Spring Is Sprung!

Saturday. 12.15 p.m. It's bright and sunny, but windy. Not as windy as last week, when the gales were strong enough to almost blast your head off.

Sunday. 9.35 a.m. I'm just about to go to church. I have come back from taking Alfie out and we met up with a lot of other dog-walkers. There's quite a community now, and it's good that Alfie has other doggy friends. He's amazingly well-behaved, which, to be honest, is more than I can say for some other dogs.

4.40 p.m. I went to church and as soon as I got home I had a snack for lunch as I normally do. I actually watched Bargain Hunt, which I haven't watched in ages. They had on an ancient episode because there weren't any social distancing in evidence. This show gets shunted around in the schedules at the weekend. usually displaced by football. It's always at 12.15 during the week but can end up a good deal later at weekends. Football seems to get priority. I bet if it was anything like classical music or theatre (some hope!) it would be on one of the minor channels, BBC Four, or shunted too late at night or early in the morning. 

I am sorting out things in my flat, as I have already mentioned in an earlier post. I wanted to get a recycling bin, so looked at the IKEA website and found what I wanted, so I could get rid of the cardboard box which sits on the unit next to my microwave. The box was used to pack up things from the house in Eaglestone when I moved to Dexter House. I drove to IKEA after lunch, having taken out Alfie for a further trot around Oldbrook Green. Well, it has been sunny and pleasant, so it was an excuse for him to have a walk. The road leading into the IKEA car park was gridlocked, and I could see that the ground level car park was packed, so I drove further to the car park underneath the IKEA building and then walked in. The place was heaving. I imagine it's because people have been cooped up indoors because of lockdowns for two years, and they were like me, they just needed to get out. Unless you've not visited an IKEA store, you will not realize that you have to walk through each department until you find the one you want to buy stuff from. It's a crafty sales device, which means you're going to pick up things you probably hadn't intended purchasing as you walk around. There are a lot of new things I hadn't seen in IKEA before, such as a new range of eco lightbulbs and those which can be operated via your mobile or tablet (ie; termed 'smart') and Bluetooth speakers. I have my eye on one or two things which would make my flat a little bit more homely, such as a rug for the lounge, but I must check the size of the space in the room before I go ahead and buy. Something colourful with a modern pattern. I saw a couple for £40 which seems reasonable. Then I arrived in the home organization department, which has all manner of files, boxes, crates and so on and found the sort of bin I wanted for recycling, which comes with a lid. Having got it home I now realise I need a second one for glass items as I don't want to mix paper and cardboard with bottles and other glass items. I think I will go back and buy a second one next week. I picked up some coat hangers as I walked around and then, nearing the tills, I had to join a really long queue to pay, snaking around between carefully-placed items to entice you further. As I say, the layout of the store is so designed that you can't avoid things which you buy and add to your trolley. It's the old trick of having things at a level that means you can't avoid touching them and then, putting them into your trolley.