Today was always going to be a busy one what with my son going off for a stag week with his friends as well as all the usual Monday chores, so it was at the crack of dawn that a bleary eyed Avie began to sort out the packing. This was not as straight forward as you might suppose as we were using this trip as a dry run for his next holiday when he is off to Sark. There is a weight limit if fifteen kilos on the ferry and as my son normally travels with the kitchen sink we thought that we had better see just what fifteen kilos looked like.
After much soul searching as to what to leave behind the bag was packed and duly weighed, imagine our astonishment when we discovered that the bag weighed no more that six kilos, I felt like a Krypton Factor contestant. This sort of mental agility test is not my idea of fun at the crack of dawn but at least the job was done.
Next came the hair cut and beard trim which consists of me begging my son to let me cut off at least a foot of hair and him negotiating me down to just trimming off half an inch. One day, I swear to God I shall just chop it all off in one go and to hell with the consequences! The beard trim is even worse as he hates the feel of a blade near his neck, he is more fidgety than a French aristo when he spies the guillotine and that increases the chances of his being nicked. By the time I had finished, which was not soon I was a nervous wreck.
All of this took place very early indeed and when all was done I made two dozen blueberry muffins some of which we ate hot for breakfast. Then I quickly cleared the kitchen and headed for the garden centre. I wished to purchase eight large bags of compost, a large container of hen muck pellets and an eight by six green house. I set of on the buggy very excited as more sheltered growing space has been something I have needed for ages. When I arrived at the garden centre I spent almost an hour trying to find someone to help me, every one I asked claimed to be very busy. I lady works there went to find the young man whose job it is to deal with large orders to be delivered and after twenty minutes was obliged to give up and return to her watering duties.
I asked another young chap if he could help me and he said that if I could find a trolley and load the things on to it he would see me through the checkout. I pointed out that the greenhouse would need at least two men to lift it and that as I was on a mobility scooter and obviously disabled I would be unable to lift either it or the eight 60 litre bags of compost which I wished to purchase. He looked baffled and then said that if I could wait for half an hour or so he MIGHT be able to spare the time! MIGHT! By now I had been in the building for almost two hours and was no nearer making my purchases than when I arrived.
All I needed was some one with a scanner to nip round with me to scan the goods required and then fill in a delivery form, ten minutes work at the most. Nothing doing. I gave up and telephoned my son who in spite of being very tired came to my rescue.
First we had a merry time trying to find a trolley as the car park is vast and there were not enough staff on duty to collect the trolleys and return them to the garden centre entrance. In the end we were obliged to follow a fortunate shopper with a loaded trolley and pounce on it the moment he had finished unloading. Even then we were almost gazumped by a large woman with battle in her eyes, we grabbed the prize and hurried off.
My wonderful, strong, heroic son man handled the green house on to the trolley, God knoweth how and we were about to sort out the compost when a young lady approached us and asked if I was the disabled lady who had been looking for assistance, I admitted that this was indeed the case. She looked accusingly at my son and then asked me if I realised that all that was required was to scan the goods and have some one fill in a delivery form.................the rest of the conversation is unfit for publication!
The goods were ordered and never have I experienced so much trouble getting a shop to take my money, and rather a lot of money too. Then they broke the news that the first available delivery slot would be a week on Tuesday. I live at the bottom of the drive which leads to the garden centre and indeed they cannot leave without passing by my front door, for this service I was charged twenty pounds and told that I would have to wait for over a week. I said that considering the trouble I had already experience trying to get them to sell me the things at all it was a miracle that they did not charge me for the privilege of using their wrenched establishment. You could not make it up!
Back at home I roasted a pan of root vegetables, onions, pumpkin and garlic as the base for a Mediterranean tomato soup and while they roasted in hot oven I baked two tin loaves for my son to take with him tomorrow and a large Hungarian bacon loaf to eat with the soup. By now I was running out of steam, and very hot indeed......hum that does sound odd....oh well not to worry.
I took a drive down to the river to cool off and bumped on to an old friend whom I have not seen for some time, we agreed that she should visit soon for breakfast and set a date in the near future, I was so pleased to see her, she is a lovely person and a pleasure to be with.
I returned home to finish preparing our meal. The roasted vegetables were soon blended with two tins of tomatoes, half a tube of tomato purree, half a small jar of sun dried tomatoes and a little salt, sugar and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
Dinner was early as my son needed to sleep, he has an early start in the morning and so of course do I, Pa will I doubt not remain oblivious to all until I apply my fog horn to he ear .Today has been a strange one and to be frank I have spent fat too much of it indoors baking. We have guests for a late breakfast tomorrow but by one thirty I should be free to do as I please with no deadlines to meat,but this comes at a price, with my son away I shall not have to worry about getting meals ready for a set time but Oh how I shall miss his sense of humour, he is such fun to have around. When things get tough he can be relied upon to see the funny side and I soon feel better for having a good laugh. Yes I shall miss him but I am very glad that he is having a break, not just from work, but fro Pa and I also. He works far too hard at a job which is stressful and helps me so much more than he should. I hope he enjoys every moment of his week away bless him. All the same I shall be glad to hear his key in the door on Sunday night.
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