Pronounced 'barscht' in Polish which is why when I asked in the Polish shop for 'borscht', it drew some blank looks. Anyway, it's beetroot soup to us and although not to everyone's taste, if you add fried lardons, chopped Savoy cabbage, organic carrots and potatoes, it's a feast - worlds away from the borscht I remember being dished up in Moscow back in the 70's.

Leon's A7 gearbox has been mated to the Coventry Climax for a couple of weeks now; a very neat and tidy job and then the other day, this came through..

Job done; breakfast run here we come. Meanwhile, The Ambassador's Daughter and I took a quick run out in the Hillman on the first official day of Spring - it seems eons ago now - in preparation for the annual run to Ufford.

I think it was probably the best turnout ever - I would guess over 200 cars - and over the years the weather has got steadily warmer and sunnier for this early April event. I remember the first one I went to in The Great Collector's Rolls; I sat in the back holding picnic mugs to catch the rain pouring through the rails of the sun roof.

Awkward was there having prepared his Avon for a trip abroad - confusion about his country of origin is unlikely.... and my car of the day was this Invicta. It's not often you see an Invicta of this size and style.

Project 'X' is now in full swing so these trips out and car stuff in general have taken a back seat. The front wings for the Austin 7 are still waiting to be done; the Riley racing car I haven't even thought about for what seems an age, I've got a suspension piece to make for a Hurtu, a Mercedes hood to repair and I've still got to fit in the dhobi and hoovering.

Good job the evenings are drawing out -Na Zdorovie!