Thursday, April 14, 2016

A surprise.


Mid-morning. Three white vans process along the lane. Monsieur Bay and a group of retired gendarmes have come to shoot down the Asiatic Hornets nest. They fire sixteen shots. They miss. " Difficult conditions " says Monsieur Bay cryptically, by way of explanation. It's sunny, cloudless and calm. Angus can't help but think that the safest place to be is in front of the retired gendarmes guns. He keeps this thought to himself. The firemen and non-retired gendarmes will be here to deal with the Hornets on Saturday.

An e-mail arrives from the Volvo garage to say that our 'beautiful' new car will ready for collection on Thursday morning. This comes as something of a surprise as the last thing we heard from the dealer was that it would be delivered sometime in May.  

Money is hastily transferred and the old car cleaned out. The boot carpet is indelibly permeated with Wilfs white hair. 

As I work Bob and Sophie provide 'encouragement' from the shade of the lawn. When they get bored providing encouragement they savage each other.


The Range Rover has gone for nine years without a single mechanical problem. As I head back home from the car wash an orange dashboard light comes on.  'See a mechanic' says the display with cost laden nonchalance. Great timing.

This morning Angus will head off early to the Range Rover Service Department to find out what the problem is and ( hopefully ) have it fixed. He will then take the recalcitrant car along to the Volvo garage and trade it in. It all sounds so simple.

Bob and Sophie will not participate in the hand over.


Some days you just know are going to take an unexpected turn.



13 comments:

Coppa's girl said...

We can't help thinking that there are times when your little corner of Paradise is very much more dangerous than the big city ! Maybe it's easier to hit wild boar...
In the second photo, Sophie looks just like a puppy.

WFT Nobby said...

When things go wrong, you can at least look at Bob and Sophie standing together in your beautiful garden, and smile.

Julie said...

The joys of car ownership. Quite different than the real joys of dog ownership

Virginia said...

Might it perhaps sort itself once the car recovers from being cleaned ... fingers crossed!

VirginiaC said...

"See a mechanic"...words to be worried about...hope all goes well at the Service Department and it's not anything major.
Wilf lives on...hope you at least left a few hairs behind after you cleaned the boot carpet....better yet saved a few.

Poppy Q said...

Oh I love todays photos = spring has arrived in your garden.

Swan said...

Your. Blog is better than "Fawlty Towers"! Our Range Rovers light came on..2 days later the engine blew up without warning😬 I used to think they were reliable, I'd never own another one.

Swan said...

PS the engine had oil in it. We took it to the dealer who said it was a glitch in the computer. 2 days later it died on the freeway. We towed it to another repair shop who said he gets these vehicles in all the time. Who knew.

Vicki said...

I missed you when you were away. I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading about your adventures everyday. The pups are so much fun and they always bring a smile to my face. Good luck on the cars getting lined out.
Thank you!

Unknown said...

A beautiful spring has come to the Rickety Old Farmhouse. I love the picture of Bob and Sophie with the peonies. As a child in Indiana, we had a long drive lined with peonies. Looking forward to reading the next episode of the Asiatic Hornets!

Kari said...

Shooting at the hornets nests? Won't they swarm if the nest is struck?
One of my happiest days was when I got my Range Rover. One of my other happiest days was when I got rid of it. Sounds like you got " a good one" even with its final twist. Mine was a beast.

Louise said...

Wilf. :-( :-)

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

The last picture is a reflection of pure joy!