The car is parked across the road from our drive entrance, 350 yards away, in space provided by an obliging farmer neighbour.
The reason for this is that blokes with machines - diggers, a roller, a dumper - are spreading many tons of damp brownish grey gravel and aggregate over the drive and rolling it down. So apart from walking the 700 yards to fetch the paper in the morning I now have to do it every time I want or need to use the jalopy.
When rolled the aggregate is OK to walk on. But I gather there are two more layers to come, the top one being tar and chippings... sounds a bit too damn smart I reckon. Nevertheless it's going to be good not having to dodge some potholes while crashing through others. Can't help wondering how long it's going to last despite the fortune it is said to be costing.
Fortunately it's a long time since I used to try to slide cars round the bend in the drive. It's a long time since the jalopy was stuck nose down in the mud needing to be tractored out. There's a deep and evil ditch that comes quite close to the road for quite some distance, but I've never been into it. A sign of boring maturity.
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It's going to be seven weeks before the next layer is put on, and we can use the drive road in the meantime, so the jalopy is in its usual place just outside. It's a vast improvement, not having to dodge the potholes. No doubt some of them will reappear, to be filled in again later.
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Unwanted exercise - Armel Coussine
