Right, calves, dogs and chickens fed. Eggs collected. Tups watered, horses checked. Think I'll have the rest of the day off.
OK, back to cars and the new one Nin won't tell us about...... Just thought back through the mists of time and pulled up a list of ours over the years since the mid 70's as an impoverished youth........ Ford Anglia 100E - white Ford Escort 1.3DL - Red Hillman Hunter GT - Phantom Mist Morris Marina 1.8TC - White/Brown roof Opel Ascona 1.9GT - Sky Blue Rover 3500 SDI - BRG metallic BMW 528i - Cypress Green BMW M535i - Sapphire Blue BMW 535i - Glacier green BMW 535i - Brocade Red Mercedes SLK 250 - Arctic Silver BMW 645i - Diamond Black BMW 550i touring - Monaco Blue Mercedes C class C220i - Black Saphire BMW X5 M40i - Carbon Black The first 2 were 2nd/3rd hand - the rest were bought new. Longest I kept a car was the 550i Touring and that was for 12 years. 4.8 litre petrol - fantastic beast. The last two on the list are current and diesels - all others were petrol. Unless I'm forced by legislation, I'll never buy an all electric vehicle.
Im not into cars. Metal boxes that move you and stuff about. I've had 6 vehicles (8 if you include the tractors, 9 if you include the quad bike) and Mrs Remote 4. Hers only did 1145 miles in the last year (just been MoTed). My first was a Marina van. The latest an Audi A4 which is 10 years old. The current stipulation for a car is that a 10' fly rod goes in made up. The current tractor is a 6.6l diesel. Like you, EVs are a no go. Not as green as people think either. Great big excavators burning 10s of gallons of diesel an hour, strip mining rare earth elements for batteries, causing ecological destruction and polluting water courses. They create huge amounts of greenhouse gasses to produce, before they even reach the roads.
At the risk of incurring the wrath of many, I like EV's but the better ones are a tad too expensive at present. Wouldn't touch any of the cheap and cheerful Chinese ones. I would want a range of 350 miles +. Not many do that at present. I'm on my second Toyota self charging hybrid at present. 60+ mpg. Mind you I used to get up to 80 from my Honda diesels so actually leached the planet of fossil fuels at a lower rate and the emissions were not a problem.
After my early second hand cars, bought my first ever new car here at this Rootes Group dealer in City Road - it was a Hillman Hunter GT. Wanted the much coveted GLS version with the Sunbeam Rapier engine and twin Webers but I just couldn't stretch to it at the time. To compound that, my neghbour direclty across the road from me when I lived in Coychurch bought one! please log in to view this image
After several unsuccessful applications, our daughter and her partner have been accepted to take up the tenancy on a 75 acre farm in Staffordshire. Went with them to have a look around yesterday. They'd seen the land, outbuildings and outside of the house, but not the inside of the house. Yesterday was the viewing. I was pleasantly surprised given I'd seen inside a couple that were being sold off by Cheshire council. Its a 1920s/30s build. UPVC windows, central heating. Bathroom looks as if its been converted from a bedroom and is huge. Loads of wasted space. Council are going to put a new kitchen in. The land surrounds the house. Lots to do in the next couple months. Logistical nightmare given its 45 miles from their current base. They're still trying to work out how they keep making money out of the small holding we've got. Given the distance, I feel work coming my way.
Congratulations to your daughter and her partner. I know it’s their dream and if I was 50 years younger it’s something I’d love to do. Sounds like it will be a lot of work but that hasn’t hindered them and they will relish the challenge. I’m sure you’ll be able to support them remotely Remote.
Their absolute dream would be a farm of their own, but as 1st generation farmers that isn't financially viable. Cheshire are selling off all their tenant farms which get broken up. Its how we bought our land. Staffordshire are far more supportive. They also have a reform councillor who has said farm land is for producing food not covering with solar panels. They're both grafters and are used to long days. It'll be very busy as they transition down there. Renting out the house, leaving some of their 'off farm' clients and scaling their new operation. The thing our daughter is most looking forward to is being able to roll out of bed, check the ewes and climb back into bed at lambing time. With her and him alternating who needs to get up. She usually kips in the caravan at the small holding. Not ideal. We'll be a bit limited in the support we can give due to mam still living with us. Once they have the house sorted we'll happily go and stay for a few days at a time. Lots more tractor driving. They're only an hour away. Exciting times.
