Well summer here is spoiling me, I have never had so many bar-b-cues. I have sat outside in a sarong & t-shirt every night for the last 3 weeks except the 4 nights I was away in Belgium! This is very un-English by all accounts.
And right now it is lovely & warm again & I'm writing from Airth Castle near the Forth of Firth in Scotland where we are staying this weekend. Had a 7 hour drive to get to the track, Knockhill, got all prepped within an hour & sent my "boss" ( no, not Selene) out in the Mustang to run it in & test it. By 1pm we were back in the pits cleaning the mud & gravel from every nook & cranny ( Scottish term I think you'll find) because Gary had "beached" it after a spin.....I haven't told him I have the whole sorry saga on my camera! Anyway, all that driving to get here, £85 a night for the hotel X 4 people X 2 nights, all for 1 practice saturday & 1 race on sunday.
This part of Scotland sure does have hills, they just aren't thrust out of the earth like at home. They rise gently up & up. This Castle/Hotel is on a hill above a council housing estate, the "business centre" where I'm computering has windows that open onto the back entrance to some sort of staff room....so there has been a serious bollocking of one guy, some secret whisperings between a couple of women & a group of lads airing their kilts....& not very fresh air either, stale, gassy, haggisy, whiffy type air.
I had my first experience of towing the car trailer on the motorway today, it all went pretty easily, except when we stopped for fuel & Gary started putting petrol in instead of diesel. We are a very proffessional racing car team, mark my words laddie.
When we left home at 6am the sun was up but the skies were grey & moody looking, they failed to knock the yellow glow out of the hay fields. Within 2 hours the landscape had changed, the familiar red brick buildings of Staffordshire had given way to stone or whitewashed buildings. Meadows were cut up by the criss crossing of dry stone walls as the fields rolled away from the motorway.
We drove past Lockerby, BBC radio 2 was broadcasting the news. Israel had announced they'd bombed 40 targets the night before. Well I bet they're feeling really chuffed with themselves. The war on terrorism continues.......they didn't say who the perveyor of terror was exactly.
I know. Just ask. Or visit my website wwwyeahniceoneisraelyouhavegotagreatmemory.com
So moving right along, back home now & regailing all with how we won the Knock hill endurance race thanks to Big Chris avoiding a pile up on the first corner, our pit stop being about 10 seconds faster than everyone elses & little Chris keeping a fast & consistant pace for his stint.
...........this was a suprise considering the night before we'd had a bar b que put on by the organisers of the race. H & H classic auctions are trying to get this series for " Tin Tops " off the ground ( we're building a 65 Mustang for the owner Simon Hall ). So we were well fed & wine flowed. Little Chris doesn't normally show any side effects from alchohol.....something had changed...maybe a lack of water during the day..?? Who knows. Anyway, he got up to leave with us & took 3 steps with Bambi legs....swayed & fell over taking down a large H&H banner. He lay there motionless for about 30 seconds as his brain struggled with the fact his nose was pressed against the ground. On his shirt back the embroidered logo of "classic racing cars" (our team) in plain view so all the other entrants who were staring agog were in no doubt who was causing the kerfuffle. When we got him back to the hotel he promptly threw up in the carpark & we had to guide him with some conviction back to his room......he got out & was found wandering the many coridors, his naughty impish grin & dark sunglasses letting all passers by know something wasn't right. After that I had a great phonecall with Selene & got to bed a bit after midnight. Gary, my boss was in his underpants, legs akimbo, passed out on his bed. Quite a traumatic night for wee Timmy from Sydenham.
This morning I checked with Chris that his wedding invite still stands- it does, he asked me while still sober. So on Friday 4th August I'm off to London for the weekend for a VERY big wedding. Which should rival the GDP of the worlds nuclear powers ( not including USA cos they're broke )
Big Chris is the main man in the scheme of all this. We all work for him, Gary is our boss & runs the business with all the different clients. Little Chris is Chris' eldest son, & is a year younger than me being a 1969 model, so he's not as wise as me yet....maybe next year. The 2 Chris' get on supremely well. About 5 years ago they got back from spending 5 years sailing around the world together, no time table, just sail when it suits type stuff. That'd be okay wouldn't it?
And now my bed calls me. Memories of beautiful Scotland, midges biting me to near death last night at the track, Sir Jackie Stewart being driven around Knock Hill in a 1950's double decker bus, Sir Jackies 1972 Tyrrel formula 1 car being thrashed around the circuit, the matching Tyrrel transporter from '72, the bag pipe band sending each race away with a bonny tune, winning......All fab & cemented in my brain, but it's the incredible blue sky with gloriously puffy clouds in every shade of white, or grey looming large over the rolling green countryside that dominates my mind......made me think of home, North Canterbury- around Cheviot way....And Selene...made me think of home & Selene..........had freshly squeezed orange juice at the track today, my first since since Italy & that one wasn't any good without Selene either.
Ciao Ciao!
keep fighting the good cause!
Tim O'Stan
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