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The finished article It looks alright outside a new barn conversion where the local builder allowed me to use the concrete drive to make final adjustments to the engine and brakes before taking it out on the road. What started as a mechanical makeover turned into something a lot bigger and I wish I could have kept more of its originality (I have all the interior trim in a box for the next custodian) but it still has all the dings, dents, scratched and chipped paintwork that it collected over the last 83 years and the chrome is showing its age. On the other hand I can take it out on the road and go to rallies and galas without worrying about people touching it or kids with sticky fingers making a mess on it. In August 2019 I entered the Garioch Vehicle Restoration Society rally where it attracted quite a lot of attention although 'his lordship' sitting in the back seat may have been part of the reason Sam isn't in to car rallies, ' I'm bored, can we go home now?' I'm hoping that we do get to some rallies this year as the car is less than 20 miles from where it was first registered in 1937 and when we got the car it had yellow bulbs in the headlights and fog lights, a GB plate on the back and a transfer of French road signs on the windscreen so someone had taken it to France at some point. I'm sure that someone in the area has old photographs hiding in the loft as you wouldn't take a car like this to France without taking photographs. That's it then and I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings.

Things didn't go quite as planned yesterday. First of all I will say I did take my camera this time. Unfortunately I didn't check the battery was fully charged. Though the snow, such as it was, had thawed, there was a slight touch of drizzle in the air. Water on frozen ground can be interesting. Didn't set off to the field till after lunch. Where the bridleway joins the farm track, there is a bit of a drop. Normally not a problem but it had been rutted by a tractor at some time and some lumps off earth left sticking up. Now frozen solid. Trying to pick the best way down, as the front wheels dropped off the lane, the tote box on the front dug in and came off. Next the rear axle got high sided on righthand side. Front wheels in the gully, one rear wheel in the air spinning merrily, nothing was going anywhere. Unhitched the trailer and put the tractor in 1st high box. By lifting the tractor rear end and pushing best I could, managed get the tractor on to the farm track. Trailer back on and tote box, chainsaw etc in the trailer proceeded to the field. The tree I was going to fell, was at one side of a gateway between two fields. The ground had been nicely paddled by cattle and sheep and now frozen and starting to thaw, made walking rather dodgy. The tree had grow from out the side of the bank. The only way I could get to cut it was off the bank. Also I couldn't get to it to cut a notch out the side I wanted it to fall. Though with it leaning into the field anyway, that was where it was going to drop. It wasn't the best of jobs, or safest I've done due to the trees position, but by being very careful it dropped right where I expected and wanted. I was cutting some of the limbs up, trailer length, and loading them and twiggy stuff into the trailer, when Carol arrived and assisted with the loading. With the tote box etc balanced on top of the load of wood, the slow journey home down the rough track was made. Depending on the weather, rain forecast for tomorrow, it could be the end of the week before the jobs finished. If it doesn't kill me first.