Saturday

I plonked myself down at this keyboard ready to write my 4758th blogpost but nothing much sprang to mind. I had one or two ideas concerning things I have done in the past but I soon discovered that I had already covered  them in past blogposts. Well, we can't easily remember every blogpost we have ever published can we?

Today, after a wasted morning on the internet, I finally managed to get out into our garden. There were some jobs I needed to do such as dismantling the wooden gate I made thirty years ago.  It leads on to the back lane. The gate has become rotten after all that time and needs replacing. However, it pleases me to think that it lasted so long.

It was difficult getting the old hinges off the wooden gatepost. Not just a simple matter of turning a screwdriver for the screws were rusted and unwilling to move. In the end I had to prise the hinges off and apply brute force, taking care not to damage the gatepost because before too long it will need to receive new screws connected with the new wooden gate I will most likely build from scratch.

This afternoon, I also had to cut back vegetation that flanks the long garden path I made back in the summer of 2009. Next week two fellows will be using that path as they begin work on new patio paving. They will have to prepare the ground and there's a significant amount of  stonework to be done.

Tomorrow's weather forecast predicts a nice sunny morning turning to drizzly rain in the afternoon so I hope to get out there fairly early. There's more to be done before the patio work can commence.

Another thing I did today was to phone my brother Robin in south west France. He has been living there since 2005 - a good chunk of his life. As usual we had a good old chinwag and put the world to rights. We may not speak every week but when we do phone each other the conversation flows naturally. As brothers we have learnt to make allowances for each other. We are the same in many ways but different in others. I have known him longer than any other living person and he can say the same.

Before I sign off, I just want to say I have been thinking about "Quiztime" which has evolved into a regular feature of this blog.  I want the quizzes to be fun to do but it is hard to pick topics that will suit visitors from different places. The last quiz was geographical. What I want to ask is this: Can you suggest a topic or theme for the weeks ahead? The subject should have some universal appeal.

Soon I will be climbing the stairs to my lonely bed but like last night please don't worry about me. I will be okay.