Wednesday, June 25, 2008
25 June. Ikea and athletics.
Another busy day!
We have been to London - well, it felt like London. In fact it was Croydon just a small part of the great metropolis. It is a different world than our own - so many people and so much traffic.
And Ikea, too, is a different world.
It is big and has its own way for people to shop.
The household goods are stylish, in the Scandinavian way, and very good value. It is all too easy as you walk around the huge store to be lured by all sorts of things.
But today we were pretty good and bought only what we went for - mostly.
The first task was to buy some shelving to go into the narrow space in the Dorking shop. Bill had already made a selection on line, and after checking out other options, we returned to the original shelves. They were cheap and that is what we want for who knows how long the Dorking venture might last.
There are certainly some thoughts that Stephen may not renew the lease later in the year and we don't even get the 6 months I had planned as a trial, which would be a shame.
Then we bought a little drawer unit, metal, to fit under Bill's desk for storing all the bits and pieces he uses for model making.
Those were the 2 larger items we wanted.
The warehouse of smaller bits and pieces has so many temptations. Now, do I need another wok? And yet, how could I not buy the huge one for £2.99? I am sure the surface of my present one will wear thin one day and actually a bigger wok can be be an advantage. So that was an impulse buy.
People who know us well will be surprised that cups and saucers were planned.
One of the cafes we have used this year - one close to the hospital, serves tea and coffee in large plain white cups with saucers. We had looked on the bases and found they had come from Ikea. We always said that next time we went to Ikea we would buy some.
And yes, maybe the old folks who say that tea tastes better in a cup are right! Though perhaps they were thinking of bone china.
There were a few more odds and ends.
Then we bought some bits from the food shop - cloudberry jam, Swedish cheese, delectable boxes of biscuits, etc.
We loaded it all into the car and then went back in to eat. Just for a change I didn't have the Swedish meat balls with a lingenberry sauce. We both had the special offer meal - a vegetable and fruit curry with rice. Bill bought a large apple cake and there was unlimited drink.
The bill was just £6.75.
We then drove home.
We watched some tennis - the women's number 1 seed was stretched to the limit by a French older player ranked considerably lower.
I then had to deal with a few EBay sales - some old cookery booklets.
Then Stella was round and we were all off to the track. There were 6 timekeepers and somehow Bill had persuaded me that I could be chief timekeeper again.
I think it all went very well.
When we left the long jump competitions were still underway.
I look forward to hearing about how Ekatarina got on in her school play today.
Was she a mouse or was she a bear?
Right - time for bed. Let's hope it is better than last night. It was a night with a leak. I guess that by lifting and carrying heavy books and the boxes yesterday had pulled too much on the bag and caused the seal to weaken.
Such is life! Well - my life.
Goodnight.
We have been to London - well, it felt like London. In fact it was Croydon just a small part of the great metropolis. It is a different world than our own - so many people and so much traffic.
And Ikea, too, is a different world.
It is big and has its own way for people to shop.
The household goods are stylish, in the Scandinavian way, and very good value. It is all too easy as you walk around the huge store to be lured by all sorts of things.
But today we were pretty good and bought only what we went for - mostly.
The first task was to buy some shelving to go into the narrow space in the Dorking shop. Bill had already made a selection on line, and after checking out other options, we returned to the original shelves. They were cheap and that is what we want for who knows how long the Dorking venture might last.
There are certainly some thoughts that Stephen may not renew the lease later in the year and we don't even get the 6 months I had planned as a trial, which would be a shame.
Then we bought a little drawer unit, metal, to fit under Bill's desk for storing all the bits and pieces he uses for model making.
Those were the 2 larger items we wanted.
The warehouse of smaller bits and pieces has so many temptations. Now, do I need another wok? And yet, how could I not buy the huge one for £2.99? I am sure the surface of my present one will wear thin one day and actually a bigger wok can be be an advantage. So that was an impulse buy.
People who know us well will be surprised that cups and saucers were planned.
One of the cafes we have used this year - one close to the hospital, serves tea and coffee in large plain white cups with saucers. We had looked on the bases and found they had come from Ikea. We always said that next time we went to Ikea we would buy some.
And yes, maybe the old folks who say that tea tastes better in a cup are right! Though perhaps they were thinking of bone china.
There were a few more odds and ends.
Then we bought some bits from the food shop - cloudberry jam, Swedish cheese, delectable boxes of biscuits, etc.
We loaded it all into the car and then went back in to eat. Just for a change I didn't have the Swedish meat balls with a lingenberry sauce. We both had the special offer meal - a vegetable and fruit curry with rice. Bill bought a large apple cake and there was unlimited drink.
The bill was just £6.75.
We then drove home.
We watched some tennis - the women's number 1 seed was stretched to the limit by a French older player ranked considerably lower.
I then had to deal with a few EBay sales - some old cookery booklets.
Then Stella was round and we were all off to the track. There were 6 timekeepers and somehow Bill had persuaded me that I could be chief timekeeper again.
I think it all went very well.
When we left the long jump competitions were still underway.
I look forward to hearing about how Ekatarina got on in her school play today.
Was she a mouse or was she a bear?
Right - time for bed. Let's hope it is better than last night. It was a night with a leak. I guess that by lifting and carrying heavy books and the boxes yesterday had pulled too much on the bag and caused the seal to weaken.
Such is life! Well - my life.
Goodnight.
