It was a lovely day on Tuesday, it is our regular shopping day at Sainsbury’s and normally we would pick up my dear friend K to take her with us. K will be 90 next year and unfortunately has a terminal illness, doesn’t walk easily now without a walker or supermarket trolley to hang onto, and has limited vision.
Sadly, K lost her partner suddenly on this day last year after having a major bowel operation and this left her with no means of getting to the shops or anywhere else on her own other than the local Access bus which she books for a Thursday, mainly to get her out of the house.
On every second Tuesday in the month K has lunch with friends and it gives us time to shop further afield so we went over to John Lewis in Cheadle to return a roller blind and swap it for a wider one for the kitchen window. Sainsbury’s is right next door so we could kill two birds with one stone.
I didn’t really want any window covering at my kitchen window but in the summer the afternoon sun is blinding (no pun intended) and I spend my time cooking with a squint. John Lewis do a plain blind that is sheer in their cheaper Anyday range and unlike the blackout blinds we have at the bedroom windows this allows the light to filter through but blocks out the strong sun……perfect….or will be when DH gets it fitted! I am sure it is on his list.
I am not sure why, but I fell in love with some decorative gold wine glasses on display which would decorate my Christmas table rather well. I am not usually a sparkly person (I leave that to my sister) but they just ooze Christmas and I think I will be sneaking them onto my Christmas list. Even though DH was finding it difficult to separate me from them he would not think to buy them for me without a little prompt (is it a man thing?)
They are not cheap though at £24 for two (well not for me) so I would be limited to 4 of them without breaking the bank but they do have matching tumblers which are a little cheaper. Ironically I do not drink wine but I would certainly pour my elderflower sparkling grape juice into one.
It is lethal for me going to John Lewis it might be the only time I would ever wish to be a millionaire and like Nigella Lawson it is always for the homewares not particularly the clothes. And if any JL staff are reading I do love their customer service.
I saw a pillowcase as we walked through John Lewis in Cheltenham recently and it was just the colour that I was looking for to paint a bamboo wood Ikea dressing table and matching bedside table that we bought ages ago in the bargain basement section. I thought I could take the pillowcase and have it colour matched but once we got home we never got to do that and my 28 days return limit were almost up so I was going to take it back for a refund; before I did we wandered round to the paint and wallpaper section of JL and found that Little Greene paint do the exact same colour called Bone China Blue in a tester pot too so I can test out the colour on the wood. I just love the name of the colour it definitely swayed me it was the right one to choose.
The tester pot alone was £5.75 (where do they get their prices from?) but needs must and I do need to get this furniture painted.
Before Christmas.
If I can.
I decided that I loved the pillowcase so much that rather than returning it I bought another to match and they will go perfectly well with a printed duvet cover I have for the summer as well as the painted furniture.
That wasn’t the end of the temptations though…. I passed reluctantly on all the Christmas decorations, lights, tableware and suchlike but then found myself in Waterstones….a new addition inside John Lewis. Looking at the double bookcase of best sellers in non-fiction it would appear that the vast majority of us have a problem with life at the moment and in particular are searching for something comforting (Hygge) or a reason for living ( Ikigai) or beauty and simplicity (Wabi Sabi) and that Zen way of life.
Well yes, I believe I might be searching for all those. When I think back to my grandparents I could honestly say they had little money but oh how content they were with life and what they had – even during hard times and how homely and simple everything seemed.
I gave way and was tempted to a book in this section, ‘The Get Things Done Book’ – most apt at the present time – I am always looking for better ways to manage my life – when or if I find this elusive balance to my life I will let you know. Meanwhile, I will press on with my own trial and error exploration and at the moment it is my idea of a three item project list to get through these never ending half finished jobs that surround and irritate me.
So yesterday I managed two tasks from my list of three – I booked the hotel for Christmas Eve and Christmas day near to mum’s apartment. It is also close to my younger daughter in Thirsk. As a family we have no idea what we might be doing yet for Christmas – only two people (daughter and sister) have houses big enough to accommodate us all and they have to have a downstairs toilet for mum and not be far away to get her there. Mostly, our Christmas destination will depend on just how fit my mum is by Christmas day – it may only be weeks away but mum’s condition could worsen in that short time. There is only 3 months now until she is 100.
As I mentioned above I managed two of the items on my list but the sewing of the greenhouse shading had to roll over to today and now it has to roll over again to tomorrow as I will spend my afternoon with my friend K having a cup of tea and a chat remembering her lovely partner.
People are much more important than my tasks.
