How did this happen? One moment I was ahead of the game, the next practically timed out. Today was the day for food shopping and delivering the last minute by hand cards. Whilst Keith tackled Sainsbury’s, Mum and I took Lyra for a very quick spin around the loch. I then dropped mum off at the new house where she was exhorted (in terms I freely confess were not dulcet) to make at least a token effort at reducing the overflow with a donation to the charity shop along the road. I tanked back up the road to deliver the by hand presents and cards sorted out yesterday. At least one was consigned to a greenhouse, having likely missed its recipient who may have decided to escape for the festive period….
I met Keith in the Kitchen as I gathered up some shopping bags so I could head off to get fruit and veg, picking up mum en route. He lugubriously declared that Sainsbury’s was devoid of cream cheese and also Kelso a war zone, suggesting that I just give up and instead get up early tomorrow. However, mum had to be collected and I decided to try my luck. Unfortunately, on arriving at the des res, whilst looking around for mum the sight of all the packing boxes and yet more sacks of towels (they have been spawning) sent me into a rage and I blustered around aggressively humphing bags up and down the stairs in a vain attempt to clear space for the painter when he comes back and being, frankly, thoroughly objectionable. It just feels like progress is infinitesimal and the frustration is very much not bringing out the Mother Theresa in me (or maybe it is- I’ve heard mixed reports…). Anyway, a shaky truce was finally declared after a small bedspread in the wrong colour was donated to BAVS and we clambered into the car and hustled off to Kelso in a tense silence.
Thank god for small mercies. The queues had abated, parking spaces were copiously available and Julian’s had plentiful stocks of what was needed. Having picked up the needful, and a selection of unusual fruit items on the basis that they may prove useful, that just left cream cheese and flowers. There seemed little for it but to try our luck in Lidl on the way back. At 4pm on the 23rd I could only assume it would be carnage. However, our luck held. Having squeezed into one of the illicit loading bay slots (with everyone else) we found there was a rather excellent choice of lilies and chrysanthemums so we filled up the basket, played trolley dash in the cheese isle and sprinted for the check out. Tiny queues – even for the human tills – banzai!. I tucked in behind a pleasant lady with barely 10 items and we were out the door in under five minutes. At last things were picking up.
Back at home disaster had struck. Keith’s pork pies had somehow collapsed in the oven. He was bearing up fairly well in the circumstances, but I was rather glad I’d not been there when they came out of the oven all squished. Whilst Keith took himself off for a consolation pint with Lachlan before dinner, I muckled together some table flowers. It was a massive rush job and they look much clumsier than usual (not helped as I was out of oasis). The only clever bit was my cunning plan to raise up the big red candles inside the water jars – can you work out what I’ve done? Anyway, by the time I’d got them in vases etc it was much too dark to look for fronds fillers in the garden, so I’ll head out tomorrow to see what I can find.
Everyone is now thoroughly scratchy and gloomy so I have consoled myself with yet more chocolate and a bit of the last sleeve on the Easter jumper.
Tomorrow is another day
Today’s question: I recently read a rather excellent book called Skippy Dies. The main character’s nickname related to which TV character of yore?
Answers for the last two days:
21: its house is on fire and its children all gone according to the nursery rhyme
22: They are the same person – Charles Henry Gordon Lennox. Bloody hoarder – à la lantèrne
