Christmas Card Shopping

I was hobbling away from the card shops when I saw the sun was going down.  Normally this is hidden from my sight by trees and unless I venture outdoors I miss it.  Quite nice tonight, the storms tomorrow may offer something different.

I had been in three card shops today for Christmas cards.  Now, I have dozens of cards, I bought them online from an Etsy shop, WordPlay Design.   I like these cards but naturally none of them fit the family!  

I got the Christmas list out, ensured it was correct, then looked through all the cards, including last years leftovers and rejects, and attempted to fit them to people.  This was OK concerning non family folks, and they can be sorted tomorrow - or later, but not one fitted the family and their twisted sense off humour.  Thus I trekked out unwillingly this afternoon to visit the cheap but good card shop.  

Here luck was in for some, I obtained a few cards but nowhere near enough.  Also I needed three kids cards for one lot and another for the boy.  The problem is, one mum has two wee girls, so cards etc are required for both.  Then, on Boxing Day, one of them becomes a 2 year old, thus requiring another card and gift.  The mum of the boy will soon tell me what I am buying him, thus making life easier, until I see the cost.  Naturally, I forgot to buy a card suitable for him and will have to go out again in the next few days.  The latest storm is apparently falling on us tomorrow so it may be Monday before I get out.

Anyway, I tried three different shops and failed to find what I wish for.  Thus I may have to go back to Etsy for a rummage through their cards again.  The problem here is finding cards that are funny yet not filthy as too many are at the moment.  Wit has been replaced by four letter words in what are often funny cards, but not suitable for my audience.  Typical!

So I end the day with one card complete, a long list to go!

Shop!

I got out again today!  I had been given a lift into the kirk yesterday, a great help, and this morning I wandered around Sainsburys before visiting the excellent Beaumont's butchers shop in Bank Street.   I needed to fill the freezer with sausages and this shop actually puts meat as well as herbs and honey into them.  In short they actually feed you!  Expensive, but well worth it in the end.  A friendly couple run it, most other shoppers were friendly also, and stocked up for a week or two with most things means I now have to check what money is left.  oops, that's not good...

Sad to say I have spent far too much time on Twitter 'liking' and 'retweeting' posts regarding England's welcome humiliation in Berlin.  The reaction of the English fans has encouraged an outpouring of joy in Scotland, Wales and the whole of Ireland, not counting Belfast obviously.  

Great relief in knowing we will hot have another 60 years of 'We won this,' from the English media, always ignoring the 'The ball did not cross the line,' response.  Cheating is OK it appears if you are English.

The Welsh in particular enjoyed the honorary president of the English Football Association, 'the 'Prince of Wales,' as he and his son suffered the defeat with due care and attention.  You may grin here...

Having continued this morning to Tweet voraciously for an hour or so I then began to attend to other chores.  First the shopping, then chatting to the landlords man, then back to checking the 'We always loved Spain,' tweets. 

I noticed only one lass on duty in Sainsburys, and not the usual one.  Staff appeared missing.  They say many have not arrived home or attended work, though traffic is moving around.  Indeed there were no obvious sirens to be heard last night, it appears even 'Weatherspoon's' folk did not destroy the town.  I saw no evidence of that this morning.  

Isn't it funny how a game can have an affect on us all?

In ancient Rome it was chariot races that got people going, in particular the sides of 'Blue' or 'Green.'  These could lead to mass rioting in cities and much destruction.  Was it in Milan that one governor locked rioters in a stadium and set the army to slaughter 5000 of them with the sword?  I think Bishop Ambrose was irked by this if memory is correct.

We need a side to belong to, and this can build us up and support us.  It can also divide, as Trump and Nigel prove to our cost.  It is very easy to say 'They are your problem.'  Many will believe.  The tribal support can be good of course.  A small or large town which ahs a team playing in a cup final will find almost the entire town is up for the cup!  Grannies and disinterested will take note and support.  The whole town then suffers despair or joy at the result.  Each one sharing the emotional response of all others.  This is good.  On occasion it can be bad, riots occur in many nations at football results, and often domestic abuse results in the home.  Of course what the media ignores is the fact that a third of such abuse comes from females on men, but that does not sell papers nor fit the story feminists wish to force upon us. 

