Rasberries, Blackberries and Baskets

Thank goodness the week is over. I've had more calls this week trying to sell me advertising than is decent; you can tell that the economy isn't good when the volume of sales calls increases the the level where you'd really like the change your phone number or blow raspberries. It's not that you can even be mean to the poor people doing the sales calls - it's not a fun thing to do - I know, I've tried it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone could invent an "Intent Meter" for telephones? Before you answered a call, you could check the meter and find out of they wanted to sell you something, complain or just generally make a nuisance of themselves!

This week has been a weird combination of good and bad. Monday and Tuesday were still a time of recovery from my London trip and yet I felt cheery and positive, getting loads of things done and clearing that long list of irritating little chores that never quite gets done. Thursday was nice, as I went and treated myself to a leg wax and a bit of a pamper - actually, it's less of a luxury than a necessity these days, as I'm so unable to reach down, that my legs were beginning to look more like a yeti's than a human's! As it has now got to the stage where I can't pull on a pair of socks, because the bending hurts too much, the leg-fur was warm but deeply unattractive and in danger of tripping me up. Happily, I am now bald and as smooth as silk - oh joy!

Today has been completely wonderful. We had a really nice lie-in while listening to the last of the howling winds and rain that had lashed at the village all night. We're lucky as our house has a few steps up to it, but others at the far end of the village were swamped with flood waters flowing right through their houses. At 3 a.m. the council lorries were outside clearing out the drains (even though they had been cleared less than two months ago), just to try to cope with the 18 inches of flood water. Anyway, back to our oblivious lie-in - one of those lovely mornings when there's a warm, snuggly spot under the duvet and Tom doesn't set up a katzenjammer to call us down to serve him.

Then the doorbell rang - our cheery post lady with a big box that had my name on it - I just love parcels and scuttled off to the kitchen to pop on the kettle and open the box. What a treat! I ordered a berry basket from a fellow blogger Bee-Leaf after seeing her gorgeous wares pictured and the real thing was even better than the pictures! All dressed up in real wood shavings rather than those horrid polystyrene wotsits, with a posh label, the basket is just a perfect size for blackberrying. This one is a Yule gift for a dear friend of mine who is always off picking something or other from the hedgerows, though the temptation to keep it is great.

The rest of the day meandered along at a gentle pace and then I decided to go and have a soak in the bath. Kim had thoughtfully treated me to a couple of bath bombs from Lush, and though they're full of all sorts of SLS-type substances, I popped one in the running water. Wow! Talk about PINK - it fizzled madly and loads of little pink and white love hearts popped out from the bath bomb, filling the water. Now, call me frivolous, but when you're feeling old and creaking, there's nothing like getting in a hot bath filled with hearts and very pink water to make you feel girlie again. I'm so lucky - Kim is such a sweetheart and so thoughtful.

Yes, today has been wonderful and now I shall go and cook up a storm so that we finish off with a good meal. I am happy.