Groceries

It was a pleasant surprise to find the supermarket quiet this morning. We weren’t buying groceries, that was something to do online later. We’d popped in to buy a light bulb, mould remover and trainers for a grandson. Oh, and birthday cards in advance. I was trying to be organised. One stop shopping. How times have changed.

When I was about ten years old, I was often sent to Seddon’s with a list. Seddon’s was a small grocery shop not far from our pub, but far enough away to make me feel independent and grown up to do something important by myself. The list was my mum’s order, which Mr Seddon would deliver on Saturday. Sometimes, I would be sent there to get a Hales Granny Cake, or a chocolate sponge to bring home and the cost to be added to our list. We had a milkman and a breadman every day. Meat came from the local butcher.

I don’t know when branded supermarkets started to take over, but I remember a Tesco store opening on the high street in our neighbourhood when I was about fourteen. It was small in comparison to the megastores we have now.

I’m not a fan of food shopping, especially if it involves a long walk up and down too many heavily populated aisles. That’s another pet hate, people and shopping trolleys. I find it easier in Scotland where our regular supermarket is smaller but still has everything. I’m in a happier frame of mind there, too. At home, picking groceries online and taking delivery from a friendly, helpful person is hassle free and suits me perfectly. There’s a local shop for that forgotten item.

My Haiku style poem,

Tesco, Morrison’s,
Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose,
Sainbury’s and Spar.

Booths and the Co-op,
M&S Foodhall, Asda,
Iceland and Farmfoods.

No shopping today,
We don’t need more groceries.
We’ve got plenty in.

Room for just one more,
Tins of this and tins of that.
Shut the cupboard door.

Veg and fish and meat,
A freezer full to bursting,
Ice cream for a treat.

PMW 2026

Thanks for reading, Pam x

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Procrastination

 

“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

A statement attributed to Benjamin Franklin, and one of my dad’s favourite sayings. I’m not sure if he lived by it, but he was a busy man for most of his life and was always doing something. He made lists, meticulously handwritten on plain paper folded into three. He never used lined paper and it was always folded that way. Items were crossed off with one neat line upon completion. Unfinished tasks would be carried on to the list for the next day. This was likely to be, ‘Write to Alan’. I don’t think the delay was procrastination as much as it was waiting for the right moment. Alan was his brother and at this time would be living in Virginia, USA. The letter, when it happened, took time and lots of thought until it was perfectly paragraphed on to a couple of sheets of thin, pale blue, airmail stationery. These days, they would be emailing across the Atlantic, but my dad missed out on such communication. Anyway, letter written and crossed off. I don’t remember him ever losing his list. No, of course he wouldn’t. Not pedantic, but certainly a perfectionist.

Maybe I should take after him more and keep a list. I’d be less likely to put things off until I genuinely forget. Like the room upstairs, the attic and the shed. Oh, I think I’ve just listed everything. Thank goodness it’s not written down.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned our damp-proofing before. It happened in the summer and lots of things got packed up and stored upstairs. Those things were added to when more remedial work was needed. The original plan to paint walls and put the house on the market was and still is delayed. We can’t possibly need everything. I haven’t taken one thing out of a box since they were put away in June. Downstairs is quite spartan – I put a few books back on shelves, a priority – but we are preparing to move. I decided to sort the boxes out before Christmas and make the spare room look less like hoarding.

A much better idea was to shut the door on everything, go and spend some quality time in Dumfries & Galloway and enjoy a pre-Christmas break. That’s exactly what we did.

We came back in December, in time to put the Christmas tree up and a few festive bits in the front room. From the loft I called down to my husband, who was on the landing, that I would get round to sorting the ‘jumble sale’ out in the New Year and that it’s ridiculous, as is the spare room and the shed. I’m married to a wise man who wouldn’t see the need to remind me of how many times I’ve previously mentioned it.

Procrastination. That must be me. We’re in the New Year now, so I’ll see how I get on.

My Haiku,

I’m making a list
And it’s quickly grown too long.
My ‘need to do’ jobs.

More space is needed,
I must sort out the loft room.
I’ll do it next week.

And empty the shed
Of the accumulated
Packaging mountain.

PMW 2026

Happy New Year to all. Thanks for reading, Pam x

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Retirement - Bring It On!

I looked forward to retiring at sixty, as many of us did, and then, a bolt from the blue took away plans and wishes and sat firmly on our state pension for another six years. I’m there now and I still haven’t received the explanatory letter ‘sent to everyone’ when the changes were made. WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigns and protests seem to have been sympathetically listened to in some quarters – Jeremy Corbyn, when Labour leader, said that women were “misled”, the situation “needed to be put right” and “We owe a moral debt to these women.” It was included in the Labour party manifesto. Even if nothing changed, it was going to be looked into. The flicker of hope died with the election result.

