MY garden, which is the biggest on our row though it can only be described as a pocket handkerchief, is getting too much for me to maintain.

So, in a flash of inspiration, came the idea to have a make-over. Simple - ring a landscape gardener, a few hundred pounds out of the bank - problem solved.

Not so. After ringing several they all said they would come and look at the job, give me an estimate and take it from there.

The appointed time came and went. They did not, nor did they bother to ring to say they were not coming, or that the job was too small for them to be bothered with. I know it's a small job. They cannot get their machines in to do the work. It would have to be done with a spade.

We cannot all have grand, spacious gardens and houses, but we are just as proud of our well-earned little bit of England.

This practice of not doing small jobs does not only apply to gardens but to painting the outside, plastering, a bit of pointing, putting up or changing the bulb in a security light, fixing a yard door - the list is endless.

Is it any wonder that cowboy builders and con men prey on the elderly? They are so grateful for the small jobs to be done that advantage is taken of them in so many ways.

As for my problem, I'll have to do it myself. But what will happen when the time comes when I cannot?

M E HANSON (Mrs), Marlton Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.