Ciao, Vittorio

I can't settle at making beads and it's because I'm a little bit sad that my beloved Vittorio Vespa is going tomorrow.

Since my Dad had his motorcycle accident last year I've lost my confidence with my Vespa. It's just every time I go out on Vittorio and every time I'm out in the car with Dad I see umpteen things that make me think 'I don't want to be on the roads'. You know that scary advert that's occasionally on television where the driver is sat at the junction and he pulls out without seeing the motorcyclist? Well, that scenario happens far too much in real life. I've had it happen to me several times and although I've managed to brake in time, it still shakes you up.

And it's not just unobservant drivers that have put me off, either. If I've been unfortunate enough to be riding past the local secondary school at home-time, there are often groups of deranged teenagers walking in the road, running across the road in a crazy lemming-type fashion or just mucking about at the side of the road lobbing things at passing vehicles. A lady at the bus stop the other week was telling me about how her son ended up in hospital after he smashed his bike into a lamppost when he swerved to avoid a teenage idiot who jumped in front of his bike 'for a laugh'.

Everyone that I've spoken to about this seems to totally understand and several people have said how scary the roads and driving have become over the last few years. Others have said 'Oh well maybe now you can get yourself a little car!'. No, I can't and I won't be. The only way I'll ever own a car is if I win the lottery and end up getting a chauffeur and seeing as that will never happen because I don't do the lottery I'll make do with buses and walking.

As much as I love my Vittorio it seems a shame to have him sat in the garage doing nothing. I've been deliberating about parting with Vittorio for several weeks now. When I was feeling particularly confident the other week I went to put my crash helmet on and the fastener on it was broken. I took that as a sign and decided that maybe I should sell him. So tomorrow a man is coming to collect him. I'll be very sorry to see him go.

Ciao, Vittorio - I will miss you.

Grrrrr and Brrrrr!

Yeah, I know I'm not meant to be here as I'm supposed to be in Cambridge. I'm now going next weekend which annoyingly means I have to wait a-whole-nother week 'til I see my boyfriend. Rubbish!

As I type I am waiting for the boiler engineer man to come and fix the central heating which packed up yesterday afternoon. Dad's away on holiday for two weeks and before he went he left me a list of numbers to call if something were to go wrong with the heating, electricity, phones etc and I said he was making a fuss and that nothing was going to happen! How wrong was I?

So now I'm sat here shivering wearing a jumper, a cardigan, a terrible brown knitted wrap-type thing (bought it last year - goodness knows what possessed me to purchase such a hideous item of clothing but I'm sure glad I've got it now!) and super-fluffy-pink-stripy-knee-length socks under my jeans. I look like a crazy-socked Jedi.

Buster's cold too. He's buried himself under the cushions on the armchair - see above.

Also, Vittorio (my Vespa) decided to conk out on me on Thursday. He won't start - just makes a quiet whirring noise when I press the ignition. The fastener on my crash helmet is broken too. Pants!

Something somewhere is telling me not to travel or leave the house, methinks.

I like being in one piece

Yep - I'm still crazy about making enamel beads. Seems my lovely bead customers really like them too! The ones above are a selction of some of the beads that I'll have for sale on my website tomorrow night.

I went over to see my sister Sally this afternoon. It was beautifully sunny when I set out and I really enjoyed the ride over to her house. (For readers that may not know, I have a Vespa.) We sat in the garden and had a cup of tea (and a doughnut) while Robyn played in the sandpit. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere it became grey and overcast and began spitting with rain.

The drizzle turned into a thunderstorm and I had no choice but to scoot home in the rain. I tend to only ride my bike when it's dry but sometimes you've just got to face the fact you're going to get wet! Anyone who has ridden a motorbike knows that you need to take even more care on the roads than usual in the rain - things like white lines and drain covers become very slippery. So there I am riding carefully, not going too slow and sticking to the speed limits. But oh no, that's not good enough for some idiot in a huge BMW fat car (I call 4x4s 'fat cars' because to me they are just really fat cars) behind who insisted on getting way too close to me in an attempt to intimidate me and hurry me up. Well, I'm sorry but I'm doing 20 in a 20 limit on a road that is riddled with speed bumps as well as potholes and parked cars. Where is the problem with that? When I reached the traffic lights at the end of the road they were red but when they went green and I went straight ahead Mr BMW Man turned left and revved off in a right old huff. Dang - I pay my road tax and I have just as much right to be on the road as any other vehicle. Why do some drivers think that they can 'bully' others into doing what they want them to do? Grrrrrrrr - it gets right on my . . . . nerves. I love my Vittorio (the Vespa) so the last thing I'm going to do is ride my bike like an idiot and risk hurting him, let alone myself - I like being in one piece.