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The car went in for a new pan of oil on Wednesday, and returned washed and hoovered in the evening.  Our next door neighbour is working as one of the garage’s courtesy drivers, so collected and returned the car without the need for either of us to hack through town to the industrial estate.  It was nice to use the Egg for the drive to … the place where I practise my unmentionable hobby.  In about every respect I prefer the VW, but the SEAT is more of a driver’s car, with sharper handling and a bit more pep.  The VW came back with no comment on the matters I’d mentioned when I booked it in, nor information in the boxes on tread depth.  Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.  I bought three years’ worth of servicing with the car.  You may bet your last farthing that it’ll go somewhere else in year 4.

Where once there were leylandii at the front, we now have quite a pretty flower bed, filled with various annuals and perennials, and some nice lavender bushes on the neighbours’ side.  Penstemons, of course – it’s so easy to take cuttings from them.  Cosmos grown from bought seed, antirrhinums from saved seed, a hebe, a berberis from Andy and Celia, and whatever happened to be knocking about on the staging.  Elsewhere on the estate, tomatoes are cropping like mad – we had bruschette for lunch.  I groused a bit at the price of the seed, but they have paid us back generously.  The skins are on the thick side, thanks to a cold wet July, but they are delicious cooked or raw. 

Oh, and while we’re talking of filling the belly (despite the manifest lack of need thereof) I decided yesterday to have a crack at doing some bagels.  Normal dough constituents and programme, turn it out and chop into eight or nine dollops, round each one into a ball and stick a thumb through the middle of it, wave it about a bit, dunk it in a pan of boiling water (with a spoonful of black treacle melted into it) for half a minute each side, bake for 20 minutes-ish.  Solly’s yer uncle, Ruth’s yer aunt.