Up until 2006, we lived in a three bed semi-detached house with a garden front and rear. At the back we adjoined allotments (land divided into small plots which people rent from the council in which they grow vegetables). As the house was on a hill, where the allotments ended the ground fell down sharply and all we could see were the roofs of houses and then away into the distance a beautiful view of the countryside. It is still quite a spectacular view and has changed little in all these years. I loved it in the winter when mist came up from the fields and made silhouettes of the trees. Quite beautiful.

Wattpad writer NehpetsEnal with his wife and family lived next door to us for a few years before they moved away.

When our daughter was six years old, we decided to build a new conservatory on the back of the house, as the old one was very rickety. At the end of the garden we had a gnome. Not a red/blue gnome with a hat, I'm not keen on those garrish ones, but a little man, nevertheless. He is mostly dark brown, varnished, has bushy hair around a bald head with a beard and wears a dark green jacket with a belt. His arms are akimbo and his thumbs are resting in the belt. He is smiling, I don't suppose he would have appealed to me if he wasn't. I like cheerful things.

The builders who built the conservatory were lovely. They were a man called Dennis and his son-in law whose name I forget. They came to work each day so clean and immaculate, the son-in-law especially looked like a movie star! When Dennis saw the 'gnome-like' man at the bottom of the garden, he said to his son-in-law "Cor, doesn't he look like Reg?" I laughed so hard at this and that is how Reg got his name!

We lived in our house for 26 years, I loved it so much and was very happy. As time went on we decided to down size. My husband has walking difficulties and I have arthritis and the garden and the house felt far too much for me all of a sudden. My son had already left home, so when my second child (my daughter) left home we bought a flat, which meant we were now mortgage free.   I didn't take any garden ornaments with me as I didn't have a garden in my flat.  I left them behind and gave a couple to my daughter.

 My son bought our house and moved in with his partner. Their first baby was brought home to the house, this being my very first grandchild. Unfortunately, in 2017 my son had to sell his house to give half of the proceeds to his ex-partner. It was a very, very stressful time for all of us. It broke my son's heart, but things worked out in the end, as they often do.

As I still live close to the house, I was sent to retrieve some post (mail) from the old house by my son. I met the new owners, a young family with two small children. (I met the young mother, but didn't meet the husband who was probably out at work). We talked about the house and I told her I had lived here some time ago. She said they love the house so much and are very pleased with it. I was so happy. She showed me around the side of the house and what they had done in the garden. There, by the back door, was Reg! I said "Oh, that's Reg...where did you find him?" I thought he had long gone and had been tossed away. She said they'd found him in the garden shed. She told me to take him, he belonged to me and my family. "No, he's yours now" I said and I tried to persuade her otherwise, but she insisted, so I came away with Reg tucked under my arm! I can't tell you how happy this made me, it felt like I'd won a million pounds. Which goes to show you what a very simple soul I am. Lol and Ha, ha!

So Reg has come home, he is now standing arms akimbo, looking like he needs a good coat of paint back in the garden of my ground floor flat. Well, after all, he is getting old like the rest of us and has had to contend with at least 35 years of UK winters!

Reg has come home!

October 2019