It's been a really hectic couple of weeks for me. Josh the Shetland was rehomed on Sunday. :-(
The story of Josh the Shetland
For those of you who don't follow my ramblings, Josh the Shetland pony was one of my more stupid impulse buys. As one of my friends said, "Most of us stick to handbags" [well, covers in our case!] but you have to take it one step further!"I am completely horse mad and this gorgeous Shetland had pretty much been abandoned at the stables where I keep my horse, Cassie so I sort of offered to take him on. This was followed by a full scale reality check of panic when I remembered that I could barely afford my horse (the only way I can keep her is by allowing the riding school to share her and also sharing her with another girl).
And it occurred to me, belatedly, the my daughter, Caitlin, is only 2 years old and what looks like the the cutest of little ponies to me (Josh is 35 inches high - smaller than a big dog!) is the size of an elephant to her. And just because she names all her toys "Josh" doesn't mean she wants to ride yet . . .
I struck gold finding him a home though. He is off to a racing yard in Newmarket for a year! Watch for him coming up on the track any time soon . . .The trainer there has 3 small sons, 5 years, 4 years and 2 and a half years old who are completely in love with Josh and already riding him without a saddle. Josh is on loan there for a year and hopefully will come back home to me after that when Caitlin is older (still haven't worked out how I'll afford him, mind but perhaps I'll ask The Boss for a pay rise!!! ho ho ... ).
So, Sunday was the Big Day when I took Josh to Newmarket - about 3 hours drive from Folkestone with horse trailer. My friend, Gemma, very kindly drove us up there since she has a trailer.
It all went well until the way back. Thank goodness, Josh was delivered!
All Gemma's warning lights came on in her car.
This is where she and I proved our girliness forever (you know me, Paddington Bear, The Snowman).
I looked up the lights in her handbook.
"Breaks, fluid and battery" I say naively, "They can't all go at once, can they?"
"Surely not!" she replied, "Must be an electrical fault. Let's carry on to the services".
WHY? I hear all you males (and sensible females) cry?
You Don't Ignore Warning Lights.
Well, don't worry, I've learnt. And if I hadn't, Gemma's partner, Ben and my husband, Tom - and my Dad - have all impressed this upon us. Promise.
Shortly after our foolish decision, smoke began puffing from the bonnet, the breaks cut out and the engine died. We managed to freewheel into the hard shoulder of the M11. Oh dear.
Now, am I allowed to be rude about another business on my blog? I'm not sure of the etiquette. But hey, what the hell, let's go for it.
I called Green Flag. We are a member of Green Flag as Tom and I were cost cutting. Before we were with the AA and believe me, after this we will be again.
My call went something like this (but please imagine loud motorway background noise plus the noise of the trailer shaking each time a lorry goes by)
Green Flag (from now on GF, in a tetchy female voice): Can I take your vehicle number please?
Me: Actually, I'm in a friend's vehicle but I have personal cover, I believe.
GF: I need the vehicle number.
Me: (gives the number)
GF [sounding cross]: I don't have a match for that.
Me: [thinking, "surprise, surprise, listen next time"]: No, you won't have. I'm a personal member.
GF [making a tutting noise]: May I take your postcode then please?
Me: (gives it)
GF [sounding distinctly smug]: You don't have personal cover, you have vehicle cover. So basically, you are not covered right now. And you are on the motorway.
Me [deep breath]: How much to get cover?
GF [with the air of pulling a trump card]: £89. And that only gets you to a garage within 10 miles.
It hurt but I went with the £89 option. I thought that shopping around for the best deal while the cars and lorrys zoomed past wasn't very appealing. I just wanted to be RESCUED.
The charming Green Flag lady put me on hold for what felt like an eternity whilst I had to listen to their recording of "Rescue Me, I want you in my arms". I discovered a severe sense of humour failure about this jolly touch.
Eventually, I was told that, as 2 women alone on the motorway, we were priority. Someone would be with us in an hour.
2 hours later, he arrived.
Gemma told him what happened.
"Well, you've ruined your engine for good then, haven't you?" he said in a sarcastic manner, filling our hearts with cheer, "You should have stopped when the lights came on".
[thanks, we might have worked that one out ourselves]
"What garage do you want to go to?" he then asks, grumpily.
"We're not from here", we reply, "We don't know any garages!"
"Well, I don't," says our knight in shining armour, "So you best get on your phone!"
He adds, "What's your priority then?"
"To get home!" we reply.
"No!" he grins in a patronizing way, "To upgrade your Green Flag membership!"
[funnily enough, my priority on that front is to rejoin AA]
30 minutes or so later and we are in a deserted business park outside a closed garage (it is Sunday). We have to post the car keys through with a note. We ask the helpful Green Flag man if he would give us a lift 2 miles down the motorway to the Service Station so it will be easier to find for whoever comes to collect us.
"I'm not a taxi" he replied.
Luckily, Gemma's lovely partner, Ben, proved to be a true knight in shining armour and drove up to fetch up. My lovely Tom was somewhere in Wiltshire on a boat on a stag weekend. The less said the better! He's just about standing again now!!
So my best advice is: don't cost cut when getting rescue cover!
But you knew that anyway.
Oh, and don't ignore warning lights
(but it seems Gemma and I are the only ones who are that silly. Not again though!).
By the way, we did a tribute cover to the AA once and now I've experienced their competition, I feel they truly deserve it!We only did a limited edition of 75 with a lovely set of car stamps from 1982. They were never widely advertised so you might still be in with a chance of owning one.
Have a look at:
www.buckinghamcovers.com/shop/productdisplay.lasso?product_id=569
Until next time, very best wishes,
Ellie :-)
P.S. My offer this week is for a really unusual first day football World Cup photograph signed by Sir Geoff Hurst. Check it out!
http://www.buckinghamcovers.com/spotlight/index.lasso
P.P.S. If you'd like to get my regular emails about offers and what Caitlin's up to, join the family!
http://www.buckinghamcovers.com/family
