Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Shopping day in Ikea.
There was a musical when I was young called "Stop the World - I want to get off!"
I think tomorrow, maybe, I ought to get off for the day.
I am so so tired.
Going to Ikea is hardly the best policy for one who is feeling exhausted.
But, having said that, we have done pretty well everything we need to do for finally finishing our bathroom.
We passed a swish bathroom showroom on our way with an advertising slogan outside..... "Create your sanctuary." I don't think our bathroom can be called a sanctuary, but we will be pleased I think.
When we did the kitchen last year it was the first time in our lives when we had started from scratch and created a unified look for a room. I guess we have a taste for it now.
We had a list for Ikea and Bill had measurements. This should have made things simpler - but we still managed to dither and do some back and forth trips from one item to an another.
In fact we had not done very much when we had an unwanted intrusion.
The loudspeakers announced that owing to "technical difficulties" everybody must leave the building.
There was an orderly queue for the exits and all the Ikea staff came out too.
It must have been nothing. One fire engine arrived and it didn't take so very long before the fire crew allowed people back in again to find the trolleys they had abandoned throughout the store.
We continued to shop.
So now we have extra shelving for the bathroom and loo.
And other accessories that we liked. Including nice plants.
And a few other bits and pieces.
We have taken to using Ikea white crockery a lot and we bought a little more - for when we entertain.
We took it all to the car and went back in for a late dinner.
We badly needed to sit down by that time.
The special offer meal today was superb - a lamb tagine (lamb with apricots, red peppers, chick peas etc) with tabbouleh.
We have Ikea family cards - anybody can get one - it just gives you some discounts.
Our meal - 2 mains, a few chips, 2 desserts and non stop drinks came to £7.50.
Over lunch we chuckled about a couple of elderly women who we had chatted to whilst close to the checkouts. They had just come in and had no idea where the shop actually was. We advised them where the entrance was. We wondered if they would get lost and imagined them being found, wandering aimlessly some time next week!
We actually found them again later and they were fine - but my, how they did want to talk. We would just think about moving on and off they would go again as if we were old friends.... "I'll get another daughter in law in June", suddenly announced one of them. We know that they are off to Hayling Island later this month and the Isle of Wight (an old fashioned hotel on the seafront in Sandown).
But such interludes are the stuff of life.
From somewhere we found the energy to go over to the huge B &Q for flooring.
I really wanted to get it all done today.
We had decided, finally, that some sort of vinyl tile might be best. We had them strewn all along the the aisle!
Because the rooms are so very small we realised that we didn't need tiles with any sort of pattern on them. But there is still a lot of variation amongst the plain ones - even though we knew we wanted white/cream or sand colour.
It is strange how the slightly more expensive one stood out as the best.
We drove back home through a sleet storm.
And having got home we needed to slump in a chair and drink lots of tea.
Later we made more tea and just had a couple of crumpets for our meal.
And we will have an early night - after some tea.
Tomorrow, as I said, must be an easy day. Work will not start on fixing shelves and things. Bill has to go for an ECG in the morning.
It may reveal very little change or it might be the beginning of new treatments for him.
That's it for today. Goodnight.
I think tomorrow, maybe, I ought to get off for the day.
I am so so tired.
Going to Ikea is hardly the best policy for one who is feeling exhausted.
But, having said that, we have done pretty well everything we need to do for finally finishing our bathroom.
We passed a swish bathroom showroom on our way with an advertising slogan outside..... "Create your sanctuary." I don't think our bathroom can be called a sanctuary, but we will be pleased I think.
When we did the kitchen last year it was the first time in our lives when we had started from scratch and created a unified look for a room. I guess we have a taste for it now.
We had a list for Ikea and Bill had measurements. This should have made things simpler - but we still managed to dither and do some back and forth trips from one item to an another.
In fact we had not done very much when we had an unwanted intrusion.
The loudspeakers announced that owing to "technical difficulties" everybody must leave the building.
There was an orderly queue for the exits and all the Ikea staff came out too.
It must have been nothing. One fire engine arrived and it didn't take so very long before the fire crew allowed people back in again to find the trolleys they had abandoned throughout the store.
We continued to shop.
So now we have extra shelving for the bathroom and loo.
And other accessories that we liked. Including nice plants.
And a few other bits and pieces.
We have taken to using Ikea white crockery a lot and we bought a little more - for when we entertain.
We took it all to the car and went back in for a late dinner.
We badly needed to sit down by that time.
The special offer meal today was superb - a lamb tagine (lamb with apricots, red peppers, chick peas etc) with tabbouleh.
We have Ikea family cards - anybody can get one - it just gives you some discounts.
Our meal - 2 mains, a few chips, 2 desserts and non stop drinks came to £7.50.
Over lunch we chuckled about a couple of elderly women who we had chatted to whilst close to the checkouts. They had just come in and had no idea where the shop actually was. We advised them where the entrance was. We wondered if they would get lost and imagined them being found, wandering aimlessly some time next week!
We actually found them again later and they were fine - but my, how they did want to talk. We would just think about moving on and off they would go again as if we were old friends.... "I'll get another daughter in law in June", suddenly announced one of them. We know that they are off to Hayling Island later this month and the Isle of Wight (an old fashioned hotel on the seafront in Sandown).
But such interludes are the stuff of life.
From somewhere we found the energy to go over to the huge B &Q for flooring.
I really wanted to get it all done today.
We had decided, finally, that some sort of vinyl tile might be best. We had them strewn all along the the aisle!
Because the rooms are so very small we realised that we didn't need tiles with any sort of pattern on them. But there is still a lot of variation amongst the plain ones - even though we knew we wanted white/cream or sand colour.
It is strange how the slightly more expensive one stood out as the best.
We drove back home through a sleet storm.
And having got home we needed to slump in a chair and drink lots of tea.
Later we made more tea and just had a couple of crumpets for our meal.
And we will have an early night - after some tea.
Tomorrow, as I said, must be an easy day. Work will not start on fixing shelves and things. Bill has to go for an ECG in the morning.
It may reveal very little change or it might be the beginning of new treatments for him.
That's it for today. Goodnight.
