The right tool for the job. This rake is lacking one important attribute: the actual rake snapped off the end a long time ago. However the handle is very useful indeed.

 By this point in the year a tangle of vines has deposited a thick layer of leaves on the roof of the porch; Grape and Chocolate Vines and Virginia Creeper merge as one. The roof of the porch is corrugated plastic and rather brittle. The pole is perfect for poking through the stems. The rubber grip is ideal as a claw to drag leaves down each channel without damaging the plastic.

 Back in the day I used to drink in the Coopers Arms in Hitchin, Herts. Before it was "modernised" in the eighties it was still a proper pub. One side of the horseshoe bar was carpeted being the saloon. The other side was floorboards being the public bar. The beer was a few pence cheaper if you bought it in the public (though they weren't too bothered where you sat and drank it).

 The Coopers had many joys; a roaring fire and a fairly rum crowd of drinkers to name but two. Also it had numerous archaic farming implements displayed around the walls. I believe they found them when they cleared out an old shed at the back. All were hand made of course and fashioned for tasks so specific it was hard to guess what exactly without having been a farm labourer circa 1900.

 I like to think I am following in that tradition. Perhaps I should patent "The Rakeless Rake" and make my fortune.