Saturday ramblings.

Once again this morning I woke up to relative calm, after having heard quite a bit of rain and hail during the night. The sky was relatively clear but I remembered yesterday’s experience and when I set off to run Input on a better waterproof than yesterday’s flimsy affair. This was just as well, for the promised snow proceeded to fall when I was half way round the village. It was thin sleety stuff and the ground was really too wet for it to stick. Nonetheless, it WAS snow, as promised by the weathermen. 

Yesterday evening my eldest granddaughter sent me a message: “Trees have fallen in Delph. No evening walks, Grandma!” Well, I wasn’t planning any evening walks but this morning there were no fallen trees on my route! They must have been in a different bit of Delph.

Despite the forecast inclement weather, my daughter proposed an expedition, but only to IKEA, so hardly demanding too much cold weather gear. So late in the morning I hopped on a bus so that I could meet her at IKEA. My bus was on time but further along the route, in the section that has buses every 15 minutes, rather every 30 minutes as on our bit of the route, people got on grumbling that at least 2 buses had failed to turn up. They had been waiting for almost three quarters of an hour, not pleasant in sleety, cold conditions. One lady gave me most of her life story, beginning with the rheumatoid arthritis she suffers from now and going back to her football-playing youth. I wonder if her football-playing youth had anything to do with her current condition. Most likely it was never having chance to get warm after her matches in those days when girls didn’t get to play much in town teams! 

The weather cleared up by the time I reached the bus station close to IKEA but it remained rather cold.  

I met my daughter and various offspring in the entrance to IKEA and we made our way round, with the smallest offspring setting up house in every display area - slow progress but good for their imagination! I was looking for lampshades, which I found on display only to discover they were out of stock. The same happened to a few items my daughter was looking for. Most annoying! I wonder if there are supply problems!

Here’s an item from 2019 which someone has posted on social media:

“A British woman has complained that her Spanish holiday was ruined by, er, too many Spanish people.

81-year-old Freda Jacksonsaid she was left in tears because of ‘rude’ Spanish guests and said entertainment and food catered only for the Spaniards.

“The hotel was full of Spanish holidaymakers and they really got on our nerves because they were just so rude.

“The entertainment in the hotel was all focused and catered for the Spanish – why can’t the Spanish go somewhere else for their holidays?”

It wasn’t all Freda had to say. She has mobility issues and was originally put on the 14th floor before being moved to the second floor, but still had 42 steps to get to the pool.”

I suppose at 81 she might be forgiven for being a little intolerant but I wonder if she ever thinks of foreign visitors who come to the UK and find that we only speak English for the most part. 

I was reminded of the members of the Crosby Cross-Denominational Pilgrimage Society I met in Santiago de Compostela airport about 15 years ago. One of them complained to me about their hotel and told me that in the suggestions box in the foyer she had put her little idea: “Speak English!”

So it goes. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!