The new car ?

The old Volvo is cleaned out before being taken to the BMW garage. A small mountain of 5p pieces are removed from the glove box. The last difficult to remove traces of PONette fur are hoovered out of the back. Any possible 'unpleasantness' over the trade-in price was resolved with a robust phone call with the dealer. Now the new car is about to arrive neither of us can remember why we couldn't have lived with this old one for another year or so. There is some distant memory about wanting something smaller to fit into the tight parking spaces in town. We've opted for a car in Cape York Green. On the manufacturers website this colour seems more sludge grey than vibrant green. 

This mornings excitement is provided by the postman. His Royal Mail van seizes up as he's reversing out of the courtyard onto the farm track. It makes a loud grating  noise we can hear from inside the house. It refuses to move. We drop him off in the village to await the repair team.

The sea decidedly rough today. The more adventurous fishing boats have left the shelter of the bay and headed out to sea. The less adventurous remain anchored offshore.

The cormorants, disdainful of the strong wind, sit on the jagged rocks where the little river meets the sea. They really are masters of the ocean. In the wheat field by the heron pond a flock of curlews are too busy doing whatever curlews do to notice us as we walk by. I'd always thought Curlews were small things but it turns out they're remarkably large birds. 

There's a choice of parking spaces in town. I'm guessing this is a pre-exam revision week and the lecturers don't have to be in for nine o'clock tutorials. We find a free spot by the exam hall and walk to Starbucks where we are the only customers.

When we get back home the RAC has come out to deal with the broken down van. I'd expected the Post Office to have its own fleet of mechanics but farming the function out to the RAC must make more commercial sense. The response time to this remote spot is certainly impressive. The mechanic can't get the engine started so opts to pull the van away. A small crowd of villagers gather to watch. In the country you make the most of excitement where and when you can find it.

Romes water supply :https://thebulletin.org/2024/11/when-romes-fountains-run-dry/

Greatness revealed :https://x.com/FaildVideo/status/1860657081793249662

What we used to eat on planes : https://theclub.ba.com/october-2024/en/flavours-of-flying/