So life does indeed move on.

I am a Grand Parent, aka Pops, and our grandaughter Amber is doing great.  

Still lots happening with the car club and this weekend along we have members at Show Car Sundays in Blandford, Longstock Rally, Hampshire and Beaulieu Auto Jumble.

I still have a few cars, including Peace, the P6 Rover and Eclipse the Chevrolet G20 Van!  Plus a few others, a couple of caravans and a trailer tent!!!

Life is pretty good just now.

 Sorry its been a while!

Rather a lot has been happening.

The BE, or towing test< was abolished and destroyed an industry of professional trainers.  It was a shame.

I ahve continued to offer help with towing, and The Towing Experience was born.

Many people think they can tow, and now with no test involved, can pass their driving test on a Monday and on Tuesday be driving a Toyota Land Cruiser with teh huge twin axle trailer on the back through the Devon lanes.

An interesting concept.

So what is the Towing Experience all about.

I help you, or someone that you know tow safely and still make progress down the road.

Help is offered in:

Helping you to know if you are fit to drive.

Makeing sure the whole unit is good to go.

Helping to ensure the trailer is loaded correctly and does not exceed any weights that you should know about, including nose weight and axle weights and the lovely 80:20 rule.

Make light of the dark art of reversing.  You know, that amazing sport that all the campers who are already on site love to watch as someone struggles to get their trailer where they want it.  Its not really that bad!

A road run with a variety of different roads and traffic conditions, national speed limits, do you know what theyb are, and country lanes, also with national preed limits!!!

And all in your car and trailer, maybe a caravan, car trailer, glider trailer, horse trailer, trailer tent, there are many different trialers to choose from.

That keeps me a bit busy and you will find more information by looking for I Want to Tow on Facebook.

Dorset Car Club, also on Facebook is going great and we are attending, as a group, many sows and rallys.  Lots of great friends, great cars, hot food and cold beer.  Its a touugh life but someone has to do it!

Wings and Wheels at Henstridge continues to go from strenth to strength with a mighty fine display of calssic cars and classic aircraft, with a number of greta trade stalls and some great food making it a great day out.  Se the website and find Wings and Wheels Henstridge on Facebook as well.

Life moves on .......

Wings & Wheels went very well, although visitor numbers down a bit.  Lucky really otherwise we would have had to close the airfield for the visitors who wanted to get in late!.

A few issues with the airfield layout, and the lack of car parking space gave us a few issues, but the team did really well.

So many classic and other cars, even a tractor turned up, the pictures will be on the Face Book page soon.  BBMF Lancaster and the Reds did a couple of amazing fly pasts..

We went on holiday for the first time in probably 15 years or so.

Tas was looking after Iris, Leanne was in Oz, and Dad was with Mum up in th sky somewhere.

We booked almost last minute, Mallorca, all inclusive.  And is was all inclusive, even the bottled water, as much food as you could eat, as much as you could drink from (am to 11pm (after 11pm you had to pay for the drinks but at a reduced rate) entertainment and live music every day.

A couple of phone calls from the solicitor about the house sale and the purchase of a new one, and one from the accountant about my finishing and closing I Want to Drive and I Want to Tow.  Yes I am stopping all that, but will still be at the end of the phone for advice.

Hopefully we will complete the Quay House on the 1st October, If anyone wants to help pack and move the last few bits please let me know!

That is the update for now ....... Have a great week.

Social Update.

Apollo has been sold, to a nice bloke who lives not too far away.  Apollo's replacement is Dusty, a 1994 Ford Flareside Pickup.  And please. no jokes about Found On Roadside Dead!

Just needs a few bits sorting then all will be great!

The back is doing really good, and the last visit to the physio at Southampton Hospital said "it was a beautiful scar!"  A picture of the tumor from the side is below .......  But awaiting the email to drop in with the picture\!!!!



We have bought a couple of second hand bikes so that we can ride out together, just need to get Iris used to bikes!  And no pictures of the bikes yet!!!

Making Progress.

7 Weeks after the back operation I am feeling a lot better but still very restricted in what I can achieve.  I can take Iris out for very short walks.  Which is nice.

I have sold the Toyota MR2, to a nice bloke from Cornwall.  He will play with it this summer then off the road and make it perfect in his eyes.  So Freddie will have a great life in the South West.

A couple of guitars have been sold.  This silver burst 2003 Squier sold within minutes of going on sale.  The black Tanglewood is still for sale and at £30 its a bargain.

One of the trailer tents sold, and the new owners just love it and the awning was all complete.  Black Country Conway Cardinal  is still for sale. 

and Apollo is also for sale.  We are just struggling to find the correct person who will look after him!

The developers are still being a pain in the arse and they asked for a £50K reduction on the sale price of the house as they found out that they will need to use pilings for the foundations for the new house rather than a slab base.  Tough really.

I will not be teaching driving for a while, although I can drive, small distances, I am still signed off work, they still think it will be September or October until I can do the driving school stuff again.  So I have returned my ADI Badge to DVSA for the time being and it will be returned when I can teach once again.

How Life Can Change ... in the blink of an eye.

Those who know me ..... will know that I have had a bad back over the last 6 or 8 years.  Happened after 3 non fault car accidents in the learner car ..... all 3 hit up the arse!  One at a zebra crossing as there was someone on it, so we stopped, one at a roundabout which was very busy, the guy behind did not as he was in a hurry to catch a plane at the airport, and the third, we were stopped at a red traffic light and the lady didn't stop (camera footage showed she was on the phone and looking at her child in the back seat!

After seeing 2 chiropractors, several different doctors and a couple of Physios, I eventually got an MRI scan booked.  The MRI experience was OK, and the follow up was booked for end of the month, 28 days away!.  2 days later I was with the Consultant and she told me that I had a tumor on my spine.

That was a bit of a shock.  She asked how was I still walking?  I dunno as I had just walked to the hospital and went up 3 flights of stairs!  She said no work, no stretching and no lifting. but I can still drive.

So had to cancel 6 trailer tests and 7 pupils.

Now all I have to do is fill in the, for me, very complex and pointless forms and hand over my 2 month sick note, although I have been told there could be another 5 of these after the operation.

This along with the sale of the Quay House progressing, at a snails pace, and all the work needed to be done at home, sort the garden, take down a shed and replace it with another one and get Apollo sorted, life is a bit of a pain.

But ...... it wont be long and I will be back.

Hard Top Campers for SALE!

I will be reducing the size of my Camper collection over the next couple of months.  They are all just taking up too much space, so 3 Campers, a horse trailer, a twin axle caravan, a Mini Winnie, MR2 fun car, plus the works cars and the Day Van!

So the first to go is the Coleman Missouri Hard Top Camper.  It is a genuine American trailer with the door on the right hand side.  The fold down step is a great thing to have.

Inside 2 beds slide out really smoothly, and the canvas does have a couple of historical repairs, but does not let any water in.  The U shaped sofa converts into a double bed so it could sleep 6 people. Plenty of storage in cupboards and under the sofas.

It has a mains electric hook up and a small zig unit to keep the on board battery charged up.

The fold away door and hinges are in great condition and so is the flyscreen.

Onboard fresh water tank, the blue container on the left and water pump all work as they should.

Underseat storage, complete with the awning poles!

It has a two burner hob and a grill.  A sink with a single tap.It does not have a fridge.

The only bad point  is that it needs desperately new tyres.  They are very out of date.

I do also have an awing, but I have not yet put it up!