'And the rain it raineth everyday........'

Thus Feste's song from Twelfth Night was never truer: It has been hissing down for the last fortnight, so no progress on the painting.

Things have been worse upstream in Cambridge itself, with SSA's, flood-poles, and all sorts of unpleasant rain-related malarkey.

I have not been idle, however.....

I spent much of the early part of last week doing some serious gardening at my friends Erica and Jeremy's cottage near Diss: much heavy groundwork, sieving of stones and moving of topsoil. The garden of the cottage I interior-decorated for them will be lovely as a result.

Now, where did I put the Dr Sloane's Liniment?........

Also, I tried to give platelets at the Donor Centre.....

This was rather shaming.

Here I am, 6'0" in my stockinged feet and built like a pre-war out-house.

Well, I first developed a bad bruise,(dodgy valves in my veins, not the NHS' fault at all!), then, when un-hooked from the machine, promptly went into a total flat spin requiring fans, cold compresses and lots of attention to bring me round.

Meanwhile, a pretty twenty-something girl, whose body-mass index suggested she might perhaps need to get herself outside a couple of my Mum's Sunday dinners, breezed through the whole process without turning so much as a hair, never mind green.....

The nurses very kindly said that perhaps platelet donation was not for me......so I've arranged to give whole blood again as soon as I can.

But don't, please let me put you off. Platelets are desperately needed: they are transfused into patients who are immuno-compromised through chemo or radiotherapy, or whose bone marrow has shut down through illnesses like leukemia etc.

If you are a whole blood donor, please give it a try.

If you can give whole blood and and aren't, please don't be afraid, pop in to your local donor centre and have a go. I am The Worlds' Second Biggest Wuss when it comes to needles, and even I can do it ( the identity of The Worlds' Biggest Wuss is a closely guarded secret....), so please, do have a try. Those ads about it saving someone's life are not a joke.

Anyone getting the impression that I don't like failing????

Please help.

Love,

John