Saturday

Good morning, everyone.  It's not cold again this morning but it's not terribly nice out there all the same.  When I peeked out it was raining quite hard and I'm just hoping it clears up before I have to pop into town.

Well, yesterday was very exciting indeed which might explain why I was asleep by seven thirty last night and woke just before six this morning.  I guess I missed my snoozes!

After test driving, thinking, negotiating, arguing just a little bit and generally having a good time (oh, and drinking some quite nice coffee along the way), I will be picking up my new car next week.  I say new; I shall be the second owner so get the benefit of depreciation but it is just four months into registration with a mileage so low as to be utterly daft (with a good reason).  I think I got extremely lucky!

But then I have always been 'lucky' with my cars.  My first car, a Chevette, was a 'new driver' car (which I was) and did its bit well.  The second, an Astra, was really lovely and it wasn't until my dad took advantage of special deals he was entitled to in his place of work that I 'swapped' the Astra for a Maestro (the Astra lasted several more years for its new owner before she upgraded).

That did me for years and years and years until in 1999 I bought my 11 month old Peugeot I am just about to replace.  Amazingly, the Peugeot, bought fifteen and a half years ago, cost just about a thousand pounds less than what I am paying for my nippy new car with its many gizmos and gadgets.  And it was great value then.  I was lucky - my then car mechanic had a little side business finding cars for customers, checking them over, making them roadworthy and then selling them.  He was an excellent mechanic, skilled and very, very honest, and I was gutted when he sold his business on and went into a completely different line of work.  There is absolutely no chance that he reads this but, just in case, thank you so much, Mark, and I hope life is treating you really well.  You sold me a wonderful car and I have loved driving her until very recently when it all went belly up!

I will tell you more next week.  At the moment I can hardly believe it but I guess it will sink in soon and I will be more mature about it.  Maybe.

So I have to go into town to warn my bank that there will be a large payment out of my account which I really don't want them to query.  While I'm there I will pop into a few other shops for bits and bobs, including Lakeland (oh, yes!!).  May as well have a bit of fun, after all.

Apart from that it is, sadly, the end of the leisure time and I have to pop into school to pick up some books and generally get stuff ready for Monday.  It's been a good break, one of the best.  Unusually, for me, touch wood, despite daughter and grandson coughing and spluttering around me, I have remained healthy all through with not a sniffle in sight.

It will be even sadder on Sunday when the decorations all get put away again.  Traditionally it should be Twelfth Night (Tuesday) but Sunday is the more sensible time when I have Beth and Alex to share the fun.

I think, for me, less is more and this year I have restricted the decorations to the Christmas tree, one sideboard full of candles and Christmas greenery and the nativity crib.  Oh, and a wreath on the front door and a star on the living room door.  It has all looked very festive without in any way being messy or getting in the way, not to mention being easy to put up.  I shall definitely do it like that again next year - I mean this year!

I seem to have gone on and on so I will stop now as my mug is empty and I need another coffee.  Well, I want one, anyway!  I suppose that's something else that will stop - making a pot of coffee (decaf now) and warming mugfuls up through the day as and when.

Have a good day and I hope you are able to stay warm and dry.