My life as an Eddie Stobart addict

It is something which started out as a harmless piece of television viewing but has ended up with me running across service station car parks brandishing a camera grinning like a crazy fool.

I am talking about my not so secret and slightly over the top obsession with Eddie Stobart lorries.

This obsession has cost me my dignity on many occasions and almost cost me my relationship, with my long suffering boyfriend Joe witnessing my crazy ‘spotting’ behaviour more times than he would like to say.

Like most people’s obsessions it started innocently enough, when my parents started watching the Eddie Stobart television series. I quickly became fascinated by these truckers, and more importantly the trucks, with their girls names.

This mild fascination saw me looking out for Stobart trucks on car journeys, and reading the names. However it quickly spiralled out of control, as I cut cars up to read the names, and swerved lanes to get closer to trucks.

On my birthday I joined 24,999 other fanatics with a membership of the Eddie Stobart fan club, thanks to Joe’s mum. This membership came complete with a sticker and spotters book, so I could record the names, dates and locations of the trucks I pass.

But recently my obsession has reached new levels, and I have the photos to prove it. I am excited, and just a little bit proud to say that I have sat in the cab of an Eddie Stobart truck.

The poor driver of Nina Jonet had no idea what was coming as he stopped off at a service station to grab a bite to eat. Leaving his truck unattended he walked into the petrol station to pick up his evening meal. Unbeknown to him I had been watching him from the restaurant where Joe and I had stopped for food on our journey back from the Lake District. Quick as a flash I had thrown my KFC down my throat, grabbed Joe and my camera and hurtled over the car park to reach the truck. Having my photo taken in front of it was not enough, and as the trucker emerged from the shop I begged to be allowed to sit in the cab. Imagine my surprise when he agreed and I did not have to resort to trickery and deception to get there.

I was a natural at sitting in the truck, pretending to drive and looking the part! However getting down was a different matter, and almost resulted in a hospital visit. It is high! Sadly I was not allowed to drive it, but that is next on my agenda!

My mission is to travel the country to find the Laura Jane truck. Joe is not keen, he said one Laura Jane in his life is more than enough. I am not sure what he is trying to say.......

There are more than 2,250 Eddie Stobart trucks, and the distance travelled by the fleet each day is the equivalent to 24 laps of the Earth. So the next time you are on the motorway keep your eyes peeled for the trucks. You never know, it could be the start of an (un)healthy obsession.

I may be one step away from a train spotter in a tatty anorak but I am proud to stand up and say My name is Laura Tremelling, and I am an Eddie Stobart spotter.

Pumpkin fun!

I did something last weekend that a lot of people probably take for granted. Indeed it is a simple task, carried out by thousands of people every year. But for me it was the first time I had done it, and I came away with no injuries!

What am I talking about, you wonder? Well last weekend, at the age of 26 years and five weeks I carved my very first pumpkin!

Add this to the fact that to do so I had to use a knife and you will understand why I am finding my lack of injury amazing, as I am not gifted with the common sense needed to use a knife. I am just about ok using a small knife to eat my dinner with, but anything with a larger, sharper blade causes a real problem, and danger of DIY amputation of one of my fingers.

Joe naturally panicked when I suggested we could carve a pumpkin, and immediately insisted that I was to go nowhere near the knife! He just about permitted me to scrape out the insides with a spoon. Well, obviously I set about getting him to change his mind!

On the night in question a few glasses of wine had been consumed. I believe this made Joe feel more relaxed, and was what led him to changing his mind about me using the knife, even though he kept a close supervision on me.

It all started well, but Joe had a slight panic when he realised that I was cutting through the pumpkin with my hand on the inside in danger of being sliced off.

Keen to avoid another four hour trip to A&E with me he trustingly held the pumpkin while I sliced. Now this is trust indeed, as my knife slipped dangerous close at various times when I got carried away!

However disaster was avoided, and I now have a wonderfully carved pumpkin called Percy sitting in my kitchen.

Ironically I survived using the knife and caused more damage to myself lighting the candle to go inside, burning my hand!