The Year so Far

The Year So Far--- Well, belated New Year Greetings to All! It started with the re-decoration of the lounge, followed by a new front door, both computers being locked up by a virus and the gearbox going on the motorhome! I’ll explain.
Having taken up the old carpet, decided to put it in my loft where I do most of my writing. Isn’t it surprising how many books, cables musical instruments, tv’s, record player and a host of speakers, one collects over time. I had already burnt 40 years of my life in terms of invoices, bank statements, credit card statements, files and a host of paperwork to do with my time as a self-employed worker, and yet I could still not move for stuff in the loft! I subsequently went through all my books, reluctantly passing a load to the local charity shop, but retaining all my military books along with copies of Imprint and Classic Military magazines. Eventually I had laid the carpet and set about re-instating my office. I put the books onto the shelf which promptly fell down, so I had to make one out of one inch timber to take the weight! 90% of what I have here now is dump-able, according to my wife, but then she’s a woman and what do they know about sheds and collecting valuable items which knows only as junk?
Finally the lounge carpet was fitted and having sat on cushions for a month, a trip was ordered to that Holy Grail of self-assembly furniture –IKEA. I did try DFS but I was unlucky. They didn’t have a sale on! A fortnight passed sitting on the above mentioned cushions before the sofa and armchair were delivered, which entailed a carry-job through the garage, across the dining room and into the lounge, due to the narrow entrance door to my property. It took longer to un-wrap the items that it did to assemble! About twenty minutes for the pair; MFI/Argos eat yer heart out! And nothing fell off.
The beauty of this plus what I found in the delivery van, was a vast amount of thick cardboard that (a) covered the carpet in my shed and (b) completely covered the floor in the garage, so that my back wouldn’t get cold lying under the Green Machine. It also enabled me to spot where the oil was coming from that was dripping on the floor; the bottom plate on the gearbox had most of its nuts loose. You see, we did get to mention a Green Machine in this diatribe of dribble!
So you see, whilst you guys were getting your vehicles ready for the coming season, I was having to battle against domesticity, instead of lavishing the love and care on my machine. And I haven’t even mentioned the saga of the bump in the carpet (where did the Hamster go?) and the new door without its knocker , or the cost and struggle in the cold and snow to fit a new gearbox to my ‘van, or getting the computer sorted and trying to come to terms with Windows 8 and its layout!
I’m looking forward to the War and Peace Revival Show which looks very interesting, to say the least. We must all enter into the spirit of the show with the same enthusiasm as we did at the Hop Farm. It will be strange to see people in different places, as you knew where to find everyone’ ‘camp’ and now it’s all new! Maybe we’ll all have sat-navs to find our way around.
On a sad note, we attended the funeral of John Wheatley of Morris Commercial fame (Bertha) who died after a year- long battle against cancer. He was a regular at many events and loved the War & Peace Show, where he could be found in America’s Field, just past the water tower and toilets, and also Bethune. His sharp wit and readiness to help anyone will be missed. Last year was his last W&P and he made his goodbyes to many of his friends at that time. He also sold Bertha at the show and his last ‘outing’ to an event was at Combined Ops, where he was conveyed by a wheelchair to view the show. Bertha was his love and I remember him saying at Combined Ops when he saw her there that he didn’t approve of the fact that the new owner had taken the cab hood off! Apart from that, he must be happy that she is in good hands and will be at many more shows in the future.(br) He may be gone, but the memory lingers on. R.I.P, John