IS THERE anything more – I shall, with some serious difficulty, refrain from swearing – aggravating, than a dry, hacking cough?

Well, if anyone should know, it must be me, as all this week, both night and day, I have been suffering from just that.

And it’s not only been annoying me, but also anyone else who has been in hearing distance.

Medicine, cough sweets, you name it I’ve tried it; and I’ve even had a go at my mum’s old remedy a blob of butter dipped in sugar, all to no avail as the cough refused to be budged.

But the good news this morning is that I haven’t coughed once.

Listen to me – as if anyone other than me is interested; sorry about that, I was getting a little over self-absorbed.

I have quite a biggish garden and at one end, near the road, are some massive leylandii with a couple of apple trees at the other.

This morning I have been watching my squirrel come down from the leylandii, run right across to the other side to pinch an apple, then carry it all the way back in its mouth to sit an eat in comfort and safety.

I talk as though there is only one squirrel, but in reality there may be many; if so, they are a rather unsociable lot and never, ever, come down from the trees en masse.

I often think about the time when I lived in a flat up Bolton Road, the kitchen view was the communal back yard, housing four different washing lines, and shared toilets.

I was lucky that I shared with the bookies next door and fortunately they went home at four.

I often wonder how experiences, and things that we’ve had to do in the past, go towards making us the person we now are?

Do they make us harder, or more compassionate?

I’d like to think that we learn from the things that happen to us and that we all emerge from our experiences a better person. Now, how’s that for being sanctimonious?

Fish and chips from the local chip shop are great; tasty but not quite cordon bleu, yet when we were kids they were the ultimate treat once a month on Friday, which was dad’s pay day, when we were even allowed to eat them out of the paper.

Nothing since has ever tasted as good.