A Tree: not without tribulation along the way

Yesterday morning we set off in my car to go to Macclesfield forest with Marisa to buy our Christmas tree. The car had been parked for some days and was reluctant to start but I did get it going eventually. Half way there the engine seemed to lose power and the display was flashing "EAC fail". Now my cars always receive regular maintenance and this one had recently had a full winter service. In return I expect cars to go without any problems hence EAC fail was closely followed by driver's panic (middle of nowhere and baby in back!). I crawled along at barely 10 miles an hour whilst Alistair got out handbook. He reads that EAC stands for Electronic Acceleration Control but safe to drive very slowly. I certainly had no acceleration so it was turn round and crawl back home at 10 miles an hour with an unhappy Marisa grumbling in the back and an embarrassed driver who had to wait at road junctions for a really big gap as no acceleration. The motorists behind me were not happy. Handbook said contact garage but I dumped car on drive and left Alistair to sort it out whilst I took Marisa to the local shops in her stroller. Not much of a treat it must be said.......will take Marisa to forest for next year's tree.

Today Alistair, who at times approaches sainthood, replaces fully charged battery in car and car starts without any warning messages......all seems well.......Alistair drives .....set off for forest again and purchase suitable tree.....confidence restored I drive back. We return home to find tiler has finished so all round a much better morning.






















For James ....more shots of work in progress......

The kitchen has still to be decorated but the tiling is one more step nearer completion. They did cost more to buy than I paid the very efficient tiler to fix them but I am very pleased with the result.


Alistair is very pleased with his mitred corner below. Not one wall was straight and at one time a 90 / 270 degree corner seemed a forlorn hope. Not one to give up, Alistair had worked on the problem when I out in Geneva, and I returned to this excellent finish.