channel (available from B&Q), a length of 110mm pipe, some right angles and a lots and lots of digging were in order. I enlisted my friend Gordon's help as he knows about these things (and has a special spade to do it with!) . So the past 3 nights have seen nocturnal building activity a Little-Yellow-Towers to rival the Jordashes. It was all tidied up last night with a splodge of mortar - finishing at 10:30 (after Taekwon-do) and now all I need is a splash of rain to test it with - as ever dear reader I'll keep you posted!

how can something so simple make me so happy?

As the wife and kids are away with the in-laws, I have been kicking back and relaxing in a big way. This afternoon was no exception. On the way back from a 3 hour Taekwon-do marathon, I took a detour down a lane I've never been down before, in the hope of finding: a) useful free stuff and b) interesting old cars. And I wasn't disapointed in either respect.

The free stuff came in the shape of these:

it's not junk - its mine

Anyone who can tell me what they are/were and what I want them for will win a prize.

And the old car hunting came up trumps too. I found a little house in the country completely surrounded by interesting metal work. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera (and I didn't fancy freaking the guy out by knocking on the door in my Taekwon-do suit) but suffice to say there was a lot of interesting stuff there, including at least 2 Renault 4s (when was the last time you saw one of them?) a few old big Citroens, and something old and BMC shaped under a tarpaulin.

Classic Cars and a Tartan Heart

This weekend saw 2 big events, the Morris Minor owner's club LEO (Lands End - Orkney) and Belladrum Festival.

We started off on Thursday lunchtime liaise with the Morris Minor people at Balloch Castle. We then took off round Loch Lomond at a blistering pace (have you ever tried following a morris minor in a Commer PB? not easy!).

We had to leave them unfortunately so we colud head up to Inverness before sundown. A nice cruise through Fort William and up Loch Ness got us to the festival for about 6pm - to give us time to get the awning up, a cup of tea, some dinner and maybe a glass of 2 of wine.

home - home on the range

wine women and song

Lazy days in the sunshine (there was lots of sunshine!)

roll-over (Beethoven)

What's the story? awning glory

too much too young

too cool 4 skool

Daddy not sharin'

mucky paws

jus' monkyin' around

Dad, don't embarrass me.

Jessica made it all the way without missing a beat - can't wait till next year!

Yorkshire Commer Meet

Last weekend was the CommerVanFan Yorkshire meet at Martin's place.

selective crowd - nice awning though

the numbers grew on the Sunday (3 of them are Martins!)

fun trip out to bother the neighbours

project for the brave - I want it!

Telecom van undergoing restoration

Met some really nice people

won some trophies (distance award and shed!)

great welcome home