Finished re-planting the front garden and putting down the bark mulch. A nice job. Now we start on the back. The poor old garden suffered badly because I wasn’t well enough to look after it - so it needs a big makeover. With the help of Julian who does the work (I just pay the money and buy the stuff we need) it should all be fine by the end of the summer. Aaah.

Herself had the brain-scan this morning. Now we chew fingernails waiting for the result. Brain tumour or not? Please cross everything for her. We’ll be on a knife-edge for at least a fortnight.

Meanwhile I got another result from a certain Bank which has been messing me about. £150 in my account and 3 bottles of superior malt whisky. Presumably to prevent me from remembering what they did.

Meanwhile have offered Henry the loan of my metal detector and have to drive up there with it. So I get to see the family. That’ll be good. Do I get a percentage of whatever he finds? Hmm.

Lastly have been interested to see chatter on Henry’s site about giving up smoking. For some time I was an expert because I gave up regularly. I started smoking because back in those days (Think WW 2) doctors said that smoking was good for your health because it killed off the germs - true! Anyway one Sunday Henry’s Mum and I were sitting in front of the fire reading Sunday papers and I said I was giving up (not again!) and would she? Answer - yes if you’re still not smoking next week. Action replay - next week, fire, papers, I said ‘Have you got a cigarette?’ Ask most smokers and they haul out a packet and wave it at you without another thought. So she did. I can see it in my mind’s eye today. A packet of 20 Senior Service with only two fags gone. So I threw it on the fire. The row that followed was well nigh homicidal. But she stopped too. Which is how Henry’s Mum and Dad stopped smoking. And, no, I have no idea why it worked then when it hadn’t worked several times before. But neither of us smoked again. And Henry was a small babe in a carrycot at the time.

Dad’s thought today? A life spent trying and making some mistakes is much more valuable than a life spent doing nothing but complain about the mistakes of others.

Peace to you all - Dad