All exuberant

who’s the idiot in the red hat?

I have started to spend our daughters’ inheritance. That’s what it feels like. I bought a new starter battery for Doris (£120) as the current one has been fitted for five years. She turns over very slowly in the cold – but never fails to start. And, as the satellite dish lifts and turns from the vehicle battery and as the old dish has stopped a couple of times due to ‘Low Voltage’, I thought I’d get a replacement. It’s not a straightforward swap. There are more wires under the flap than in a Cray computer. Anyhow, it’s done now.

And I bought a set of roof rails for the car (Thule, second hand, used once for £50). We need those when the Ladley family head off to Cornwall in a couple of weeks. Add to that the new campernet and (how exciting?) the new Vision 3 satellite dish which is being fitted at Woburn – hopefully not by the chimps at the safari park – on Wednesday. I’ve mentioned the price before, so I won’t trouble you again. It actually takes quite an effort to write out the total without my hand shaking. Anyhow, you can’t take it with you … although you can leave it to your children. They’ll manage.

how degrading

What was interesting about the battery was I tested the old one this morning, it having sat on the garage floor overnight. Voltage – 12.73v. For any of you who knows anything about 12 volt batteries, that means it’s absolutely fine and we didn’t need to replace it. Oh well. It’s something else for Gumtree.

The good news is Henry is still fabulous. He is a scream – always smiling and (mostly) being well behaved. He also slept through last night from 7.30pm to 6.00am. Goodness, I sound like a worried parent when I should just be a contented grandpa. Which, of course, I am. I drove Bex and Henry to see old family friends yesterday and then on to school friends of hers. And, in a bit, we’re off to Jen and James for pizza. Then, now that Bex’s isolation is complete, next week is the mad rush around the houses to get Henry in front of all of the relies. It’ll be fine.

And we’ve both had our second dose of the AZ vaccine. In fact we’ve just got back from being jabbed. I have to say I am a little nervous about falling ill for a couple of days with it. I don’t want to miss a moment with R&H, but needs must.

second jab, yay!

That’s about it. Next post should be after we’ve had the satellite dish fitted. Hopefully I will be all exuberant and maybe I’ll post my first video of how it works.

Until then, stay safe.