For a change

Yesterday afternoon as I came to the house for a cup of coffee, caught the end of a telephone conversation Angie was having with a friend in the village, also with horses.

When she hung up, Angie said the friend had asked if Angie wanted to join her on a group horse ride the next day but Angie said she couldn't as there was so much work to be done at home.

On hearing this I insisted she "took the day off" and unusually she listened to me and phoned the friend to say she would go.

She set of at the crack of dawn with Sultan and my full cup of coffee on the trailer mudguard. I followed her track 100 yds and 2 x 90° turns but no sign of cup - a tribute to her driving style?

Off  for the morning walk with the dogs. Saw MrB and a group of cars/people in the middle of a field practicising retrieving work with their hunting dogs. Gave them a wide berth as Luna would have caused chaos. Later MrB said we should have come by. However was quite pleased we didn't as on the way home and seeing them in the distance, they let off a couple of gunshots and Flash tried to find refuge between my legs. Hunting/shooting is allowed on Sundays here.

Back home did some tidying up of the storm damage but it is forbidden to use chainsaws, lawnmowers, wash the car on a Sunday, so was limited what I could do there. So set about fixing the window problem on the Megane. The parts had arrived from the UK on Friday. Having already removed all the door trim, it took me around 20 seconds to replace the faulty part which had cost 25 Euros. To repair the same fault in a Renault dealership will cost 300 Euros + labour time! The internet is full of people from around the world complaining about the fault and cost. In the UK it doesn't costt 300 Euros but 300 GBP!. MrB had mentioned yesterday I should use silicon grease on the new parts as they are subject to moisture, he ought to know whats best as his work is heavily involved with electrics and water. He popped over with a tube and shook his head when he saw the lack of moisture protection built in to the door.

Managed to get the door back together again and everything working. I had opted for the super version of the budget spare part which means the automatic one touch doesn't work. For 50 Euros I could have had a reconditoned original part but I was a) a bit sceptical that the parts actually did work & b) the only time I use the auto one touch is accidentally and only ever when driving at 180km/h in pouring rain.

Will do the other passenger side door (rear) in the next few weeks when the garden is sorted. So anyone with a Renault (Megane/Scenic) with a window or door lock problem, google before you visit your Renault dealer.

Having done that, set about sorting the hydraulics/electrics of our entrance gate which has been playing up. Unfortunately I have about 5% knowledge on these two subjects. Just enough to trust myself to take screwdriver to circuit board. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, so things went from bad to worse. Where is MrB when you need him? (He's a whizz at electronics). Eventually, look after it got dark and working with  a torch, I managed to get it all working again.

So two successes for me today and not a single screw left over when I finished.

Angie also had a great day. Weather was good, a bit cooler than yesterday which makes it easier for the horses in the sudden warmth (it was snowing a week ago), Angie had expected it to be a large meeting with 50-100 riders but there were only about a dozen which was ideal, it being Sultan's first ever meeting with a group of strange horses. She clearly enjoyed.

The one down side - I still haven't found my coffee mug.

Blip is of Angie and Sultan unloading from our beloved, 16 year old Ifor Williams trailer. No fancy bits, just simple, very solid Welsh product which fulfills our needs perfectly.