From A to B and the Small Joys of DIY

This is F and his Mema (GanGan) when we last visited in early June when she took us through a radiant poppy field

Yesterday F and I drove down from Edinburgh to Birmingham to visit his gran. The trip normally takes 5 hours: it took us 8. Here's why: first a road through the Scottish borders was flooded and we had to backtrack. Second, one of the rear blinker lights was out. In an impromptu stop at a station, we pulled off the rear light and changed it all by ourselves. Whoop Whoop for feeling manly and for small senses of accomplishments. Third, F was sick and we took a long break as driving for 5 hours is tiring. [Sigh for endless car rides] Finally and most exciting, we broke down on the highway. The exhaust pipe disengaged and suddenly a very bad noise came from under the bar. At 11. 17 p.m. we pulled over on the M6 and after a call to the AA, a guy arrived within 10 minutes! While waiting F and I sat on the mostly empty motorway and contemplated playing highway chicken-- where you run to the median and touch the post and run back. In the end we decided against it and split a Yorkie instead. The guy temporarily fixed the car so fast, we arrived at F's gangan's just before 1 am.

However this meant two things: 1 the car had to get fixed for gudz so we put it in the shop for the day, but 2 and most sadly we miss the opening match day for Wigan as the car is out of commission. Sadness. However, by this time tomorrow we will be in Verona. Looking forward to some TLC and QFT [have I just made that up or does it exist-- Quality Fam Time] with all of the Goodisons. Huzzah for family vacations and parents who are nice enough to let the GF tag along.