Imprisonment - Day 76

Imprisonment - Day seventy six
Friday 5th June 2020

Cars - 39
Motorbikes - 1
Bikes - 4
Dog walkers - 0
Walkers - 0
Runners - 2
Horses - 0
Horse walkers - 0
Molehills - 0
Cycling temperature - 8.4c

My goodness what awful weather it's more akin to October than summer. My ride was blustery and cold. The huge bough which had fallen yesterday and blocked the lane had been completely cleared up there was no hair nor hide of it not even a twig or a leaf. The bough was a huge chunk of the tree if the jagged wound on the poor old tree is anything to go by.

The Bentley upholstery is proceeding slowly as there is a lot of fiddly bits on the passenger door trim as there is a cubby hole with a flap that covers the opening. There is also a carpeted piece to the lower door panel and then there is the piping and edging plus velcro to sew not to mention covering the half round bar. Progress was slowed when the sewing machine refused to work as it would not stich properly and just left a row of neat holes in the leather. It's a bit like my mowing equipment things to go wrong when you use them vigorously. I gave it a good clean blowing out all the dust and dirt with the air compressor. I then dismantled the mechanism that holds the needle and cleaned it. When everything was pieced back together it came back to life and started to stitch the leather together again. The poor old thing is having a hard life at the moment as there are numerous layers it has to punch its way through the on the door trim. I've broken half a dozen needles so far and I've only got a packet of five left so I've ordered some more off eBay which will be here next week. I've also had to order some more Velcro. It's annoying as every broken needle costs a pound. Whoops bang there goes another. The poor old machine is only meant to see clothes. A bit like the old canal bridges which were only designed a carry horse and cart and now have to cope with the weight of modern traffic. I'm pleased I decided to try Velcro to Stick the upholstery to the car as it makes fitting very easy as I can simply take it on and off to measure and cut to size etc. etc..

The half round brass is cut to size holes drilled screws ground down and trial fitted to the car so all that's left is to cover it in leather.