29.01.2026 Flat tire!

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  Thursday 29th 28F/-2C [7.00] Cloudy and windy with risk of light snow showers. Temperature expected to fall to -4C/25F. Before settling at -1C all day. Gusting to 10m/s [22mph] from the NE. Room at 59F/15C. Greenhouse at 40F/4C. 

 7.00 Stove lit. I woke earlier but managed to stay in bed until 6.20. The lighter duvet was more comfortable. Without overheating.

 Cooking class today. I'll drive there. Still pitch black but the cameras show no new snow.

 9.00 I was just going to leave but I have a flat front tire! Which is a first for me. It has never happened before in well over half a century. The nearest tire outlet is 10 miles away. They have a two week waiting list for changing to winter tires. 

 I have a spare wheel in the boot. Which involves moving the trailer at the back of the carport. The car is in the carport and hemmed in with stuff. All the while surrounded in snow in an ice cold wind. I can drive it slowly forward to get enough room for using the jack. 

 Do I have a suitable jack? Not a silly question. I have assorted jacks but the Morris has a strange welded tube. Precisely where one might expect to jack the front end. An online check suggests the original Morris jack should be avoided. I'll start with the scissors jack I stored in the boot.

 Riding to the class on my e-bike is theoretically possible but would involve lots of hilly, minor roads. More like rural lanes. With the temperature below freezing it would not be a comfortable journey. Plus the risk of icy roads. Just to add to the difficulties. Grr! 

 9.30 65F/18.3C in the room. I'll have to change into my work clothes and get cracking. 

10.15 Everything I needed was in the car. Even a tommy bar and the correct socket for the wheel nuts. It didn't seem to take long but left me completely breathless. Now I have to ring around. To see who can mend the puncture. The spare tire is not the same as the rest. 

 12.45 Both petrol stations air pumps weren't working. The first was frozen apparently. Water in the system. Rather than air. The second had a worn out valve seal rubber. So it lost more air than it could push in. The staff came out and out and looked. Of course I was the only one complaining. Nobody else had any problem. 

 I bought some groceries while I was in the village. I'll have lunch and then try a rural tire service outlet. To have the puncture repaired.

 It was quite entertaining. The elderly tire fitter was delighted to have a Morris Minor there. We chatted away for ages while he worked. The tire had an inner tube and this had a tiny hole. He was a club motorcyclist and so we chatted about those too. He fixed the puncture and then I could drive home. With the wheel in the boot.

 19.30 67F/19C. As I had missed the cooking class I had to make dinner. An organic chop, boiled potatoes, peas and Bisto gravy

  

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