We sank into a mire of self-congratulation this morning, wallowing in our new-found warmth and comfort. Graham drove me nuts, wandering around the house, feeling the walls, and demanding I follow suit.
All that takes time.
Then, it was realigning the dual LNB and satellite dish, one or both of which had received a slight nudge when the wall insulation blokes were working on that corner of the house. This is a tedious business, with Graham fiddling out of sight and up the ladder and me standing in the door with one eye on the TV and the other on Dolly the Mega-cat, and yelling a sequence of numbers as he turns the adjustment screws…. 39…32…43…44…30…40…50…89!
The 89 was better than it had been before, and now I have three of my favourite channels back once more but, even so, all that takes time.
So, when eventually we piled into the car to go shopping, it was three hours later than planned.
“I think we ought to have lunch in Sainsbury’s,” I said, with that determined set of my chin that indicates the firmness of my resolve.
Graham looked at me sideways. ”Oh. Well, if you feel like that…”
“I do. I do.”
And it was a splendid lunch, too. Sainsbury’s are doing a special of two for five pounds on their main, most expensive meals. We sumptuated. With glee.
Walking back to fetch our shopping bags and pick up a trolley I wondered aloud how long it’d been since the two of us had had a meal and a coffee with change out of seven pounds.
“Don’t know,” Graham said. ”But keep quiet about it or they’ll all want one.”
Sainsbury’s are doing their bit to help hard-strapped folks keep to their budget in these straitened times. A decent Italian meal for £5. Three bottles of a good, honest plonk for £10. And, throughout the store, discreet pointers to the bargain-basement ‘basics’ goods, along with the usual ‘twofers’ and such. No shouting, no banner headlines, just a gentle bit of honest help for those who need it.
I appreciate that.
It was just turning into evening as we drove home, the sky all pearly and pinkly water-melonish, making the most out of every last drop of the midwinter sun that’s been our joy all day.
“What a lovely evening. I’m feeling all nice and happy,” I said.
“Just concentrate on the driving,” he said, delivering a good poke to drive his message home.
