A Surefire Way to Meet Your Neighbours !

While At The Same Time Making a Good Impression...

Put on your old clothes, take an upturned Beer crate and sit in front of your garden wall, on the outside of your house. Take a chisel and a hammer with you and use it ( correctly ). When you start to do the work, mysteriously, someone will drive by or walk past. It is the greatest conversation opener.

Most people love to chat while watching someone else do the work ( in fact, I could grow quiet fond of that, Bob ). Suggestions of improved methods will come by the dozens and you have to diplomatically nod to all of them. Before you know it, you are part of the community. Of course, you have to make sure not to talk too much, as you don't want to get a reputation for being lazy ! Hey, these things happen.

Gosh, the work around our house just never ends. In a way it is therapeutic and also gives us a bit of a work-out. But there are moments, when I feel like writing to all those Home Make-Over programs. They ( in a typical Hollywood manner ) put fairy dust into my eyes and made me believe the fable of " It is so easy ( and fun ) to repair & fix up an old house "....

Tomorrow we are plastering parts of our garden wall, especially those facing the road.
My Mum has been pointing out that it is a bit of an eyesore for the neighbours. Possibly also for her ? The paint has started to part company with the wall and been hanging precariously off it. That is why Bob and I have been sitting in front of the wall, chiseling and peeling away the errant paint strips. It sounds rather simple, yet it packs a punch, especially when you miss the chisel and hit your hand instead. At least we got to interact with the neighbours and definitely gave them a good show !

Biggi

As I mostly take the pictures, there is never any proof of me working !