It is of course better wars are decided by playing football rather than bombing one another, but this is not always possible.  Wars have indeed been begun by football but maybe this is a better way to deal with oppressors?  

Anyway, now I have many friends on Twitter, many Welsh, Irish and Scots friends I never knew before.  Football does indeed bring us together.

Having seen an opportunity  a chance to escape his busy work in Clacton Nigel has rushed to the USA to succour his friend Trump.  Obviously he is not seeking instructions as to what to do next in destroying democracy, this is a mere chance to meet a friend, and find out what is in this for him.  The people of Clacton will not be surprised surely?  They did not vote for an MP, they voted for a charlatan because they liked the ide he proposed.  Surely they did not expect this to work?  Surely they did not expect him to work, he has never done this before?  No, they just followed an ideology with no foundation because it spoke to them.  There is no reason to believe they expected Nigel to actually work for them.

Old Groceries

I came across this picture of the groceries we knew way back in the 50s and early 6os.  Many have developed, others have disappeared altogether, or changed name to suit the customers.  I recall the soap powder, always powder then, 'OMO' in the shop round the corner and under the sink at home. What happened to that I know not, but I think it still goes by that name in the EU.  'Scott's Porridge Oats' still exists but has now been packed in plastic, while 'Force' wheat flakes I never knew until I lived in London where I took to them for a while in the 70s.  'Tizer' was a common drink then, it might still be in some areas, 'Lucozade' of course abounds though without that orange paper kids used to like around it.  

Notice how few exotic dishes appear?  This was the days when we 'never had it so good,' which followed on from the days when we 'never had it at all.'  So fancy stuff had not arrived, though the expensive shops used by the 'higher classes,' like Bank Mangers, Toffs and Spivs were doing OK.  Notice also that 'Own Brand' has not yet arrived in the supermarkets.  The supermarkets themselves only arrived in 1950 if I remember correctly, when Mr Sainsbury opened one somewhere in London.  We had a At Cuthbert's Co-op supermarket round the corner, built about 1952, which lasted 20 years.  I still remember the Dividend number, 47280, which was offered whenever we bought from there.

Today folks complain that supermarkets limit us to what they offer, this is true, and they whine that small shops have closed because of the Tesco's that arrived, which is also true, but they are they ones who stopped using the shops to go to the supermarkets because they were better!

We have so much more and still complain.  We have so much more yet more people are struggling to pay bills, and not all of these are wasting cash and failing to budget.  Still, the millionaires in the cabinet are doing OK, and they will not remember items we see in this picture, nor will any of them remember struggling with bills...

Albert Goodwin - Westminster

  

Shopping Over...

Trumpton

 

At last the shopping is done, the guilt about those missed begins to hit home, and I am left looking forward to the bottle of 'Jura' sitting awaiting opening on Christmas Day.  Tesco was so packed this morning, even at 8:30, and I am glad I was not one of those who came later.  

Now I look forward to what they call 'Messy Church' tomorrow, a thing aimed at kids, so I have no idea what is going on.  I wish I could miss it but was persuaded by one of the young women with learning difficulties to go.  If I don't she may remember!  

That sums up Saturday when avoiding crowds and remembering things I forgot to buy.  

Wet, Boring Christmas almost Eve

After last night I spent a short time cleaning up, returning things to a normal state of chaos and dust.

I woke at 6am again, dozed until 7 am, then while considering rising to shop early, I noticed it was almost 8am!  Heavy with sleep I rose and prepared for an early trip to Tesco.  How does that happen?  If I am awake at 6, why am I not awake at 8?

I dressed for the heavy rain coming straight down.  I made my way to Tesco, changing my mind and stopping off at Sainsburys as it was closer.  Here, just after 8 am, the place was full of people avoiding the crowds, thus crowding Sainsburys and getting in my way, one who went early to avoid the crowds.

My basket heavy with overpriced goods I joined the happy throng at the checkout, too much there for me to fight the self-service.  The cheery lass enjoyed the fact that I was wet through and she would go home the minute the rain stopped at lunchtime.   I wished her a happy Christmas!

