January has always been a terrible month for doing things. It’s dark, cold and quite often wet and windy too – not the best for working on Land Rovers when you have no garage. Our yard is quite open, and the wind has a way of working its cold way into your bones. Still, Larry needed a few bits doing to pass the dreaded MOT test, and there is no rest for the wicked.

He passed the test, which threw up some more work that needed doing, however that can wait until some drier days are due.

Most of the UK has had a decent amount of snow this month too. I waited and waited for it to arrive, kept checking the weather apps but alas, no blanket of white covered this region of Lincolnshire. I wanted to take Larry out and see if there were any cars that needed rescuing, but with no snow, I couldn’t do that.

Instead, I stayed inside and sulked about it. While sulking, I browsed Facebook. In between the usual questions about electrical faults in the Discovery 2 groups and the lucky people having fun in the snow, I spotted a post asking if anyone could make use of a battered old 2.25 diesel that had come out a series 3. I immediately responded that I’d love to use it to learn with. Harriet’s engine is also a 2.25 diesel and having a spare one around would be most useful.

Above – Larry being a really useful Land Rover collecting Harriet’s spare engine

So, on a dismally cold Sunday morning, I drove to a small village just outside Market Rasen to pick it up. There was a smattering of snow on the road too, so getting there was fun and not too slippery. I rumbled down a little track to a cute little cottage with several Land Rovers outside. I then met Julie Swift and her husband and we got down to the serious business of talking about our vehicles.

We then had a great deal of fun trying to get the old engine into the back of the Disco. At one point, I was towing the engine along a board of wood to get it into a suitable position to get the hoist on it. I then backed up so we could creatively wiggle it into the boot and pack it in with plenty of old rags and blankets to attempt to save the carpet. The boot is usually occupied by a dog, so there is already a set of waterproof matting and such down which should stop it getting too filthy.

It turns out that Julie is the Lincolnshire representative for Tea on the Tailgate, so we spent the next half an hour sharing a brew in garden and enthusing about our respective vehicles. I shared the hope to have Harriet running for this year’s Leafer’s at the Pit, and she hope that her Piglet will pass the MOT and be road-ready very soon.

It was a fab morning, despite the cold and wet, and here’s hoping that Blue’s old engine will one day be running again. Only time will tell on that front!

Above – Julies Piglet is hopeful of getting an MOT soon!