Why there has been no blog for a few days!

Sorry to have been so quiet but we have been out for a little drive.  This is likely to turn into a long blog so if it gets boring , I have done a summary at the end!

We went in the fiesta which has a coded radio we have never managed to un lock - Carl, therefore, had to sing.  This would have been fine but he could only sing one song - Ring of Fire.  We stumbled across Viva Blackpool the other night on television which we hadn't seen for ages - there is a bit where they sing the Johnny Cash song whilst ice skating and the tune would not go away!  Any  way, we drove relatively happily until we stopped in Carlisle.  It stopped Carl singing as we appeared to be driving through the red light district and Carl desperately tried to avoid looking at 'Thongs and Things', 'The Private Shop' and All The Single Ladies (although that did bring on another song.)
So, a few pictures  of our little trip

Now I hope you took careful note of that picture of our car.
We still had more to do but then disaster struck.  The rain had been torrential and coming round a bend the car began to slide.  Unfortunately a car was coming the other way, there was a large drop down to a river on one side and a steep bank with telegraph poles on the other.  To cut a horrible story short we spun along the road, banging into the bank on the way - very nearly rolled (well done, Carl) and crashed minus the front half of the car.  The engine appeared to split in half, bits came off . . . The above may not be exactly right as I banged my head (possibly from a flask flying from the back of the car, possibly the door pillar moving position) and appeared to have cut my leg - the gear stick came off and the dashboard seemed to have moved back a foot.  The Police, Fire brigade  and Ambulances were there very quickly and were wonderful.  Luckily the people in the other car were okay.  Carl is bruised and I have a headache and stiffness - plus a weird leg but nothing serious.  I have never screamed or shaked so much in my life - and I could not for the life of me remember what my maiden name or who we were insured with.  If Carl hadn't prevented it rolling we would be no more (mind you then you would not have had to plough through such a long blog!).  Here is the car after recovery - they have put the bonnet back over and pulled the front bit back round but you can see it may not be repairable.

We had to go to the hospital and then talk to the police - so young - They were all fantastic and the police even found out my insurance policy number and phone number.

All that over we suddenly realised we had a big problem.  No car, place we didn't know, possessions in a recovery yard somewhere.  We needed rescuing, we needed an alpaca breeder!!  There was one but we didn't have her number.  This called for a tricky phone call as I then had to phone Sam to get him to get the number and I didn't want to worry him.  Sam was given the potted version and asked to phone Wellground HQ to get Jayne at Zanzibah's number.  Heartfelt thanks if you read this Rob!  All we needed was a number for a taxi company we assured Jayne but, despite being in the middle of a relaxing shower she rushed over, spent half the night helping us collect luggage, getting fish and chips and putting us up for the night.  Thank goodness she took us for a look at the Zanzibah babies as it was only then I began to stop shaking!

You must be getting bored by now so I will cut this short!  Next morning we hit more snags - no driving license with us so we couldn't hire a car, no passports so we couldn't get a plane.  Only thing to do was to buy another car so it was a trip to Anna's Autos!  (At this point Sam sent a text to say Lina had birthed - more about that tomorrow!!).  We acquired a fiesta - same as the old one but blue - and I met the most lovely puppy in the world (plus a blue pigeon!)  Thank you Anna if you read this!

Back to the Zanzibah workshop and while I stood around like a wet weekend the mechanics got down to business - fixing lights, checking stuff and pumping up tyres.  Can't thank you enough, Jayne!

So that was it, off we went, here we are back home!  Car has a great heater - great if it is -30 that is, permanently on and very full on!!  But other than that it was brilliant!

I am thankful we are all still alive.


QUICK READ

• Had lovely panninis
• Saw sea
• Had crash - wrote off car
• Lina had baby
• Got home

Points to Remember

• Always take driving license
• Know your insurance details
• Have breakdown cover
• Tank credit card
• Take phone numbers
• Ensure flask safely strapped in and tied down securely