Doris, the little blue car

I have this friend and she has this car; her name is 'Doris' (Dot), the car that is. My girls have a thing about naming their cars, I suppose it makes them feel more significant in our lives when we look back at all the times we ‘drove here and there’, and went to see ‘this or that…’

Honey and Ethol, are other members of the car family. But Doris is probably my favorite; we’ve been through a lot together. Namely getting lost and running out of petrol in random places, usually when you really need to NOT get lost and run out of petrol. Like on the motorway on the way to Cardiff, or, parked uphill far away from home and money, or during midnight cruises through central London gawping at the Harrods display windows, whilst being chased by crazy mice. We've even been mistaken for 'doggers' in the past, while enjoying a great view and our favorite chip-shop chips.

Yes, Doris has a few stories to tell.

Most recently, she accompanied us to the countryside looking for a wildlife reserve in the woods, at night. Yes, that’s right in-the-woods-at-night. Good idea why not, right? WRONG!

It went a bit like this…

Pal: “I want to look for this place I have work experience at next week, I’ve got the tom-tom, will you come with me?”

Me: “OK.”

Driving…chatting…we arrive at a side road off the motorway somewhere. The road is bumpy. Bumpy is an understatement. There are ditches either side of the car. Pitch black. *please see above picture*

“What are those, wait is that, are they? SH*T, we’re driving past a cemetery!” *shiver*

We’re getting scared at the idea that by some coincidence the tires are going to burst, and we are blatantly going to re-live some demented horror film, if we don’t GET-OUT-OF-HERE.

Alas, we see lights up ahead. It looks like a lorry, one of those massive ones they have in America…in all the (moment of realisation) HORROR FILMS! *S.C.R.E.A.M*

SCREECH! We’re really getting scared now, what was that? Over-grown branches are clawing at our Doris. We find the place. Mission accomplished. We start heading back.

BANG! “What is that under the car,” said my anxiety inducing friend. So, she gets out and looks underneath, it’s a MASSIVE branch wedged under the car.

ARE –YOU-SERIOUS. We can’t move, and another car is coming to block us in from some other random country lane. I jump out, lift, wedge, push and pull ( Because if I don’t a crazy Freddie-esque man is going to charge out of the bushes any second) until it is out. Back in the car, we head off.

Too much excitement for a school night. Poor Dot. We love Doris, she's so much more than a little blue car. Where would we have been without her these past few years? BORED, I expect.