Back home I put away the drookit shopping and fought the desire to throw Brandy down my throat.  My head was still asleep and the rest of me wished to join it.  However, there were things to do, drying washing to find, who put that there?  And then rest my bones in front of the laptop while the router once again switched itself off for no reason and limited the speeds for me.  I checked the responses on my emails, the Irish song went down well, though one lass in Costa thought she had heard it before.  With no post again, another days strike, no post till next week sometime, I waited for the bell announcing another delivery from one of the other 'white van men,' but it did not arrive.   

Only an after lunch sleep did my mood change, and then nothing happened.  Isn't it always the way?

Things I was going to do never came to mind, until it was too late to bother.  I intended to walk out again but thought better off it, the traffic has not lessened since this morning meaning the shops, town centre and everywhere is packed with people offering 'Goodwill to all men' if they get out of the way!

Christmas increases feelings of 'love' I find.

Good news!  The PM has appeared, mumbled about being carful about using railways, and not budging on strikes, that is the ones he has heard about.  He gave the impression he neither cared or indeed had  noticed any problem.  He may have been spending too much time checking the 'Financial Times' to see how his wife was doing.

Tis the Season?

 

Several of my attractive young neices and great neices went to an event in Edinburgh today concerning Christmas.  Naturally, I offered this foto in response.  

Christmas events ought not to be in November I say! 

That said, I checked my shopping and found I was well on the way to completing my Christmas buying, bar the online stuff.  That obviously, is different!  To avoid price increases I shopped when I could, purchasing during the 'sales' and ensuring I began shopping at the 'Special Offer' section.  My lot would not care if things were second hand either, this Xmas that is just as well...

In some countries things are different.  In the Phillipines Christmas begins on the 1st of September!  On the other hand in Denmark I understand no Christmas adverts are allowed unitl 1st of December!  How lovely that is!  

I suggest each year to shopkeepers that putting 'No Christmas Music' signs on the windows would increase footfall.  I am not sure they believe me.  Having worked in a 'Cash & Carry' many years ago where such music was on offer, both staff and regular customers were not impressed!  A wide variety of quiet music, interspersed with appropriate tunes (of my choosing) would, in my humble opinion, be more appropriate.  No doubt some would still manage to grumble...

 

Shops and Service

As the kettle was making far too much noise these days I decided it was heading for the door.  So, in spite my  body's great reluctance, I wandered slowly around the corner to Tesco once again.

As you know this means grabbing a basket, quicker than fighting people with trolleys, selecting goods, and heading for the checkout where we pay, exchange a few words, and move on.  Simple, usually satisfying, in spite of price rises, rude customers who are mostly older men, and children who are either to be enjoyed or eaten, depending on their behaviour.

The other day a facebook picture was presented of a shop during wartime.  A customer or two, with children, were being served by the women behind the counter.  In the background a man selected items from a shelf above.

"How wonderful!" a woman exclaimed. "Such service, you don't get that today."

This got me going on the absurdity of such women.  Clearly she has been brought up in a supermarket world.  This lass has never had to trudge from the butcher to the baker, the grocer, that shop down the lane, across the bridge to the clothes shop, and if she is lucky, spent much time trying on hats in a department store.  All the time lugging the bags with you, none of them plastic, and dragging bored and uninterested kids also.  All this is the heat of summer, the rain and cold of winter.  Add to the joy of such 'service' there is the long queue at each shop, in wartime the ration coupon also had to be administered, and then the chatting women gossiping all day long and saying nothing but holding everybody up while the man behind the counter flirted with them to increase his take home pay.  In short, the 'service,' some loved held everyone up, and when supermarkets arrived women rushed to them as all their needs were met in one fell swoop.  Who caused the end of such shops?  The women fed up of trudging between shops, hindered by queues, and wet through from rain, now made it home quicker and happier than before.

Shops still have service, the Tesco girls are very good, and the smaller shops which remain can offer service, or not depending on which miserable employee is on duty.   Those who long for days gone by probably never lived through them.  I remember as a kid being taken round the corner to what must have been one of Edinburgh's first supermarkets, a small one run by the St Cuthbert's Co-op.  We moved there inn 1953, and the first was a Sainsburys one in London in 1950 so this was a quick spread of the idea.  I also stood bored while mum was rabbiting with women about nothing in the street, my mum would talk to anyone, or in shops, whatever they were.  As for waiting while she tried on hats!  This was avoided by standing with dad on the pavements edge in Princes Street while she wasted time in C&A's or whoever.  A long line of men were to be seen at the pavements edge, smoking and waiting while the woman was indoors doing her thing.

