The roof saga...

So... I might have done something a little silly a few weeks back...

Poppy has dodgy, freezy locks that have been dodgy since I got her (almost a year now!). When it's cold, the driver's side one doesn't work at all, so I have to climb in via the passenger side, and the passenger one only works if you turn the key fully while operating the handle. So, now you know, this might make more sense...

It was a cold day in December and, surprise surprise, I was running late for work. Well, I had photocopying and planning to do before teaching so actually not that late but I was still in a rush with a fair bit on my mind. I opened the passenger side, climbed in and started the engine to warm the car, grabbing my scraper on the way out as the car was iced over. As I got out and watched the door close (gravity was on its side), my heart sank. I tried the door. Frozen of course. So I was stuck outside with the keys in the car (and, of course, my mobile too - what a fool) and the engine running, with the boyfriend out at work. For want of a better word, cock. Next door had keys to our house, where my spares were and, indeed, a phone to call the RAC if necessary but, of course, next door were away. I looked for the weak spot in my car to break in and it was bloody obvious - the roof. Now, my zip-out plastic windscreen had been steadily falling apart over the previous few months and no amount of re-stitching was helping. So I set about unpicking the rest of the stitches. Which was, actually, a worryingly easy task. Once I'd got a bit undone, I attempted to reach in and undo the lock with my hands and subsequently with a broom. No use. So, gritting my teeth, I unpicked all of the stitches and, sitting on the boot of the car, crawled in over the windbreak.

Of course, at this point, the other next door neighbour returned (no, not the one with the keys!) and saw me with my legs hanging out of the car in a most ungainly fashion. He laughed. Lots. Tom is now disappointed that he didn't also take photos. I'm not. Getting in to Poppy to sort this all out gave me lots of bruises and a ripped hood but at least we got there in the end I suppose, albeit 20 minutes late for work too.

Now, with a missing rear windscreen on a cold, wet and windy December day, I was less than happy. And cold. It was clear that I needed to book an appointment with Jack Smith Trimmer's in Swansea to get a new hood. In reality, all it did was speed up a necessity but nonetheless...!

So I now have a lovely new mohair and glass roof that I'm utterly in love with and shall write a somewhat more coherent post on the Swansea trip soon...