As always thank you for your lovely comments, ideas, well wishes and advice….all gratefully received. x
wherethejourneytakesme2.blog 
I am like a magpie for the Christmas bits in JL, most years I get something from them, daughter and I take a shopping trip to Southampton, we will plan a date soon.i hope your Christmas plans come together, it’s all about family. Marlene, poppypatchwork
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It is going to be a last minute decision this year as to what all the family do – everything has to revolve around my mum and things could change with her health overnight. I got fully refundable rooms should I need to cancel one or both – a bit dearer but worth the extra to know we can cancel up to the day should we have to. Have a lovely shopping trip.
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John Lewis is one of those stores that is always inspirational. I just got my overlocker from there and if I’d bothered to look around the sewing/haberdashery department, which I didn’t, I’m sure I would have seen many more things I would have liked to buy. I tend to just go in and get what I need and get straight out these days, to avoid spending money. That goes for most shops, save charity shops, of course, which I like to have a good look around.
I’m looking for a couple of non-fiction books at the moment that I would like for Xmas, but I’m hoping to find them second hand if I can.
I think it is lovely that you take your neighbour shopping every couple of weeks. It must make a real difference to her life to have the company. Well done on getting two of the three tasks done. (Johnnyjumpsup)
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Two feels like a small achievement – three would have been better but I have only to concentrate on that now and once done I can start on the next three. My overlocker is about 45 years old now, a Frister Rossman and it has served me well, through countless childrens clothes and wedding dresses and show costumes. Hope you will enjoy using it. I believe the new models do a wonderful satin stitch edging for sheers and fine fabrics.
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Well done on getting some of your tasks completed. It wouldn’t have been easy on top of everything else. I find myself dealing with life admin at random times of the day or night, whenever I get opportunity, really.
Thank goodness for mobile phones. And yet they allow no room to ‘escape’. Even the care agency has an app!
I’m trying not to think too much about Christmas. Without any extended family, I think it will be a very quiet one this year.
Jules. Xx
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I could lend you a few relatives of any age too between 2 and 100! The care agency app I have records all their visits to mum so I can log in and see how mum is and if they are having problems with her. It is very useful too as her memory is so bad now she tells me my sister hasn’t been to take her out for a spin in the wheelchair when she definitely has. I feel much better just completing two tasks this week. Progress. Xx
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I can see why you fell in love with those glasses, yes they’d look particularly wonderful on a Christmas table. I rarely venture into John Lewis, mainly because I don’t go into Leeds very often where my nearest store is situated. I know there was one in York but I think it closed a while ago. We haven’t made our Christmas plans yet, we usually have the family here and I think it will be the same again this year.
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The JL in Sheffield closed down – it was my favourite one and had been there during my lifetime. Now we have a choice of Leeds or Cheadle…Cheadle is free parking and only 1 mile further than Leeds. I am not a fan of the Leeds store at all it feels quite different to some of the others.
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I like the idea of picking out 3 things to prioritise for the day and ignoring the rest. I hope you enjoy the book you chose – sometimes I find a self-help book or article doesn’t tell me anything much new but if that is the case it is reassuring to know I have thought of most of it ! ;) There is no John Lewis near here so I am spared that temptation but Waterstones …. I usually take a photo of any book I fancy and check if one of the libraries has it before I buy. I belong to both Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion libraries so I can often borrow it.
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Yes it should have been a day but at my speed it was over the week! Some of the ideas in the book have made me think of some ideas of my own to try and implement – so not a complete waste of time. Our library is not at all good and have limited books in the craft and reference sections. They never have any really recent books either. You are lucky to have a good library.
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I am lucky to have access to both Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire libraries and both allow me to browse the catalogue online and request any book the county owns. I could also join Pembrokeshire I think if I thought it would be useful as I live where the 3 counties meet and they are none of them rigorous about boundaries. They also give me access to Pressreader meaning I can read magazines like Country Living online free. I know that that makes me very lucky.
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I am so envious of your library – ours used to be very good and it was a purpose built building built in the twenties but our council decided they wanted to move it out into the general more modern council offices with the job centre – so now it is just noisy. Our village library was reduced in size to accomodate the post office and has mainly children’s and fiction and again is very noisy and run by volunteers part time.
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I think many areas are finding Library services cut because it is somewhere cash strapped Councils can make economies but it is very sad.
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A bit of bling in the Christmas table never goes astray.
I don’t think you need a book to help you get things done. You’re doing, and getting done, heaps. I do agree we need more contentment and satisfaction with what we have. So much desire for more and pushing of more and new and aspiring. If I hear one more instagrammer say they are “obsessed” with something at the moment…..
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Obssessed must be the new buzzword. My daughters keep saying the word broken for when you are exhausted after working hard – I think broken does sound completely over the top! A few years ago everything was sexy…DH is an architect and his colleagues would talk about a building being sexy – that seems to have been dropped now. Who starts these words I would like to know?
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