Coming out of ‘Calm Down’

So, we are back. The calm throughout the lockdown is over. Actually, I had begun to become a little itchy to get back to normal. I have made lots of stock for the shop and had even begun to work on Christmas stock. Just as the fabric supply was drying up my friend, Dawn, gave me lots of offcuts from her dressmaking and old vintage tablecloths that she had been hoarding. This got me busy again creating cushions, coil pots and bunting.

As things started to ease a little, I met Annie for walks, which resulted in Eddi taking a little sojourn in Ripon at her holiday home. They have better walks there and the back alley is full of passing cats which can create hours of amusement for her.

However, having put on rather a lot of weight I have continued to walk, without Eddi, for an hour a day. I am walking to the shop now too, but my stomach doesn’t seem to realise that my legs are exercising.

Matilda has found her amusement in using the afore mentioned cat ramp into a springboard. She has developed a run up and jump action, to hurtle through the bedroom window. The ramp is now out of use and we are back to getting up in the early hours to let her in through the door of her choice.

I continued to be the one to brave the supermarkets. It was an opportunity to sneak some plants into the trolley along with the ‘essentials’. But, boy is that a skill, standing in the right spot and following arrows. At first, I was developing a strategy to have the trolley facing the right way and sneaking back against the arrows. But, after giving it a little more thought, I realised I was the problem, not the trolley. It got to me so much that I was leaving two metres between me and the car in front at road junctions, as I drove home.

On returning home one day, I realised that B&Q had opened, and I so wanted some gravel. I discussed this with the righteous one, he said that gravel was not an ‘essential item’, however happy it made me.

On the next trip to the supermarket, I strayed. Against all advice I went to B&Q.  What a nightmare! They have made that place into a maze, full of dead ends. I got totally stuck in Kitchens and Bathrooms with four bags of gravel on a flatbed trolley. I nearly lost the will to live; some would say this was Karma. There was still the problem of sneaking it from the car to the garden, hampered by the fact that his study looks out into the driveway. I decided a confession was best.

The garden is looking better than ever. Jonah has taken a real interest, which is nice. He is bad at names of plants though; he remarked on how well my chlamydia was doing last week. I suggested he doesn’t discuss the garden with others. He is actually taking an online course in Zen gardening, which he is going to put into practice in his little corner of the garden, but he can fetch his own gravel.

So, we are now back at the shop, with our own arrows and screen. It is really nice to see our lovely customers, who are calling in to say hello. Annie has made face masks at the request of one customer, which have been really popular, along with her headbands to hold back all those overgrown fringes.