Although Percy was a self-proclaimed gardner (man and boy) he also had an accidental affinity with anything mechanical. As soon as two bits of metal appeared in close proximity he would produce an oily rag, smear grease on his forehead and begin to whistle tunelessly in the time honoured traditions of mechanics everywhere. He was also adept at sucking air through his teeth and pushing his cap back on his head when asked how long the job would take.
A friend asked why there were those irritating
knobbles on the tiles at the edge of swimming
pools and complained that they left indents on
her bum when she sat on the edge. "Why are
they there?" she wailed. "So that a blind man
can tell where you've been" I replied. A lot of
my friends drift away, I blame swimming
pools.
