The week began with a conundrum. My shopping came to £11.33 and I handed the cashier (an unsmiling young lad) a £20 note. The change was handed to me…£12. Mmmm I asked for the receipt which he also scrutinised but evidently floored by it. I gently suggested that £9 was the change and looked at the receipt. I was also floored by it. He took back the £12 and gave me £9. Still unsmiling and somewhat cross as well by now. I was trying to be kind as I thought he would be in trouble if the till did not balance. I later returned to the customer service with the till receipt as I was still not sure the till would be correct, especially as I had seen that the £12 change nearly matched the cost of the shopping, but the amount keyed in had been £40.66. Although I had not been given the change the till said of £29.33! The customer service assured me that the till would actually see that everything was there. I left. Uncomfortable but satisfied I had done everything I could.
Midweek contained a double treat. Coming out from the theatre to see a large, full, ‘strawberry’ moon, rounded off a lovely evening enjoying great acting in an Alan Ayckbourn play. Although the play was one of his later ones and not so enjoyable as the earlier ones, the acting was superb. Live theatre is always a treat. Seeing a full moon just above the sea is always a treat. The two on one evening was amazing.
I enjoyed a comfortable train ride to Salisbury where I met up with an old friend for a pleasant amble around the town inbetween teashops. We visited Mompesson House which I had not been in before. It was a comfortable home containing beautiful paintings and Regency furniture and a well-presented library of ancient tomes.
On Saturday, I bravely introduced myself to the neighbours over the other side of our boundary hedge. They were most agreeable to keeping the height of the hedge to block out some lightbulbs on their garage, when I explained I was an amateur astronomer. They have a neighbour opposite them who has his own observatory in his garden, and who was from the Met Office. Their daughter also attended Colyton so I may know them anyway!
Saturday afternoon was exhausting…with armchair sport! The Wales v Fiji rugby was everything you could wish for, including a nice win from the talented young Welsh side, one of whom managed a really sneaky manoeuvre to stop a Fijian try. British ‘wildcard’ tennis player, Arthur Fery, won his match after a strenuous 5 sets of gloriously clean tennis. Lovely to watch.
And so, the week came to an end, rounded off by a local garden visit in the warm sunshine. Not only was the garden very attractive, but there were several seating areas in which one could relax with a cup of tea and a generous slice of strawberry and fresh cream cake.
Karen Hedges 