"Cor Blimey Mate! Luv A Duck!"

It's a funny old world, but a happy one at the moment. It started on Sunday at the match. Being happy I mean. My extremely handsome son George scored a great goal to start with, and his team went on to win the match 8 nil. That made me happy!

Monday morning a letter arrived with a nice fat cheque inside. It was from the bank. They were paying me back all the premiums I had paid for an insurance they had no right to sell me in the first place. That made me happy!

Great! I thought to myself. This will clear my overdraft, and not only that but at last I'll be able to put a proper roof on the tractor shed. That thought made me happy!

On my way into town, I stopped at my friend Chris's house. He is a builder and there is usually a few bits and pieces of timber and boards left over from jobs, which I can always find a use for. Either making something or for painting on.

We were looking around his yard, and I had found some old scaffold boards. I love to paint pictures on rough old timber. It makes for some interesting effects.

We had loaded the boards into my car, when I mentioned that I had begun to make walking sticks. Chris was interested in this because he had just had a blackthorn blown over by the recent gales. He asked if I could maybe make him a stick from it.

It was on the way to look at the fallen tree that I noticed the corrugated steel roofing sheets leaning against a wall. My eyes lit up!

"Blimey mate!" I exclaimed, "would you believe it. I'm just on my way to buy some of that!"

He told me that he had bought the roofing sheets because he was going to make a turkey shed, but now he had changed his mind.

This was interesting news to me. I asked him if he would sell some to me and how much he would want for them.

"They're not cheap John," he said. "I need to ask twelve quid a sheet. How many do you want?"

At this I offered him ten quid a sheet, and said I needed sixteen sheets. He agreed to this and the deal was done. I have to say I was happy about that!

We went off to the kitchen for a cup of tea, made by his lovely wife.

While we were drinking our tea and his wife was out of earshot, Chris suddenly said to me, "Can you paint me a duck?"

"Well yes," I answered. "It's been a while since I painted a duck, but I think I could do it."

"It's for the wife, he explained, "she wants a duck painting to go with some duck ornaments. If you paint us a duck you can have the roofing sheets in exchange."

I enjoy bartering. I was happy about that!

"What kind of duck were you thinking of?" I asked him.

"Any kind of duck you like," said Chris, "but it has to be painted in the naive style."

"I'll get right onto it," I said, and off I went to begin working on it immediately.

I found a piece of plyboard, primed it with quick drying primer, painted a naive duck on it with enamel paints, framed it, and within two hours, Chris and his wife were the happy owners of a still wet painting, of a naive duck. How's that for service?

Me? Well I was the equally happy owner of sixteen sheets of high quality corrugated cast iron roof sheets!

As I say, it's a funny old world, but a happy one!

The next day, his wife asked me to make the ducks head green. Which I did. No problem! She was happy about that!

Oh yes! I gave Chris one of my walking sticks too. He was happy about that!

I hope you are happy today too!