Kates Journal

So, I went to Allparts, complete with nice printed diagrams, and they looked at me like I was some kind of talking fish. Having wandered off with them for a minute they came back and informed me that one part number didn’t match anything current and the other they could order specially at around 40 quid for the pair.

The conversation about ‘right ends but different lengths’ did not go well. In fact, it went the way most conversations I have with motorfactors go, unless I go in there and ask for what I need very specifically*. Fundamentally it seems based on ‘you’re a girl, you must be wrong’**. I should’ve borrowed one of my right-sexed friends to go in and ask*** :-/

Having informed me that it could not/would not fit; was totally impossible and please could I now go and take my difficult requests elsewhere I gave up and tried my local autofactor who stocks the past 25 years of auto parts manuals on their counter. Unfortunately, the knowledgeable teeth-sucking ‘you-want-what-well-I-suppose-I-can-probably-get-it’ guy is on holiday, and the wee bairn staffing the shop was unable to (a) find the right catalogue and (b) unable to help (though he did at least *try* and they know that when I go in and say ‘I want such and such’ that I’m usually right about what I want).

I’ve spent and uninformative hour trawling the internet trying to find an equivalent parts match, now I’m hunting for an online cataglogue of brake hoses so I can find something appropriate myself. I’ve posted much the same as this message on the DAF Owner’s Club forum, in the hopes that someone can be more specific about the parts. I’ve asked an online brake part supplier for a quote.

I wanted to spend the day reading the book that I’ve stolen from Kathryn (I didn’t expect her to leave it behind when she went to work today, but she has…).

I have another post to do, but it’s shower time now…

* By which I mean, lie. When I order bits for the Minor I rarely say I want ‘Ital 1275 parts’ instead saying that it’s a Mini from 1983 or somesuch, since Ital doesn’t seem to cross reference anymore.
** I do have a chip on my shoulder about this. It took months to build up a working relationship with my local autofactor in Bristol where I could ask for something and they’d trust that it was right.
***See; Chip. Shoulder. It just gets old

We made Tangine… it’s disappointly not as pretty as it tastes, but hey, I’m no food ‘tog.

That’s not mash, it’s polenta. Next time, less chickpeas, more apricot.

What made a more interesting photo though was the voddy glass filled with spices.

…and for completeness, here’s a dinner we made earlier (well, part of a dinner) – a while back we attempted Tortellini. I can’t say as it was completely successful. It was tasty though – but the pasta was a bit thick and they were a bit overfilled. Next time we’ll cook the mushrooms in wine first, and we’ll make the pasta thinner, and probably make less mushroom goop to go in them…

So, we’ve been meaning to go for a walk, and today, the weather was good enough that we could take the coats and go. A few days ago – well about a week ago – when I took Vixy out for a spin (I guess, almost literally given the state of the brakes) – I found that we’re actually about 20 minutes from really pretty countryside. Really pretty.

So today, dans le minor, we headed out into the wilds of the environs of Slough, armed only with raincoats, my FF’s (and Kathryn’s walking boots) and a camera. We came back with some pretty pictures and some nice memories.

It’s teh pretty out there.

Set here.

Be gentle, I’ve not been able to take the camera out for months, so this is the first time I’ve been out in the wild with new batteries :)

So, I’ve updated the garden pics (March ‘09 Set) with some new ones to show a few of the things that we’ve grown. It’s amazing and awesome to look at these leaves peeking through the soil and to think of what was there before. And amazing to think that just a few weeks ago we planted seeds. Just seeds. And now look. There’s beans and peas and onions and a garlic and Angelica (whatever it is!) growing.

There’s flowers appearing on our Daffodils. There’s leaves on the blackcurrant and the gooseberry (the raspberry canes are still somewhat on the dormant side). Even the inappropriate but bought-anyway Japanese acer’s got leaves.

It’s so cool.

We did this.

We made this garden.

‘course, nature’s doing all the growing for us, and generously raining since we don’t have an outside tap so have to fill the watering can in the kitchen.

But it just…rocks. I like gardening, I’ve decided.

[in tedious car news: turns out the brake hoses are standard parts, so I can go down to Allparts and say I need something that's this; which should mean it's cheap and not unreasonable to replace. Hopefully then the brakes will truly be sorted. If not then that's the end of the line for Vixy (I said that before, but I mean it this time). No more new parts].

So after 5 hours of work on the DAF (Vixy) she’s in exactly the same state as she was before, only now the brake fluid instead of looking like this:

Looks more like brake fluid. That there is brakefluid with added flecks of crap. I suspect it’s disintegrating rubber from the insides of the tubes. Not teh internet’s tubes, but the brake hoses. The flexible bits. They mostly look fine from the outside, after much footling, one of them looks ‘iffy’. Plan is to whip one front and one rear off and see how much my local Allparts want for a set. This really is the last-and-final thing though.

I footled with the minor – the ’safety’ on the passenger door is now working again, and I think that the exhaust probably isn’t fouling the suspension any more – but it’s lowest point remains ridiculously low and I can’t see any way of making it higher… anyway. Bed beckons.