Wednesday Afternoon

It's Wednesday afternoon, one of my days off, and I'm having a very lazy day today. I don't really feel inclined to do much at all. Work was very intense yesterday and I just need a day to come down from it and think about other things before I'm back there tomorrow.

It's been a lovely day weather wise, cool but lots of sunshine. As a consequence, I had a lovely walk with the dog this morning and with no time pressures.

LB has gone into college this afternoon for a couple of hours and OH is busy working in his basement office.

I've just got back from Waitrose. I had some £8 off a £40 spend vouchers, which I thought ran out at the end of the month, but then realised that they run out at the end of this week, so I'm making a few trips to the store to use them this week.  Today's was the first trip and the voucher was used for some Single Malt Whiskey for OH for Christmas, plus some chocolates for a couple of other people for Christmas. It was worth the 12 mile round trip.

On Friday, I might return and get either another bottle of whiskey for someone else, or a bottle of pink Gin for LB.  She's almost 18 (in January), so I think she's responsible enough to handle it, at least I hope so. I could keep it until she turns 18, not sure if I will.

As I'm typing this, I'm hard boiling some eggs, as I overbought them on my last shop and don't want them to go to waste. I'll happily eat them with a bit of salt or in salads/sandwiches for the rest of the week. 

Today's mail has just dropped through the letter box, so I'm going to see what's arrived.

- A double points voucher for my next two shops at Tesco

- A birthday card from my sister in Australia (it's my birthday this weekend)

- A parcel for me from eBay - very exciting - a lovely set of vintage brass nut crackers for the forthcoming festive season.  Love them. Just need some nuts now.

I'm feeling a bit pensive and reflective today. It feels strange now that the virus is picking up again, although not so much here in the south, but I'm sure it will come to us sooner or later.

I don't think I'll personally be locked down from work again, as I think that the charity I work for and the Government will want us to continue either working from the shop selling online or keeping the shop open throughout, but we'll just have to see what happens. We're now gearing up for Christmas, with all that entails. I don't really want to think too much about work and Christmas at the moment, as it's not a good thought combination.

On a lighter note, the other day, I saw a Facebook post from one of my swing dance teachers to the effect that she's started solo classes going again. I was so excited that I instantly booked myself on one on Sunday. I'm very sure that all social distance measures will be in place and the studio venue has sliding doors to the outside, so can be well ventilated.  Possibly the reason why she's the only teacher who's started up again thus far. I'm looking forward to it. It's my birthday present to myself. In some way, it's a tiny bit of normality returning, although it may not be for long, so I'm grabbing it with both hands while I can.

We watched a good film on Netflix the other night. It was called Rocks and was set in Hackney where we live. In fact, LB auditioned for a part in it when she was at secondary school, but wasn't successful. Her school friend got the main role and was brilliant in it. A sad story, but also had positives too. Made me realise how lucky we are and how you never know how much people might be struggling in their lives, beneath the surface.

 

We had a donation of some huge, and I mean huge, teddy bears to the shop this week.  Two of them - bigger than OH who is over 6ft tall, standing and very cuddly. I love them. They make me smile and just want to cuddle them.  I don't because of Covid, but I do talk to them and I welcomed them to the shop.

Customers keep wanting to have their photos taken with them, so they are quite the talking point. They're very special. I'll be sad when someone actually buys them, which is a rare thing for me to say about anything in the shop. I'll try to take a photo when I'm next in. Someone will need a big house or flat to accomodate them, but imagine finding one in your Christmas stocking!!

I'm thinking of getting LB to cut my hair for me. She's been cutting her own recently. I normally pay £30+ to have a wet cut at the hairdressers, but I think that LB could do a reasonable job and I don't actually wear it down much, so if it did look a bit uneven, no one would really be able to see it. Besides, I can always use the excuse of lockdown if the hairdresser mentions it when I next decide to go back. It's a no-brainer really, as I hate going to the hairdressers. I'll let you know what happens.

Anyway, I guess I'd better go and do some ironing, so that I have clothes to wear for work.

I hope you're having a lovely Wednesday afternoon.