A good excuse to jump in the Hillman and visit a few chums.

The first port of call was Awkward though he wasn't at his workshop (he might have finished the rebuild on the Avon's engine and gone out for a test run) so the next stop was Very Learned Counsel's emporium where there's always something interesting to look at. The Great Collector's Humber 14/40 engine was in for the fitting of a new block (he had one spare) which, as the engine was stripped, turned quickly into a major rebuild. Interestingly, the new block was 3mm taller than the old one so the clearances were completely out. Luckily, there was enough meat on the bottom to skim off the necessary.

This magnificent 10 litre Daimler engine was also in for a rebuild....

... as was the suspension on this Rover P100 - Very Learned Counsel's soon-to-be daily driver. This is the 6 cylinder model and, coincidentally, it's rumoured that The Great Collector has spotted a 105S in the vicinity (the sporty high-compression model and good for 101mph when new) and, naturally, is on the trail! Dropping in to Old Buckenham airfield, a couple of old flying chums who run Black Barn Aviation were taking in the sun - they've rebuilt at least 15 Boeing Stearmans in the last 20 years or so; they deserve a break.

Back home, I've finished gathering the bits for the wheeling machine kit but haven't had the chance to weld it up yet as...

.... work got in the way. I had 4 of these manifolds to make and also a couple of saddles (the green bits) for some roof beam reinforcements in the cow shed.

And the next thing I knew, I was staring back at the White Cliffs of Dover, on my way to Holland for a magnetising job....

... in Middleburg, where I had a day to have a quick look around the town - heading, of course, for the local Zeeuws (Zeelander) museum and gallery.

The three paintings in the top row were particularly good but unfortunately, the whole museum was let down by the lighting. Maladjusted spotlights are seriously bad news in a gallery.

There was a whole Jan Van Eyck thing going on in the reflections on this kettle but the joke was spoilt by poorly positioned lights.

I enjoyed this view of the city of Veere (I forgot to note the artist's name) and...

... an interior scene common to a lot of the galleries I visit, 'Saying Grace', (1907) this by Jan Toroop.

My favourite painting wasn't in the museum but in a shop window in the artist's district of Middleburg. It couldn't be anywhere else but Holland and the palette was perfect for my taste. A few doors along from this painting was a second-hand bookshop with boxes of books on the pavement. A copy of Searle and Atkinson's illustrated, 'Escape from the Amazon', complete with a good dust jacket was mine for the princely sum of €1.

Whether or not it was a fine buy, remains to be seen.