Daughter #1 wants to learn to drive.

There are I think two of us on here whose children are learning to drive, including my daughter.

My first piece of advice is to make sure she is comfortable with an instructor. Espadrillette went through three instructors (all men) before she found a lady who she vastly preferred. I suspect she does not know many people in the area, but if she can make friends with local sixth formers.. they will be a good source of info about local instructors. Don't be afraid to do one or two lessons and decide if she likes the instructor.

If she has no private car to practice on, she will need many more lessons. Just doing errands and going on short trips is invaluable for simply getting used to driving on the road and saving lesson time.

I would suggest at least 20 lessons if she has no other car to practice on but it depends on how adept she is anyway.

I can only say that my son is using the RED driving school. He likes it because he can book and manage everything on his phone. You get to choose instructor, and they have female instructors in Reading if that's what she wants. The guy my lad is using seems fine.

I suppose it depends on the individual as to how many lessons you need.

Lots of instructors bring their students up and down my avenue to begin with as it's straight, very quiet and no parked cars in the road. Ideal for the first few tries. So I might get to see her crawl past in the near future.

Face masks these days make most learner drivers look pretty much the same.  The hair might just make the difference, though.

Can we take it this means the hospital drama is behind her and she's back to full fitness?

p.s. I must admit to smiling at the thought of the son of any contributor here turning up to Sunday lunch with her some time as the new girlfriend. Despite the fashion sense [pah] she's a very attractive girl, and quite unusual.

Unlikely, of course, but the thought amuses me.

p.s. re: purple Triumph Toledo. I've only lived in this house since 2009, although it did occur to me recently that I've now lived here longer than any other home I've had. Been living in Reading since 1995. I'm aiming to be gone in about 8 years tops, and if I can also be gone from working for a living at the same time I will be doing that too.

I think the death certificate from "I'm aiming to be gone in about 8 years tops" will exclude you from "working for a living" unless Brexit goes really wrong and the Conservatives need as many people as possible working and passing the DWPs fit to work assessment. Then you will be DUFTO - Dug Up For The Occasion.