When a man goes shopping, as you know, it is a quick business deal, soon accomplished and home again...

Edward William Cooke - Sunset on the Lagoon of Venice

Saturday Delight

 

 

Saturday, a day of rest for many, of shopping for others.  

I managed to avoid the crowds by joining the crowds yesterday when the bread ran out.  This was a mistake.  Still, it would be worse today.  I fail to comprehend people who always shop on a Saturday when it is busy.  Surely they can find another time?  These big stores are open till 8 in the evening, five days a week, sometimes they open till nine or later!  How come everyone arrives at the same time on Saturday?  

 

However, proper football begins tonight, in the meantime we have the Blue bigots playing Livingstone. This was a poor game, especially as the blue bigots won.

This will have to do until later, whem we begin against the Green bigots.  8 pm on a Saturday night?  What a strange time to play football, some of the younger players may enter the field holding their phones and Lager bottles by mistake.

That church in the picture has been there for at least 800 years, possibly longer.  The pub, or a pub, has stood on that spot since at least the Saxons I reckon.  A building nearby has a beam that was dated to 1392 I think the man said. This is because this was the road from London to Norwich, and at Bury St Edmunds lay St Edmunds, so a popular pilgrimage route began, and money was taken...

 

BBC

 

So, at the ridiculous time of 8 pm we 'entertained' Celtic in the opening game of the new league season.  While it is true they are not at their best, neither are we, indeed that showed in the first half.  However, after taking the lead, we allowed them back in.  Tsk!  Still, improving in the 2nd half and after losing an undeserved equaliser we changed the shape and finished them off with a great John Soutar header a minute from time.  Add to that two saves in the Jim Cruickshank mould in the last minute of added time from captain Craig Gordon and the job was complete.  Heart of Midlothian win by two goals to one and it ought to have been more.  Even the ref was quite good for a change!

 

Town Shopping

Searching for a decent birthday card that hadto be posted today for a birthday tomorrow.  Today shops opened and I headed for 'Clinton's' wide choice of mediocre cards.  Lucky for me the place was empty, plenty of cards available, but as expected not a really suitable one was seen.  However, one rude enough for a woman denying she is 80 was found and posted later (only 2nd class stamps available, tsk!).

The shops in town were not as busy as feared.  Queues of scraggy men waited outside barbers (sorry 'Men's Hairdressers') and queues were also seen at banks.  Otherwise the shops were not overflowing.  Several charity shops were open, and as a quick look was required I was inside quickly, more cards bought and now I have a reasonable amount for the next birthday, I suspect however, none will fit the person that day!  It is always the way.

 

 

Some time back the town and county councils dug up the High Street, relaid the road with lots of nice red bricks, stopped all traffic yet allowed single and double deck buses to pass along hourly.  It took only a few years for the wheels to dig in and ravines to form on either side of a mountain in the middle. Puddles during rain, people falling when crossing the road, cyclists illegally running the wrong direction until they fall off, and much outcry as to why this was happening.

Now a million or so has been spent to repair this road.  

Last year a group of workers happily blocked everybody, dug up the road, repaired pavements, installed new 'stumble proof' areas, and by Xmas had been dumped by the council.  Too slow, not good enough or inept, I am not sure.  We await a new contracter arriving to finish the job, he will be here soon...

In the meantime the half finished work is hidden behind bright orangy red barriers, people shuffle by, masked and disciplined sort off for the most part, and we await developments, eventually.

 

The other week I was busy doing Spring cleaning.  This led to much hassle last week when my knees reacted, tiredness swept over me and I could do nothing all week.  Tsk!  Innit marvellous?  

Today was the first time out this weekend, round the town, shopping in reopened shops and that was feeling like a new experience, and noting a barber with no queue, I will look in tomorrow!

People were sitting outside coffee shops, with the temperature not that high.  Were the pubs open?  I did not notice, it was lunchtime but I never gave them a thought.  I did read that those sitting outside pubs had to wear masks.  This begs the question how do they drink?  

