sorting out my tacks

I’m feeling a lot better today, thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

Anniemay’s out on her bike being all virtuous and new year resolute.  I feel I too must do something useful and as it’s now January there’s a job that I really must complete by the end of the month - sort out my tacks.  It’s something I have to do every year.

I’ve been meaning to do it for ages. I’ve already sorted out my nails and screws.  And I don’t really mind the tacks.  It’s the sorting out that I always seem to put off at the slightest excuse.  I’m not alone in this because I understand that some people pay other people to sort out their tacks for them.  Sometimes they even make their tacks disappear altogether.  

Throughout history there are plenty of examples of people getting cross with their Kings (or other types of ruler) over issues to do with tacks.  In England the row over Ship Tacks resulted in the English Civil War, while in America in the 1760s people started saying “No tacks without representation’” when the British Government tried to force the early American Colonists to attach public notices to trees using their own nails.  This led to the American War of Independence.

So, you have to be careful when dealing with tacks.  These little sharp pointy things can sure cause a lot of trouble.  But a lot of things would fall down if we didn’t have them.