Reading travel books and checking maps

Aye up me ducks, when is this chuffin weather going to sort itself out, I want to go camping but I'm not going to risk putting a tent up knowing there is a possibility I might get swept away. So for now I can only dream about it.

I had a few places to go in town so I took a free bus ride today. The 9.30am was packed, seems everyone else had the same idea. I normally go all the way to the Bus Station, but today I hopped off early at the top of the High Street. I had a look in Lidl to check out a few prices, just in case there was anything ridiculously cheap that I couldn't live without. I know how much I pay for my regular items, I thought Lidl might have been able to better them. Wrong, couldn't find anything. Oh, there was something, 3kg bag of onions for £2, that was a good buy, but too heavy to lug around town. I eat lots of onions, they are good for you.

I had seen a charity shop from the bus window, I hadn't been in before, it's called 'The Well'. It's like a community shop with a cafe. Worth a look I thought, maybe they had a shopping trolley. Nope they didn't, but I found this very usefull book. Three hundred pages with lots of colour photo's, and info about almost every place in Britain. A bargain for £1. I can read this sort of book forever.

Talking of £1, I went in Poundland and bought a pack of four light bulbs for £1. I have two lamps with a screw fitting. Nobody seems to give these sort away free like they did with the baynet fittings, so I have to buy them. Still, £1 is not too bad, I can afford that, ha ha.

I had an embarrassing moment in the Asian shop, popped in while I was passing. They were having a refit and the shop was half empty. I like to browse because you can find some bargains at these kind of shops. It's always a good idea to pick up cheap food for the store cupboard. I found some packets of walnuts and cashew nuts, my teeth can cope with these as they are a bit softer than brazil nuts or almonds. Not a bad price I thought as I got £3 out of my purse at the cash desk. £6.99 the man said. Me red faced said, 'oh sorry, I was confused with the price ticket on the shelf, sorry, I can't afford it'. Quickly exit the shop. Oooops.

Eggs were also on my list. I got six free range from Poundland, for erm...£1. Then I went in Home Bargains and theirs were 99p, bugger, so I bought six more. I need to eat more protein anyway. I also treated myself to a bag of prawn flavoured Golden Wonder crisps for 20p. They always have cheap crisps in there.

I went in the bank to withdraw some spondulicks, and check my balance. Looking good I thought, surprising how it creeps up when you aren't spending much. Musn't get complacent though, this money is my emergency fund. It's for the cats in case they get sick, it's savings towards a new car in 2 or 3 years time, and it's for any other emergency that might crop up. Oh, and there is a bit earmarked for travel as well. I don't squirrel my cash away in different places for different things, it's all in the one pot. I know what it's for, and I am not tempted to fritter it away on anything else. I've got a will of steel, there's no budging me, ha ha.

Next stop before the bus back was the library. Quick flit through the Daily Papers, pity I haven't got more time really as I could sit there all day reading. Never mind, I want to get the 12.30 bus back so I'd better get what I went in for. They have a good selection of Ordnance Survey maps, and I need these to plan my next trip.

And pray where are you going, I hear you say :o) Well this time me hearty's, I'm going south. I'm off to a party somewhere near Bognor, at the end of this month. The route I plan to take is Lincoln, Newark, Leicester, onto the M1, exit Northampton, A43, M40, Oxford, Newbury. May go to Southampton and across to Portsmouth and Bognor, or may cut across to Basingstoke and Petersfield from Newbury. If anyone is on or near that route, email me and I might be able to pop in for a cuppa. I need to be near Bognor on the Saturday, so plenty of time to bimble.

This is a snap I took this morning. Five little faces looking longingly out of the window at me. They are now able to get up onto the window ledge from the cupboard, in fact there isn't anywhere in the room that they can't climb onto. Some of the shelving is seven feet off the ground, and one cupboard is almost as high as the ceiling, but they find a way up there. Someone emailed us about adopting one of them, we emailed a reply, but we haven't heard back. Someone else was going to come and have a look, then rang and cancelled. So the kitties are still waiting. But not to worry, they are better off here rather than roaming loose in the streets.