My mom is visiting and asked if I could rent a car so we could go to some places that aren't easily reached on mass transit. T usually drives when we're together and is semi-comfortable driving on the left side of the road so I had assumed that if we were going to drive at all while we're here it would be him doing it, but he is at a conference. So I did it. This is my story.

Driving on the left side of the road wasn't as hard as I expected, although I noticed that my mother was making these distressed little intakes of breath and twitchy gestures that closely tracked the chiding beeps of the car's lane assist function. But I was driving an SUV, probably because if you have to request a car with an automatic transmission the rental car company assumes you must be an American who needs a big tank of a thing, in a country whose roads seem designed for golf carts. A feature of the charming country lanes were arches over the road that required two-way traffic to abruptly go down to one, and you just negotiate it with the oncoming cars as best you can. A parking garage required painstaking 5 point turns every time I had to go down a level. When we got back to the house, we couldn't even fit through the entrance to our driveway. You know what British people do in this situation? They park in the very narrow street (prompting another one of these two-lane down to one scenarios) or they park half on the sidewalk. But not on that part of the sidewalk. Or that one. Or there. Here? Maybe, we'll find out haha! Half a tank of gas was about $50. But the McDonald's drive-through had PG Tips so a point for them there.

On Saturday we went to the Community Scrap Shack that sells donated house paint and arts and crafts supplies. It was extremely cramped and time was of the essence before my children could pull a teetering stack of something or other down on themselves. But I made out alright. Really excited about a light plaid shirting which, if you have heard the story about how my grandfather enshrined Madras in the midcentury American retail landscape, you know I need like I need a third nostril.

Then the Potteries Museum, which was the one museum we hadn't hit on our last trip to Stoke. We saw all manner of platters, tureens, and mugs commemorating the Battle of Waterloo. And randomly a some World War 2 stuff including a full Spitfire plane in the basement. There was a gas mask for infants, which was basically a sack that you put the kid in and then worked a manual handpump. Cheery!

I had only got halfway through all the mantelpieces but my mother was not as engrossed as I expected. Then I realized that her interest was not of the sort that would be satisfied by looking at a display case of cow-shaped creamers. She wanted to buy things, so we went back to the Spode museum where they sell vintage dishes in the gift shop. The Air Nigeria plates were still there but they were pricier than I remembered. But I had also felt some pangs about this cup-biscuit plate combo on our last trip so this time it came home with me for £5.

Unsated, she also led us to the other outlet where they sell the new stuff. A flatware outlet is right up there with a garden center (FORESHADOWING) as a place where I remember spending many hours as a kid. We made it out without anyone breaking anything. Home and we did have to park on the sidewalk but, sneak preview, the car was still there in the morning!