 

 

It's a Shopping Life

This online-shopping is a good thing innit?

What with the trouble last year with 'Hermes' and deliveries I am always a bit wary when ordering online.  However, all delivery companies have expanded greatly, even 'Hermes' has improved the system and enabled decent tracking of the goods, plus asking for report on the delivery.

Today I was informed my 'DPD' driver, name given, would deliver between 9:21 & 10:21.  So I sat back happy about this, as usually they arrive around lunchtime.  In fact he was a couple of minutes early and sped on his way, a cheerful hard working driver.  He must have been up before the postmen this morning!  Yesterday 'Hermes' arrived, a couple using their car rather than a van, a cheery local working class type.  Friendly, quick and within the time given.  A vast improvement for 'hermes.'   

 

 

With the vast amount of money received at Xmas I bought myself a (very) cheap, (very) used little camera to shove into my pocket.  Naturally bits are missing, scruff marks abound but the Battery charger works and so does the camera, in spite of marks on the lens!  The missing bit is the connection to the laptop which is required when downloading pictures.  I have ordered a (very) cheap cable from an online shop, but there is another problem.  The 'Canon' site offers downloads for these old cameras and I brought down the user manual easily enough, but when I try for anything else it demands the serial number.  Easy-peasy, they are always on the bottom.  However, when I looked it was not on the bottom!  OO er missus!  What is a going on here?  The condition of the camera indicates a bumbling user, Boris himself perhaps, and care has not been taken.  However the missing number could have been caused by 'wear and tear' or indeed scratched off for devious reasons.  The place I bought it from is a reasonable company however, not a back street job.     

I am now wondering if the cable will connect or if I will still require software to get a connection.  There is however, a possiblity that the Windows help have a solution, this may work. If not, the only solution will be to remove the SD Card and put it into the other camera, download, and return the cards to their respective homes each time I use the thing.  

Buying 'second-hand,' sorry, 'Used,' is a great way to shop if you are happy with older stuff rather than the latest gadget, however there are always pitfalls and bits missing.  

The camera looks like it will to do the job, even if not as good as the Lumix, ideal   for carrying in the pocket.  Mind you it is heavier than it looks.  Picture quality appears OK so far, one day I will get out and look around to see what it can do.

 

 

There is however, normal life ahead!  Next week charity shops will open again so I can go shopping without a debit card.  So many items appear to have shrunk hanging up in the cupboard, so items, like jackets, must be inspected.

A hundred and one smaller items have either gone missing or are now required and a perusal of these shops, all eight of them here, is a must!  I suppose I ought to wait a further week or so, the number of bags being donated, including a large black one of mine, will have to be sorted first.  The days of lockdown have given many time to sort out the cupboards.  I canny wait to see the bargains awaiting me.

 

Drizzly Spring Musings

 

The hazy bright morning sun promised Spring warmth, as I write the drizzle is busy trying to rear Daffoldills which cower under the bare branches of the trees.  Tsk!  At least the gas is not on, the heaters are off and I no longer need to wear my coat indoors. 

As Spring deepens, it is claimed fewer people will be rushed into hospital with Covid, therefore Westminster will rush children back to school, pubs opened, shops, barbers and sundry businesses urged to return and by the end off July we shall see the hospitals full once again!  Of course it may be true that the vaccinations are having an effect, but there again it may just be those 'unnamed' people pushing in the press and on social media for a return that are behind this 'confidence.'

Nothing however, will take the smug grin of Hancocks face, as long as he is making money he cares not about the rest.  That is a sure sign of this bad government.

I believe we have an opposition but I have no idea where it is.

 

'Worcester II' by Charles William Wyllie (1853-1923).  'Worcester II' was a redundant R oyal Naval shipthat moved into the Thames in 1862 and took its place as a RN training ship.  She remained there until 1945 when replaced and moved by the navy to moorings elsewhere.  Unfortunately she was not used and slowly rotted away, capsizing and being slowly eaten by the tides.  Such a shame for a ship, but there again it saves cash in dismantling her.  

I have a penchant (whatever that is) for pictures of the sea.  Charles William Wyllie and his more famous brother, William Lionel Wyllie, both painted such works. Charles sadly moved into more mythalogical fantasies, usually featuring bare breasted women, I know not why.

