January Catch Up 2 - I buy a new car and Monica gets stuck in the lavatory

The car outside our house
Fri 15th Jan   I bought a new car today! !  Rang handbells in Twickenham in the morning.  Lots of Cambridge Royal practice.  Joan Hooton died.  Judy sparling dropped in for cup of tea. Amanda and Sam arrived back in the afternoon after lunch with Lorraine and suggested going with me to Ford to look at cars.  So took suki for a walk and then we went off.  Two hours later I was the proud owner of a 5 door fiesta titanium  1 year old with 3000 on the clock.  It is classified as a used car, but is an ex-demo model and only has 3000 miles on the clock.  It is a black, 5-door Fiesta Titanium with all the bells and whistles that bigger cars have, plus the DAB radio with bluetooth and voice recognition. It is also turbo-charged and eco-friendly - to the extent that it is exempt from road tax!  Amanda and Sam sat in the back for the test drive and they thought it was great too.  The three of us went to Lara to celebrate and Lorraine joined us after work.  Came home and had a drink together in the living room before we all got tired and went to bed.

Sat 16th Jan  Amanda and Sam went back  to Majorca this morning - they left about 10.  Mike went to Barnes and I walked Suki up to Joyce's house.  I went in for cup of tea and mince pie and had a long chat with her and also sorted out a problem she had with her charging her phone.  Carphone Warehouse had been as usual unhelpful and dismissive when she took it to them. When Mike got back we went up to Richmond Park and had a bacon roll then mike cycled a couple of times round while Suki and I went for a nice hour and a half walk. Lovely sunny afternoon.  Stayed in for the evening and had some delicious sausages which Amanda and Sam had brought back from Melton Mowbray.

Sun 17th Jan.  Strange morning.  Monica was not at the 8 am service but we assumed she was preparing lunch as it was the day of the Chiswick Ringers Christmas lunch which she was hosting.  However her son Ian rang me at 9.30 to say he had been telephoning her all morning with no answer.  So I dragged Mike away from Barnes and dropped him off at Chiswick then drove up to Monica's house.  When I arrived I found the neighbour talking to her through the lavatory window - wherein she had been stuck since 9 pm the night before!  We couldn't get in as no-one had a key so I stayed and chatted to her until Ian arrived from Winchester with a key. It even started snowing at one point.   I left him  (and later Stuart ) to deal with the situation and went to rescue mike from St Nick's.  Eventually they had to shoulder barge the door down - which luckily didn't do too much damage to the door.  Fixable anyway.  The Chiswick ringers lunch went ahead as planned - which gave everyone something to talk about.  The lunch was excellent and there were lots of people there.  Suki was quite well behaved too.  In the evening Mike went to conversational evensong with rabbi Julia neuberger.  I stayed in and practised bob royal on Abel then watched tv. New series of Call the Midwife started

Mon 18th Jan. Very productive admin day.  I sat in front room and used old laptop.  Sorted out insurance for car.  Paid Surrey subs.  And lots more.  In the evening rang handbell peal of Bob Royal at Peter's.  Only got home at 10.40. Ate some pork pie and went to bed. 

The car in Sainsbury car park
a few minutes after I drove her away from the garage
Tues 19th Jan. Felt a bit lethargic today.  Didn't really give the classes 100 % although still had a good workout. Joyce brought round marmalade and jam as a thank you.  I picked up my new car in the evening - aiming for 4.30 but got on the wrong branch of Piccadilly line so had to back peddle from Northfields and only got there just before 5. The car Looks absolutely wonderful. It even has cruise control!  Drove to Sainsbury and spent an hour doing some shopping - mainly a list drawn up by Lorraine.  Despite delaying tactics got back at 6.45 which is 15 mins before the parking restrictions end in our road, so I went and parked in Jeddo road nearby for 15 mins and paired my phone to the car.  Came home and swiftly served up pork pie and cup of tea for supper.  Mike went to choir.  I read the car handbook then did ironing and watched Endeavour I had recorded.  Lorraine came in and made an amazing salad with ingredients I had bought.  Went to bed at 11 with whisky and hazelnut coffee - to take away taste of bad bottle of Chiswick! 

Wed 20th Jan.  Went to Keith's in the old car as couldn't bear to drive new one through Finchley - not yet.  Hard frost this morning so scraped a bit away on windscreen so that parking vouchers could be seen.  Went to village for Keith and paid papers and got him new mobile phone.  Trickier than the previous  (very old ) one but I'm sure he will get the hang of it.  Then helped with sainsbury order and putting additional payment card.  Then popped back to Budgens to look for cupcakes but they didn't have them.  Got a better parking slot right outside the house when I got back.  Svetla just leaving and admired car so had to tell her it was the old one!  Emptied the old one and put dog cage in the new one.  Will have to get used to the idea that it will get dirty and hairy!  In the evening went to Richmond practice with Mike.  We got delayed by a road closure so too late for Malcolm to carry him up so I did it.  Well attended practice and good crowd in the pub.  Kitchen had closed but they offered us food so had a really nice masaman curry which was a bonus.  Went straight to bed and to sleep when we got in.

Thurs 21st.  Lorraine's birthday.  Mike went to work in the morning and Suki and I went with him to Chiswick house and had a long walk.  Surprised by splashes of colour everywhere which turned out to be lanterns in the shape of animals and birds - preparation for lantern festival in Feb.  Got back at 9.30 and washed up,  had shower and changed bedding on both beds and put wash on.  Then went to Westfield Vue with Lorraine to see Room. Had to go in Scene but they accepted vouchers in part payment.  Good film.  There were only 2 other people there!  Walked suki when I got back then went to Mark's to ring handbells. Steve trippy and James not very solid on tenors so several attempts to ring Pudsey but didn't score anything . Shared a bottle of wine then went home just before 9. Decided to get kebab meat and salad from Lara.  Then got 272 bus home.  Took hot drink to bed.  Just falling asleep when Mike came in.  Lorraine out late having supper with friends.






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