Paloma

Paloma, our new car, is gaining admiring looks. People, friends & acquaintances are beginning to realise that she belongs to us.They all stop to express their appreciation of her.

It’s strange but it does make a difference that she is essentially leased rather than owned. We’re very aware of the need not to so much as scratch her. Before when we’ve had a new, or usually a newer, car, there’s been the odd bump or scratch initially as we’ve adjusted to the new dimensions. They’ve never been so severe as to require garage attention, just sufficient to make us aware of them. This time we’re tending to park far from walls etc., so far that there’s room to walk all round the car, but we’re nervous we might just bump that little bit. The Fox tells me, we’ll get over it when we’ve got over the novelty of having a brand new car, but I’m not so sure. Ultimately she’s someone else’s car on temporary loan to us & I feel an even greater responsibility therefore to keep her in perfect condition, or at least as good a condition as I can.

Meanwhile we continue to wade our through the accompanying manual - it's several inches thick. She seems to have so many little tricks, so different from our old car, aged 16 years. Technology has certainly changed!