Friday

Last Friday I drove to Nelson. It was the occasion of my final exam to qualify as a Pilates teacher.

On any trip to town we always take the opportunity to do the laundry - so I did that. Next to the laundromat a dry-cleaners and industrial laundry was selling second-hand boilersuits for $10 (or 3 pairs for $20).

I got 3 pairs and discovered today that I was only charged $10.20  How did I not notice that when I swiped?

They are of some sort of light synthetic stuff (I prefer heavy cotton drill for working in), ex dairy factory judging by the branding. They'll do for carrying around in the truck to keep the town clothes clean if I'm loading compost or horse poo or... you get the idea.

Coming home I over-heated my rattly-van engine and stopped on the roadside. The coolant seems to have dispersed out a 'hole' somewhere on the underneath side of the radiator or one of the hoses.

The newly purchased black overalls came in handy for inspecting but I couldn't fix the problem.

Knitted a hat while I waited for the break-down service.

Baby Beret 

Small hat. Fast knitter.

Can't imagine what the break-down guy thought when he arrived - woman in overalls wielding knitting needles. He turned out to be an ex-army truck mechanic, but conversation which eventually revealed that was a long time getting kicked off.  He seemed overly taciturn at first: "Only here to move your van - don't do roadside repairs."  We rode in silence for half the 20km journey but ended up comparing notes on living and working in London.

The people you meet!

A truck arriving in the bay after dark had the curtains twitching. My neighbour came out with his dogs, later explaining he knew there was no one home at mine and wondered why a truck was backing down the shared drive in the dark.

By the end of Saturday neighbours all sides (3) - all male - had passed opinion on likely cause. All started with blown head gasket or cracked head and worked back down the scale of catastrophe from there.

Why do folks love to catastrophize? Especially if they are blokes and it's a woman to whom they are imparting the benefit of their wisdom?

If any catastrophic blokes are reading this - the oil level is fine by the way and it's not milky.

With water in the radiator on Saturday morning, I started the engine which fired first click and ran sweetly. After all, as my neighbour pointed out when it was slid off the tow truck - "It'll be fine. It's a Toyota. You can't kill 'em."

Postscript - I know it needs red coolant but I need to know where it's escaping before I refill it with expensive anti-freeze stuff and drive off for real.

Post-postscript - I passed the teaching practical exam.  I got notified today that I have also passed the written exam. Now I need to renew my first aid certificate before I can be fully registered.  

Further postscript - this picture I incorrectly labelled Hebe - it is in fact a Pimelea (long-leafed variety)

and auto correct wants to turn long-leafed into long-sleeved.

Life goes on.