Anyway, politics aside, my time has come and I’m trying to decide exactly when to hand in my keys and cross myself off any rotas. I’ve spent lots of time at home during the pandemic, shielding at the beginning, then having to isolate a couple of times when I eventually returned to work.  I like being at home. It’s been good getting a feel for life in retirement and spending more time with my husband who retired early a few years ago.  In normal circumstances we would enjoy the freedom of having lunch out, seeing friends and spending more time with family. These things will come back to us, hopefully before too long. I reduced my hours at work so I’m actually at home more than I’m there, yet I still can’t wait to leave.

I yearn for the freedom to just go where I want, when I want without having to plan in advance and ask permission. Deciding one day that we’re off to Scotland, or anywhere the next day, is the life for me. Spending summer afternoons reading in the garden was bliss last year and I look forward to doing it again. I knit and crochet a lot and love making baby clothes so with a current baby boom going on amongst colleagues at the moment I’ve been  a one woman cottage industry.  My writing has been on a back burner for too long. I was trying to use shielding and isolating time to write a best-selling novel or a brilliant TV series, but they’ve both been done, not by me, by the way, and I’ve been struggling to concentrate lately.  There are lots of things on my retirement list and I certainly won’t get bored. I might get fat(ter) on home-made baking, but never bored. I’ll enjoy finding out who I am, so let’s bring it on.

My poem,

When I can please myself on what I want to do each day
Without the stress and strain of doing my job in the way,
I will take time to rest, to think and to learn who I am,
Apart from a wife, a mother and a nanna called Pam.

My wardrobe’s full of Marks and Spencers matching navy blues,
Formal skirts and cardies and some uniform slim-line trews.
Tunic length NHS blouses, navy with polka dots,
Pockets stuffed with tissues and hair-ties, a tangle of knots.

Let’s get rid of such strict clothing and find a nice, new style,
Dresses, ear-rings, beads and things I haven’t worn in a while.
Skinny jeans, knee-high boots and a home-made Aran sweater,
My family and freedom will soon make me feel better.

I’ll wear long, floaty skirts and lipstick, and I’ll paint my nails,
I’ll join in with other WASPI girls on some campaign trails
And hope some good may come of it, though it’s too late for me
So many ‘50s women need to set their pensions free.

PMW 2021

Thanks for reading, stay safe, Pam x

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Trust: My list of ridiculous experiences.

As Plebgate rolls on and on, for 'lists' week I thought I'd share my most memorable encounters with the police. 

I will start by saying that, on the whole, I like to think I could trust the police. Most coppers I have met genuinely want to be a force for good, strive for an excellent service and, rather a lot like soldiers, are tarred by one or two knobheads that decide torture and power are perks of the job. This is ultimately headlined, written in large on the Daily Mail and made as fact. I like to think I could trust 99% of them, but in making this list, perhaps that number is just wildly optimistic. 

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I just haven't got a clue what to do

This weeks theme is LISTS.

To be honest, I'm not very good at TO DO LISTS. If I  make one, I forget to look at it, or I forget to make one in the first place.

This is the only way I would ever succeed with a TO DO LIST

1. Make a TO DO LIST
2. Do at list one thing on your TO DO LIST
3. Go to the pub to celebrate crossing 3 things off your TO DO LIST

I'm not very good with other kinds of LISTS either. SHOPPING LISTS make me buy stuff I haven't written down. FAVOURITES LISTS drive me mad because I can never choose a top 5 anything without arguing with myself. Sometimes my personal discussions escalate and I end up taking myself outside for a fight, which I'm also not very good at and have lost the last five times this has happened.

I tried making a HIT LIST, don't kill anyone. I had a go at a BUCKET LIST but gave up after I'd acquired a yellow one with a blue handle. I even wrote a THINGS TO DO BEFORE I'M 50 LIST but then realised I'd actually achieved most of them already.

It's safe to say that LISTS and me do not get on. It's just not how my mind works.

LIST OF LISTS (found in this blog)

1. TO DO
2. SHOPPING
3. FAVOURITES
4. HIT
5. BUCKET
6. THINGS TO DO BEFORE I'M 50

LIST OF LISTS (not found in the blog, but are now in this blog due to this LIST)

1. WORST
2. WISH
3. WAITING
4. PROS & CONS
5. CONTENTS
6. NEW YEARS HONOURS

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