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zen and the art....

Its been an expensive and manic week in the Ruby Starrs household... we have been bracing ourselves for the imminent replacement of the clutch on Beryl the Yellow Peril our beloved camper van - and then catastrophe struck - my car went clink clink clinkclink BANG and its now having an emergency engine transplant and some serious rehab time in the garage - huge expense I could have done without but I really can't do without the car!!! Now we have everything possible crossed to hope that Beryls' clutch sees us through Christmas so we can head out and do the family rounds and make it back home before having to remortgage life in general to have all wheels fully functional!!!

C'est la vie - these things happen and there is never a good time we would all rather spend hard earned cash on something other then car maintenance but living out here in the sticks means a car is absolutely essential and worth every penny!

So after a few cups of tea, we've survived the shock of forgoing any chance of jetting off for some wintersun, settling instead for a fully functioning car and on a lighter note it feels like the festive season is definetly here - the disco tree is surrounded by piles of presents - mainly labeled for the grandchildren, cards are sent, the christmas cake is iced and we have a couple of parties to look forward to this week.

All things given we are lucky..... Life is easy for us living in peace, our own home, surrounded by those we love and who love us - we've probably all got a present to look forward to under a tree somewhere, so spare a thought for those less fortunate......  



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