Home thoughts from abroad

You go away for a nice quiet break with The Redhead and whilst you are sitting on a 737, 30,000 feet in the air with a large JD and Coke in front of you, the whole political spectrum back home changes.

We land to find that we now have enough Turkish Lira to buy a tomato, that we are to have our new Prime Minister chosen by .......well not us anyway and to add insult to injury, England get knocked out of the Euros by a country with a smaller population than the average Wane Homes development.

Cars in Turkey? Lots of locally built Fiats, hardly any Alfas (2 in 10 days; both Mitos) and bless them, they love an Audi. The roads range from wonderful (the new road from Dalaman to Fethiye is superb) to cart-track which was just like home. This is what it can do to your suspension:

In fairness, some of the major Cornish potholes have been repaired in our absence; they (I could name them but you know who) had prioritised anything over 18 inches deep and filled them with their usual mix of Ply-Doh and Ready Brek finished with a layer of black cheese.

We were a bit apprehensive about going to Turkey but I have to say that the locals in and around Oludeniz were as lovely and welcoming as ever. The place has changed a lot over 35 years. It's a bit more Marbella and a lot more expensive but the scenery is still stunning and the snorkelling away from a now, very murky lagoon, is fantastic.

I arrived back in Blighty ("Blighted" might be more apt.) to rain, fog, 14 degrees and a dying cat. I hope that by the time my number is called, Humanity will have worked out that euthanasia should be a choice and not a crime. So Charlie is gone. He will be missed.

On a much brighter note we have had the pleasure of filling the garage with such exotica as Lionel's lovely MGA (radiator replacement) and a super rare Aston Martin AMV8, one of only 5 left on the road.

The MGA should have been a simple job but on return from being re-cored, the damn thing just would not fit. The "Specialist" in his wisdom had decided to add a quarter of an inch to the width. After many hissy-fits and lots of filing I am happy to say that Lionel hasn't crossed me off his Xmas card list and the MGA is now keeping its cool.

Lovely car and no woman that has ever seen it has not gone "Aaaaaah, Oooooh" etc.

Here she is:

The Aston is in for a variety of things such as minor paintwork, little bit of upholstery, carb tune (4 Weber downdraughts!) and try to improve the brakes. It is a behemoth of a vehicle but a joy to work on the mechanical bits which are all so artistically engineered and surprisingly tactile.....unlike the trim which AM must have sourced from local Autojumbles! ..........Come and play our new "wasting garage time" game of "Spot the Component". It is a fabulous car and we are very honoured to be entrusted with it: