Roll on Summer!

Picnic in Burgundy

The Wall!

For days I have been psyching myself up to attack what is an annual task, the restoration of our white painted garden walls. The bulk of the area to be dealt with is Victorian, having been built at the same time as the house.

Back yard in Summer

I do tend to get a bit neurotic about it, because I'm conscious that it must be done before the climbing plants are in full bloom and of course in this country you can never be sure when the weather is going to be good enough to enable the job to be tackled. Another factor that increases the stress levels (it doesn't take much, my wife says!) is the fact that the sort of weather appropriate for the repair of the wall is just the sort of stuff that would tempt me to get the Morgan on the road!

Back gate and wall

Fortunately this winter has not been too severe and we have had no really severe frosts, unlike last year when the damp inside the old wall froze, expanded and great chunks of brick dropped off, necessitating repairing the damage with cement.

The window in the weather I was waiting for occurred last Friday and this triggered me into action with a scraper, getting rid of all the small areas of paint that had lifted since last year, then mixing and applying a sealer, to seal the surface prior to painting.

Today dawned with clear blue skies and a big sun, conditions that would normally have meant grabbing a couple of small bottles of  red, the preparation of a gastronomic extravaganza and escaping in the Morgan, up into the fells for a picnic. Not this time, the wall beckoned, bugger, bugger!

Donning my overalls and then beavering away with my paint brush in my haste to finish before the re-run of the Australian GP at 2pm, I tripped over the ladder, blinded by the reflection of the sun on the new paint and deposited much of it on to the newly awakening plants! Never mind, it will be quite a novelty to have roses and valerian with white leaves!

Due to cats these are the only birds we've got!!

Finished at 1.30pm., cleared up, got out of my overalls, with the kind assistance of my wife who made the usual caustic, hurtful comments when I suggested  that they must have shrunk, and then shot upstairs for a shower, positioning myself in front of the telly at precisely 1.59pm ready for the start. Good old Jensen!

From now on in, unless my dearly beloved gives me another task, it will be sunshine all the way in that little Morgan of ours.

PS  All photos taken in Summer of course.

'The Petrol Age', Sky Atlantic, Thursdays 8pm

What a joy it was to watch a serious motoring programme, not one that in my opinion is presented by a bunch of puerile and sometimes patronising celebrities, mostly promoting cars that very few of us will ever afford while demonstrating the undisciplined attitudes to safety that blight motoring on our roads today. You will appreciate that I am not a follower of 'Top Gear', unlike it seems, the bulk of western civilisation.

This programme, presented by Paul McGann, who incidentally has owned a Rover P5 3 litre Coupe for many years, is in four episodes and tells the absorbing story of British motoring heritage. The first programme was a celebration of speed and the only thing that I was disappointed about was the fact that there was no mention of our wonderful marque, whose three wheelers had such huge racing success in the twenties.

If you missed the first episode or do not have Sky, then watch it on your computer. Sadly there are only four episodes!

Back in Business!

Our computer is now up and running after an assault by 'Trojans', or so I was informed in the message that was flashed up on our computer  Who are these individuals who extort money from individuals by infesting their computer systems with viruses? 

They got no money from me but it appears that a number of people have been hit locally and one of them parted with £70 to have the faults rectified by  the person or persons who had perpetrated the crime in the first instance. He did inform the police, but whether or not these villains are ever punished for their crimes I don't know.

Anyway, it's great to be back.

Last Sunday the weather was good, albeit cloudy, so we took the opportunity to drive in the Morgan to one of my wife's sisters who lives about 15 miles away. The day before, I had nipped out for a quick blast without the side screens, which, in addition to revealing the car's beautiful lines, does lead to an extremely fresh and invigorating experience not always appreciated by the ladies!

However, it was in this uncluttered form that I suggested to the 'boss' that we should travel, with the added suggestion that she might like to put on as many clothes as possible, just to be on the safe side! 

We had a great drive and are both looking forward to the first picnic of the year with the Morgan when the weather warms up just a little more.

Rain in Brittany!

This was a shot taken during a rather heavy rainstorm in south east Brittany in September 2008 as we were travelling through an area of salt-pans south of La Roche Bernard.

