{"id":800,"date":"2023-03-10T19:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T19:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/?p=800"},"modified":"2026-01-05T13:03:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:03:36","slug":"what-do-you-get-if-you-leave-a-car-in-the-garden-carden-%f0%9f%98%8a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/what-do-you-get-if-you-leave-a-car-in-the-garden-carden-%f0%9f%98%8a\/","title":{"rendered":"What do you get if you leave a car in the garden? Carden \ud83d\ude0a"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Yes, I know. That\u2019s a pretty lame title. But it is very apt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know the drill with most garages. The vibe is\u2026 practical. A bit of a grease fest. You walk in expecting that specific smell of old oil and a faint dread about the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This place in Cardiff, in the CF14 area, was different. It actually made me stop and look. I was down there on a job\u2014a little different to the usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Job: A Victorian Sink Sprint<\/strong><br>The run was this: someone in Birmingham had bought a solid Victorian sink on eBay. A proper, heavy lump of history. The seller was in Cardiff. The buyer needed it that day to be installed in their house. Obviously, we weren&#8217;t doing the plumbing (you don&#8217;t want me near your pipes), but the job was to get from Birmingham, collect the sink, and bring it back. A proper there-and-back-again tale. And yes, before you ask, we can do this too. It&#8217;s what we&#8217;re for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the handover, heading back to the van, that&#8217;s when I saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Garage with a \u2018Front End\u2019<\/strong><br>Let&#8217;s be clear. Next to where I&#8217;d parked was a garage. A proper car MOT and servicing type place. But it had a very different \u2018front end\u2019. And yes, I\u2019ve never ever thought I\u2019d use the word \u2018front end\u2019 when describing a garage. It\u2019s more of an IT thing, I guess. But here, it\u2019s the only word that fits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was just\u2026 very welcoming. Clean, orderly. Not what you&#8217;re braced for when you&#8217;re thinking about a brake check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Star of the Show: The Carden<\/strong><br>The thing that properly caught my eye was parked right out front. A little blue Peugeot. Or, what was left of one. Someone had the absolute genius idea to let a garden grow out of it. We&#8217;re not talking a bit of moss. This was a proper, planned, flourishing garden spilling from the windows, the boot, the sunroof. Very interesting. Very unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A cool car garden. A&nbsp;<em>carden<\/em>. It set a tone before you even walked in. It said the people here might actually look at things a bit sideways. Not a bad quality in someone you trust with your clutch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a link to the place:&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/gardenvillagegarage.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/gardenvillagegarage.co.uk\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have no affiliation with them at all. Never used them for a service. Just something I liked the look of in the ten minutes I was in the area, between collecting a sink and starting the M5 slog north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The View from the Van<\/strong><br>That\u2019s the bit I like. One minute you&#8217;re orchestrating a Birmingham-to-Cardiff sink rescue, the next you&#8217;re staring at a Peugeot that&#8217;s been turned into a flowerbed. It breaks the monotony of the motorway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It reminds you that every place has its own character. My job is to navigate between them all, whether the cargo is a cardboard box or a chunk of Victorian porcelain. And sometimes, you just have to give a nod to a place that&#8217;s done something a bit different to stand out. Even if it\u2019s just making an old car bloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-1-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-804\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-1.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-6-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-6-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-6-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-6-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-6-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-6.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-7-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-7-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-7-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-7-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-7-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-7.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-8-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-805\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-8-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-8-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-8-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-8-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-8.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-9-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-9-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-9-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-9-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-9-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10.03-9.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have no affiliation with them at all. Just something that I liked the look of.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,52,20,21,23],"class_list":["post-800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures","tag-courier","tag-gardening","tag-logistics-2","tag-sameday","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1602,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions\/1602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}