"L" Driver - And So It Begins Again!

It really doesn't seem like that long ago that I was going out giving Joshua driving lessons and here we are in 2026 starting all over again with Brandon. We are teaching him in Tina's Ecosport as the Fiesta that Joshua learned in has since been transferred to his ownership. Taking Joshua out ourselves and giving him real world driving scenarios rather than predetermined lessons seemed to work very well. The proof was the fact that he passed first time and only had 2 actual driving lessons just before test day, thus saving us and him a whole lot of money.

So the pressure is on me as a driving instructor and Brandon as a student to try and replicate how it went with Joshua. After just 3 lessons he has started really well and already has pretty good clutch control and doesn't stall (too often!). We have covered forward and reverse parking, emergency stop, road positioning, navigating small round-a-bouts and changing up and down from 1st to 4th gear and back. Only one minor incident so far where he went back a little too far in a parking space and brushed some bushes with the back of Tina's car (oops).

Brandon seems very keen to do the physical driving stuff with me, but Josh set him up with an App he used for the theory work which Brandon has hardly touched to date. So he will need to pull his thumb out and get that done as without a theory test pass we cannot even book his physical driving test. I wonder whether Brandon has also set up a little competition with his girlfriend Maia to see who passes first. She has a month or two head start on him as her 17th was in 2025.

Brandon suddenly has new found respect for the Clarkson, Hammond and May after realising driving is a lot harder than he thought.

He seems enthusiastic and keen to go out driving at any opportunity though.

He is learning in Tina's Ecosport. This was his first attempt at a reverse parking over at Robert Frew doctors carpark. Magnetic L plates back in play.

Pottery Paining

 Mid January Lisa had kindly booked a family day out doing some pottery painting. Unfortunately no Joshua and Tina as they were working on the Saturday and I initially declined thinking only Holly would be interested. As it turned out Brandon was also keen to go and took Maia with him as well. So thank you kindly to Lisa and David for taking Brandon, Maia and Holly out for the day. As you can see below they had a fab time doing the pottery painting and are looking forward to receiving their masterpieces back once they have been baked.

Brandon, Maia and Holly ready to start their pottery painting.

Maia painting teddy bears on her mug and Brandon doing a Sleep Token themed mug.

Thank you so much to Lisa and David for organising and taking the kids for the day.

Brandon even getting down in to the insides of his mug.

Holly choosing a cup rather than a mug and doing owls on hers. Nanny would be proud!

 

Really surprised Brandon wanted to do this, but he said he had a great time.

Maia and Holly's finished mugs ready for baking.

Brandon even did some lyrics or something on the back.

Holly's owls and the colours used are amazing. Very spring like.

And even the bottoms were painted to date the craftwork.

Xmas Leftovers & New Years 2026

As I said on Brandon's birthday post - really poor frequency of blog updates since Xmas 2025. Anyway here are a few leftovers that I forgot to post early Jan. Just a couple of pics showing my annual Jamie Oliver turkey and leak pie which always goes down a treat between Xmas and New Year - especially with the white gravy. Then there was my festive cheesecake which was equally delicious.

New Year was just the usual with all 5 of us at home enjoying some games, drinkies, snacks and then watching the London fireworks on the TV. Both Tina and Josh were working the next day so nobody stayed up mega late. As usual the final game of the night was the Game Of Life which has become a bit of a tradition for us on New Years Eve. Although over the years the debates during the game have got more interesting. This year for example it focused around how outdated the game was by only allowing you to have blue male characters and pink female characters in your cars. Nothing to cater for the other 37+ genders that you might want to chose for your in game kids!!!

2025 Jamie Oliver Turkey and Leak Pie.

Xmas cheesecake using some chocolate mint sticks as separator's.

Like usual New Year was spent as a 5 playing games with some snacks and drinks.