Grandma P's Ramblings Through Life

On a jolly holiday.... at least that is how it has felt.

The sun shone, making a cold day seem lovely.

All we did was go somewhere else to do the food shopping.

And we didn't go far - just 12 miles to Reigate.

Reigate has many of the same shops that every other town has, but also interesting older style shops.

There are also charity shops of course.

And today, being the 4th Friday of the month there was a farmer's market.

Reigate had the first road tunnel in the country. The land owner, kindly built the tunnel so that people didn't have to traverse his estate on the hill.The tunnel kept the riff raff out of sight!

The farmer's market is advertised as being in the tunnel - but today there were just a few stalls on the south side of the tunnel. We chatted with friendly people and bought some interesting things to eat - yes, they cost more than in the supermarket; but then these items would not be found in the supermarket.

We visited most of the charity shops. I found a pair of Clarks shoes for £4.99. They are wide and flat and interesting. The trouble with shoes is really that I need an hour in them to know if I could manage that length of time or more. But I am optimistic.

Then it was time to hit the supermarket - Morrison's in Reigate. Going out of town is a bit like visiting a supermarket abroad; we feel relaxed and willing to have fun and end up allowing each other to buy more than perhaps we needed.

We decided to have a small snack and cuppa in the Morrison's cafe before driving home. We were not the only older couple there of course - more on my age later. But I found myself watching mothers and daughters. One pair sat, looking tense, making no eye contact and saying almost nothing. I could imagine their thoughts. The daughter was thinking what a trial it is to feel obliged to take mother shopping each week. Daughter was thinking that her mother knew so little about all the various foods that could be found....why does she buy the same things week after week? Mother was thinking that she supposed she ought to be grateful that her daughter gave up her valuable time to help her once a week; but she also wondered how her daughter had become so tense and critical, after all mother had raised a family and knew what was what.

Another mother and daughter sat close by and didn't stop talking from the moment they sat down - there was eye contact and smiles. I heard not a word of their chatter (shame!) but admired them for their friendship and ease with each other.

At home I dealt with just 4 EBay sales (out of 6) - no mighty profits from that little bundle.

And I was wrong that my fish pie would have disappeared within 24 hours. Our snacks at lunchtime had proved quite filling (mine was a jacket potato and prawns and salad and crisps) so we decided to eat some of the lovely bread bought at the farmer's market. I risked a little of it with some ham and cucumber.

There will be no snow tomorrow - so we are going to Ford, if we can drag ourselves from a warm bed. The temperatures may not get above zero all day. We will need lots of clothing.

Now, back to my age. Face book provides opportunities for silly quizzes and all sorts. I play some of the games and I do some of the quizzes that my family and friends might have done. I normally do not publish the results. This morning I did publish a result. The question was "How Old does your Profile Picture make you look like?" A friend had done it before me and was pleased to be 5 years under her age. I did it and was told that in the picture I looked like I was 47!!!! That's almost 20 years younger than my age. Bill has done it since and came up with 61 years. Good that we can con some of the people some of the time into thinking we are not old age pensioners. So why don't people ask for proof of age when we pay to go in somewhere that have a cheaper rate for old people?

Labels: home and daily life