It demonstrates the efficiency of the Morgan triple wiper system when the necessary adjustments to the angle at which the blade touches the windscreen are made!!.......and my youngest sister pointed out to me after reading this latest post, that she thought she was sad, mentioning the fact that she was cleaning her cupboards at home with the aid of a toothbrush and here was her brother majoring on windscreen wipers!

Frogs on the rampage!

Remember my little pond next to my vegetable garden, well I opened the back garage door into the garden this morning and noticed that the pond was a maelstrom, a living, writhing mass of activity, the frogs are mating again. What the fish think about it I don't know....not much I suspect! Anyway it is a blatant reminder that Spring is just around the corner. Yippee!

I went into the Morgan garage and fixed the new tax disc in place, always a bit of a problem because, although I bought one of those posh holders with 'Morgan' emblazoned all over it, it is not one of the screw off variety and I have to remove all the little screws with an 'Allen' key before I can insert the new disc.

Anyway that job completed and because the weather was lovely, I planted the bulk of my 'First Early' potatoes, the next stage in our self sufficiency programme that is meant to release more funds for Morgan items for instance, but consistently fails to achieve this!

Next came the Morgan, on to which I lavished more Autoglym polish and elbow grease. With the car once more looking absolutely immaculate, its owner had his hair cut by her indoors, had a shower, donned his white roll-neck submariner sweater and leather jacket and launched himself on to an unsuspecting public, firmly ensconced in the Morgan of course, with everything down.

It was a spirited short drive that demonstrated that it was not only the frogs that were on  the rampage, although I must emphasise that my rampaging is totally restricted to the driving experience!

Spotted a Jowett Jupiter whose occupants gave me a cheery wave that was returned of course, http://www.jowettjupiter.co.uk/clublist.htm

As I sit here writing this I can tell it is Friday and sunny, by the number of cars pulling up at the traffic lights with windows down and ghastly thumping music bellowing forth! Is it my age, perhaps it is?

A Devonshire gem in Derbyshire!

I thought that I was going to have to modify the title of this post after our first breakfast at 'The Devonshire Arms', Pilsley, following a minor altercation with the waiter, a young chap who started arguing with me when I complained about the lateness of the toast, blaming it on the toaster rather than admitting he'd forgotten us.

The Devonshire Arms, Pilsley, Derbyshire

These things can critically affect one's enjoyment, when, in the time honoured fashion, you wish to squidge your fried egg onto a piece of hot toast and the damn stuff doesn't arrive on time! It can ruin a hostellery's reputation!

I was instructed by my dearly beloved and the two friends who were accompanying us to let the matter rest until after breakfast the following day, just prior to our departure, thus avoiding the likelihood of me suffering a heart attack!

Pilsley, 'Devonshire Arms' at end of road

Sure enough, the following morning, breakfast was served in impeccable fashion with toast overflowing from the table and our every wish was met by a charming smile and total courtesy. In fact we left the table best of friends, almost blood brothers!

Hardwick Hall

That was the only slight blip on our second visit to 'The Devonshire Arms', Pilsley, one of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire's Hotels/Pubs, offering first class accommodation and food. http://www.devonshirepilsley.co.uk/ .

It is situated on the Chatsworth estate and is in fact just a couple of minutes from the Chatsworth Farm Shop where you can savour many 'goodies', at a price! The hotel is a perfect base for exploring the Peak District in your Morgan, although we were in the Volvo on this occasion.

Chatsworth House

We enjoyed a most memorable visit to 'Hardwick Hall', a National Trust property just south of Chesterfield, http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hardwick/ . It is a stunning Elizabethan house created in the late 1500's by Bess of Hardwick, the richest woman in England at the time, after Elizabeth the First.

Early morning, Derwent valley

Following some four hours there, we moved on to Stainsby Water Mill another NT property, and then on to have a look at Chatsworth House , gleaming in the evening sunshine, across the parkland opposite, because both the house and gardens were closed, which is the reason why we were able to secure a very reasonable rate for our accommodation at 'The Devonshire'. 

As I have said, it would make a perfect base for a Morgan adventure and next time we visit this super little hotel I think that we will definitely go in the mog, seasonal weather conditions permitting!