Cars, Cambridge and a celebration.

We've been away to Cambridge again for five days for my husband to go to meetings and for me to go pottering about. I do enjoy pottering around looking at all the old buildings and walking along the river. I always find something new to look at and enjoy. And if I head for the town centre, there is a street with eight charity shops in it, which means that I can potter through there very happily. I can usually manage to find a new top either for my husband or for me and sometimes something even more exciting. I find that having a good supply of tops means that I can wait a few days extra until there is a dry day so that I can dry the washing outside. I try very hard not to use the tumble dryer unless there is a very good reason for it.

We'll be going back to Cambridge for another stay before Christmas so I'm hoping to do a little Christmas shopping on that occasion. I might even find something for my husband without him being with me to see it and spoil the surprise.

Our car was eight years old when we bought it and we have had it for seven years now. The engine works fine but there are lots of the peripheral things which are not working well any longer or which have stopped working altogether. The driver's window no longer goes up and down, for example. It stopped working about 18 months ago and we had a new motor fitted but it has stopped again. It is very annoying as we frequently go through a barrier at a carpark entrance which means stopping the car, getting out and entering a code, getting back in and putting the seat belt on and then getting out on to a main road. Not fun if there is somebody on the main road wanting to turn in and stopping all the traffic whilst I am faffing around... There are lots of sensors not working properly too. So we are looking at new(er) cars. The thing is that the car sailed through the MOT with no problems at all in July. There are just so many makes and models of cars out there and prices have definitely gone up in the last seven years since we bought this one. Decisions, decisions. We want a larger car, probably an estate so that we can transport lots of wood, something very economical to run, very comfortable for longer journeys, and all for a very small sum of money. So we want the best compromise possible. Anybody got any recommendations?

And it was my birthday this week. My husband took me out for the day and cooked me a nice meal and my grandchildren all drew me beautiful cards. It was a lovely day : )