It may well be more such pictures fill the empty spaces of this blog until I get out and about a bit more. Not that we can go far anyway these days...

 

Mirror

 

News is hard to come by these days.  The papers will fill space with everything and anything.  Here we see an item taken from the web, that appears to be where the press get their news these days, the item is all about a woman who saves money by searching the shops for reduced items.

Gosh!  Who would have thought that by seeking out the 'yellow stickers' you could save money?  

What surprised me is that she saves (she said) £50 a week on her total shop!  £50?  Maybe you were buying things you did not require, using expensive brands rather than 'shops own' and squandering money in a flagrant manner?  Just saying like.

The disabled, the unemployed (some 850,000 it appears), the poorest using food banks, and pensioners have been doing this for years.  But hey, anything to fill space in the media.

 

Shop Book

For a society close to ‘Lock Down,’ I considered there was an awful lot of traffic passing me at half past eight in the morning.  Twitter had informed me the usual roads were ‘Slow Moving,’ and it has become obvious that not many people can work from home.  Builders, postmen, gardeners, as well as supermarket staff must get up early and trudge to work.  Politicians might think it clever to tell people to stay indoors but how will they all be fed?  How will these people pay bills if the work is closed down, redundancy given, or they are just left with nothing?  Some policies must emerge ‘on the hoof’ but a little bit more thought is required here.

School kids ahead of me did not appear to be discussing virus possibilities as I slowly made my way to the panic shop.  I was in truth glad I could not hear what their topics of conversations were, that might put me off breakfast! 

As I crossed the car park I coughed somewhat roughly.  A man fifty yards ahead turned and looked at me, contempt and fear showing in his eyes.  Fear of that virus is cutting into people.  Even the young men faint. 

Sainsburys have taken action to limit panic buying.  The shelves are half full, a deliberate policy, thus preventing items running out.  However, I questioned the lack of red lentils and an attractive young assistant soon procured some for me, she found brown lentils first then thoughtfully came after me with red ones, how helpful I thought, though to be fair most staff are in this shop.  Now I wish I had kept both as this panic filled mob may continue to live in fear and remove all such from the shelves.

Paracetamol was bereft, those that do not require it have got it, those that need it now cannot get it.  We may end up with rationing and doctors’ certificates at this rate. 

Wine and beer was available in abundance, quite why they have not panic bought that I know not.  When sick wine is often the best thing to take, it goes down well, offers some nourishment, and an abundance makes you forget your illness and fall asleep.  Or so I am told…

There are of course vast amounts of foodstuffs and other needful to be had, no-one needs to starve to death, and a supply of daily papers are available if the toilet rolls are still hidden away.  Potatoes exist, some frozen chips are still to be found, and while pasta has disappeared rice in various forms can be obtained.  Clever people can vary their diet with a quick wander around the store.  Really clever people can make use of their garden and plant what they will require later in the year.  I wish I was one of them. 

Just thinking, if the virus hits 80% of the people then food transmission to the shops will be hindered.  Add to this the lack of veg coming from this nation, no EU fruit pickers allowed, then a veg shortage might well appear.  If the drivers get sick, having seven or fourteen days off, and relief drivers unavailable, that will increase the fun at the shops. 

Tomorrow I panic buy tins!

The only flaw this morning was one of my favourite checkout lasses bursting into giggles as she informed me the total came to £33!  “33,” I said.  “I only made it £7:29.”  More giggles from her and the customer following.  To them, seeing my debit card smouldering as I pushed it into the slot was delightful, there appeared to be little delight for me.  However, the checkout girl mentioned that over the weekend some 30 such cards had been refused, not enough credit.  This was the result of panic buying too much.  This £33 was much more than I had expected and is caused by not counting up the totals as I go, something I always used to have to do, there again I may just blame the red lentils, not the bottle of Chianti…

You may remember I began this book some time ago, it mysteriously got lost under a pile of other books that I was wading through.  Some people adore this man, I found it  wee bit boring and hard going.  However he has a five programme series on BBC Radio 4 Extra.  The first programme can be found here.  He is easier to listen to than to read I must say.