A Reason To Be Pleased.

I mentioned recently that I’d bought the timber to make a new bird table. Previous examples of my art and ingenuity were made with pieces of old timber I found lying about the place when I moved here (I did say I was poor, didn’t I?) I wanted this one to be strong enough to stand the test of time and the weight of two or three cock pheasants, and that’s why I decided to spend the money and do the job properly.

But the timber wasn’t the only thing I spent money on. I also bought a good quality, fine cut wood saw to replace the old one I found hanging in the shed (also when I moved here, and also because I was too poor to buy a new one. Did I mention that I was poor? Oh.)

Today I did the first half of the job – measuring, cutting and marking the materials for size and positioning. Unfortunately, the cold, strong wind kept making my eyes water so I couldn’t see properly. And the pencil and note pad kept trying to escape in the direction of the boundary hedge, which is why I only did half the job. Removing the old one and fitting the new can wait for a warmer, calmer day.

The real – and very pleasing – revelation, however, was the new saw. Cutting across a piece of timber which used to take five minutes with the old one only took about thirty seconds today. When I’d finished, my heart and lungs said ‘thank you’ and my right arm said ‘let me know when you’re about to start.’

And so a good time was had by all, and then I celebrated with a mug of tea and a custard cream biscuit. Celebrations are rare these days, and even simple ones are welcome.