Had quite a decent but busy day today, starting with some quite interesting discussions re the British Waterways boat safety scheme with one of their engineers. Quite out of the blue, but we were able to sort out the queries.
Next, the nags had decided that their 5 acres was not enough, and had decamped into next door's corn field, and while the corn itself was probably not to their liking, there was plenty of fresh grass around the hedgerows that they quite liked. When we arrived, there were no nags to be seen! After a couple of circuits of the field we heard a whinny from the wrong side of the fence and there they were, trying to get out of the sun.
They had broken through the sheep fencing along the boundary, and like a typical herd they had all gone over the hill together, making an interesting hour for the pair of us trying to coax them back in again. Sparky has a head collar and was quite easy to get hold of, but the others are running free and not quite so easy to coax back again. I hadn't any peppermints with me, always guaranteed to bring them back, so we had to use the electric fence tape and encircle them...
Can you imagine, the pair of us wading through a corn field, trying to outsmart native and half-wild English New Forest ponies ?? We did it in the end, but not before one had gone back through the fence and taken it with him...
Two hours later we had repaired the fence and headed back home. I had an appointment with a local quack for my HGV medical, and was covered in cuts. stings and scratches and my once-white teashirt was now looking the worst for wear.
I couldn't get my medical done by our own doctor's surgery, so had to pay another surgery in the town to do it, £108 !! Got showered and changed, cleaned my shoes and found a dozen bottle of Rioja red wine in the cupboard, forgotten about since our last trip, had a quick leak and walked up the road to where the other surgery was located, quite close to us.
Lady at reception passes a small container across the desk and say "please can you provide a sample for the Doctor"... Ooops!! Try as I may, I could not pass a drop, so had to go back and admit defeat :-(( We agreed between us that a couple of glasses of water taken now might produce a sample later on, so into the Doc's I go with empty bottle.
The medical was fine, no problems at all, the Doc confirmed that I had a heartbeat and blood pressure, both of which would have been pretty awkward without, then proceeded to tell me about urine collection in the past years, which led to the expression "Taking the Piss" I kid you not.
Second attempt at a sample produced sufficient to do a urine test, and I watched him while he did it. Everything came up OK so I have my HGV Class 2 for another
5 years.Returned home, jumped into the van and headed for Essex and all parts east to collect an 8hp Petter for Roly. I also had a 17" monitor to collect, but the guy wasn't answering emails...
It was blazing hot going down towards the M25, and in the trip out and back we got through 5 litres of drinks between us, most of it just going out in perspiration.
The engine collection went OK, but jeepers, the Petter is BIG ! and we had a number of spare items to go with it, so the poor old van took it all and we headed back home via Witham to see if my monitor man was in. He wasn't, so we headed back, checking the nags on the way and doing a bit of shopping in town.
Dug out a bottle of the Rioja red, had a nice meal and crashed out on the PC.
Back to work tomorrow for a rest...
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info: