'Ow many men does it take to dig an 'ole?

I've fairly recently come back in to touch with a very old and dear friend whom I met in Russia when I was 15. He was from Sheffield, I lived in Leamington. We became really great pen friends for many many years, until finally somewhere in our 20s we sadly lost touch. The reason for telling you this is that my dear friend Steve went off to be a Civil Engineer. Being arty I had no idea what that entailed, so Steve explained to me that it involved a group of men taking a digger somewhere and digging a big hole. When I asked him what he specifically did, he explained that it was his job to stand around and look into the big hole.

So here it is again. Many men watching a man with a digger, pulling up and replacing the riverbank and a man with a dumper truck trundling over to a growing heap and dumping it out.

I reckon the wall they're replacing must be a 100/200 years old.. There were actually 4 brick layers going back into the earth. I soooo wanted to have a root around in the dug up bricks and earth, to see what rubbish (treasure) there might be to find.

As luck would have it, Steve found me a year ago (and this is where having an unusual name works....) He walked past my chocolate stand at South Bank in London, with my name emblazoned all over it, and the connection was remade.

Oh and if you read this, dear Nellie, I still wear the bear skin fur hat you gave me :-) Not terribly PC, but awfully warm!

Anyway, have rabbited on for far too long.

Lots of love to you all, nighty night, Fi x