Don't meet strange men in the car parks of derelict pubs...

... is, oddly, something I don't think my Mother ever said to me.  Which is why I found myself in just such a place yesterday moving - well, let's just call them 'items' for now - from the boot of one car into the boot of another.

She needn't have worried:  it turned out I was there to meet a lovely young chap called Richard to buy two typewriters, and all went well.

Both machines are incredibly nice, and there's an example of the typeface of the Smith Corona 'Super' alongside.  That one has turned out to be my favourite, although it was the Hermes that I was most interested in initially - it is in a very unusual British Racing Green.  It has all the precision engineering that you would expect from a Swiss-made object.

There'll be photos of them both on here over the next few days - just as soon as I get the mountain of paperwork sorted on my desk... I want to make a good impression with the photos, after all.

Richard clearly knew his stuff, and had taken great care over the typewriters to clean and service them - both work like a dream.  He was also very pleasant to chat to - it turns out we follow a lot of the same blogs and YouTube channels.  We had an enjoyable conversation, which I wish had been longer and involved a cup of tea, but you can't have everything.

In fact, it was that conversation yesterday which has prompted me to breathe some life into this blog, and to commit to posting much more frequently than once in five years!

I'm not saying every encounter with a stranger in a dodgy car park on the edge of city you're unfamiliar with will come to good, but this one certainly did.