Storytelling Starters ~ Expectations
Mary, Mary, Quite contrary, How does your garden grow?With silver bells and cockleshells as in the nursery rhyme?
Well, my expectations for this week had been of a blissfully peaceful holiday week in Wales with trips to beaches, lots of reading and plenty of time to recover from the battering my wits and my body have taken from trying to deal with all the niggly health issues that have kept coming up.
Contrary to expectations:
Instead? The warning sign on the car kept coming back after it had apparently been dealt with in London and, in Pembrokeshire, led to the determination from the kindly, straight-talking Reg at the Volvo garage in Haverfordwest that, truth to tell, the car should be regarded as a write-off and he’d buy it off us for £300 and use it for spare parts.
This was more than a disappointment. We loved our old car and had been reassured in our garage in London that the small bump we’d experienced a few weeks ago had not left any problem. And now? If we’d couldn’t use the car to get back to London – and Reg was saying that tootling around locally would be OK but not to take it on the M4 – how would we make the trip with all our luggage at the end of our peaceful week?
The answer?
The answer is in the balance as I write. Paul has gone off on the train to Swansea to see and potentially buy what may become our new second-hand car. And I am sitting here at my computer hoping all will be well and trying hard not to think about what we’ll have to do if the car at the Swansea garage, which has sounded like just what we need, turns out to be a no-no.
Ah well! We’re not exactly on the horns of a dilemma, more on the horns of the hope that all will be OK. Also I’m feeling very conscious of how lucky we really are – and this after a week of the huge disruption involved in looking for a different car and sorting out the money to buy it if it proves OK. The headaches have come alongside a renewed awareness that for so many people in this world there’s not even enough food to eat let alone the comforts of a home and the friendly assistance of people who can help with problems.
Meantime:
A friend is due to arrive for coffee and a catch-up at 11 a.m. Before then, I have to have a shower and get dressed. And meantime, out of the window of the room where I am writing this blog, the sky is grey but the rain has stopped and the tree that, one year, was our Christmas tree is now higher than the house. Life goes on.
March 8th, 2020 at 8:19 am
Hi Mary
Love the ‘Life-preserver’ photo.
I have a friend who says knowingly “Expectations unfulfilled lead to upset” Sorry to hear about your lovely car. It was so unique! I hope you both find a happy resolution with ‘just the very car you need!’ I can only think of the story of ‘The Blue Rose’ in Marie Shedlock’s ancient book where a young woman says she will only marry the man who brings her a blue rose and thus keeps many unsuitable suitors at bay … till a minstrel comes along … with a white rose. In the midst of many protests, her father agrees that the rose is, as she claims, blue! Best Regards, M
March 8th, 2020 at 9:45 am
Hi Mary
Sorry to hear of your car woes that made you miss out on a peaceful week away. We recently bought a new car too, our old one lasted us 16 years and I was sad to see her go. It took me a while to learn the finickity ways of our new ‘nanny car’ that has many more safety features. It will probably last us out our driving days – that’s the plan anyway. I know what you mean about the awareness of privilege too.
I hope you find just the car fro your needs, and have a week away to look forward to.
warmly,
Pam