APPLE CAKE WITH WALNUTS AND DATES

Good Morning to you,

Have you ever had a conversation with your mother, which is not as straight forward as you thought it would be. When the conversation begins, you think you know what your mother is talking about, but as the conversation progresses you become a little confused. 

The trick to conversations with my mother Phyllis, is to pick up little clues along the way, which hopefully will point me in the right direction.  And with a little luck I finally reach the point, where I am in tune with Phyllis and I know exactly what she is talking about.

.... and I had one such conversation with Phyllis on Sunday morning.

We talked about how she was feeling and what she had been up to during the weekend.

She mentioned that she had met her friend Jean and they had decided to go out for lunch.  During lunch, Jean told Phyllis about a new taxi company which had arrived in their area

.... and this is where the funny story begins.

Phyllis:  Jean was telling me that there is a new taxi company starting up here in town. You'll never guess its name. The company is called Hoover Taxis.

Daphne:  Oh said I, that is a strange name for a taxi company.  Are you sure the name is Hoover.

Phyllis:  Oh yes, said Phyllis.  I remember it because it made me think of my hoover (vacuum cleaner).

Daphne:  Funny you should say that, because that is exactly what I was thinking.   The name certainly doesn't make me think of a taxi service. 

I then said with a smile on my face, maybe the name implies that they hope to 'suck up' all the competition in the local area. At this we both laughed.  I then asked Phyllis, how do you spell the name?

Phyllis:  The same way you spell Hoover.

Daphne:  Or maybe it's spelt with a 'u' instead of double 'o'.... Huver.  Even so, I can't say that I've ever heard of the company.

Phyllis:  Maybe it hasn't arrived in Newcastle.  Maybe they will be in your area sometime next year. 

Phyllis went on to say. I think it is disgraceful that Hoover employ people on zero hours contracts.  How on earth are people able to support themselves and their families when they don't know how much they will earn from week to week.  No wonder so many people are struggling financially.

Daphne:  Then the penny dropped, I don't know if Phyllis was correct about zero hours contracts, because I thought the drivers were self employed, but I suddenly realised,  Phyllis was saying Hoover, when she must mean Uber.  So I said 'Oh I know which taxi company you are talking about.... the name is Uber mum, not Hoover.

Phyllis:  Yes, that's what I said, Hoover.

Daphne:  No mum, the taxi company is called Uber and I spelt the name out for her.... U.B.E.R.

Phyllis:  I'm sure Jean said Hoover.  Anyway that is a silly name for a taxi company.  I can easily remember Hoover, but Uber just doesn't sound right.  I feel sure there should be an 'H' in front of the 'U'.

Daphne:  That maybe so, but mum, the company is still called Uber.

Phyllis:  Well they didn't think that through, did they? If they had asked me, I would have told them that Hoover is  a much easier name to remember.

At this point I felt the conversation was rapidly going down hill and I really wasn't making any headway with Phyllis, so I decided to leave well alone and not correct Phyllis when she called the taxi company Hoover instead of Uber.

.... after all, it really makes no odds to Phyllis, as she will not be using the Uber taxi service anytime soon.

So after all the confusion with the pronunciation of Uber, or is it Hoover.... there is no confusion about today's cake, because we are baking,

an Apple cake with a difference, we are adding grated apple along with dates and walnuts.... and it is divine.

But first, if you have been reading Ivy, Phyllis and Me! for a while, then you will know how much I love listening to music.  I do not have a favourite style, I am open to all types of music, but the music I am listening to today, for me, is timeless,

The Good Life sung by the fabulous Tony Bennett.  I love this song, but it also reminds me of my recent visit to see Phyllis.  

In the evening we would settle down to watch an episode of the 1970s comedy series 'The Good Life' and I remember George and I watching this series, when it was originally aired by the BBC in the 1970s. Back then, it was such a popular series and do you know something, it still made us smile the second time around.

So it's on with the pinnie and time to gather my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

YOU WILL NEED

TO MAKE

APPLE CAKE WITH WALNUTS AND DATES

225g self raising wholemeal flour

5ml baking powder

10ml ground mixed spice

175g chopped dates

75g dark brown sugar

120ml apple juice

2 large eggs 

90ml sunflower oil

2 eating apples

TOPPING

15ml chopped walnuts

YOU WILL ALSO NEED

1 kg loaf tin

1 teaspoon of butter

piece of parchment paper

Pre-heat oven 180C/160C Fan

HOW TO MAKE

APPLE CAKE

WITH WALNUTS AND DATES

Butter and line the loaf tin with parchment paper.

Using a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spices.

Add the dark brown sugar and chopped dates. 

Using the side of a fork, break up any dates which clump together.
Set aside for the moment.

Using a small bowl, beat the eggs,

add the apple juice

and

oil 

and mix together.

Core and grate the apples.

add to the wet ingredients.

Stir

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients

and 

stir well to incorporate all the ingredients.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin

and

sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test using a cake skewer.  I find this is the easiest way to check that a cake is baked.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes on a cake rack

Remove the cake from the loaf tin and leave to completely cool on the cake rack.

Actually, this cake is nice eaten warm.

Then find yourself a cake plate, cut yourself a slice of cake

and

enjoy.

You will find that this is not an ultra sweet cake, but when you bite into one of the chopped dates, you will have a lovely sweet explosion in your mouth.

Also I do not bother to peel the apples, I did once and found it did not make any difference to the texture of the cake.

.... and George, my taste tester,  what did he think of the cake.  

When I asked him, a lovely smile spread across his face and he carried on eating. 

I took it to mean, he enjoyed the cake.

Oh and by the way, today's featured recipe is a Dorset Apple Cake which I wrote in June 2012.... My goodness, I have just noticed how much I have learnt since my early posts.  Hence the photograph of Ivy's cooker appearing first, instead of the photograph of the Dorset Apple Cake. I am still very proud of what I achieved back then, because I really knew absolutely nothing about blogging, but as they say, 'It's onwards and upwards'.

Take care and I will catch up with you next Thursday.

As Always,

100 YEARS OLD ~ BIRTHDAY CARD FROM QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Good Afternoon to you,

I am so sorry that I did not write to you last week, but I really did not have the time to let you know, that I travelled south to visit my mother, Phyllis.

Phyllis is well, if a little shaken, as sadly a member of our family suffered a severe heart attack at the age of 59 years.  As you can imagine, on receiving the phone call, we were shocked and our immediate thought was to be with Phyllis. George, in his military fashion, decided the best approach would be to organise ourselves and decide what we needed to take. So we sprang into action and started making lists for what we needed to take to Phyllis to make the visit easier for her.

I did not want Phyllis fretting about cooking and buying extra food, so before I left, I did some grocery shopping. I also cooked some meals to take with me, because at times like these, cooking and shopping is the last thing we want to think about. So I loaded my rice cooker, slow cooker, my cooked meals and 3 bags of food, into the car and at 5.00 am, we left Newcastle to travel to the south of England.

We made good time, but if you have ever travelled the M1 and M25, then you know how horrendous it can be.  Traffic can be bumper to bumper, especially during rush hour and there can be many holdups along the motorways.  But because we had left Newcastle so early, apart from a couple of small holdups on the M25, we sailed through to the south of England.

Once there, as you can imagine there was a lot of running around to do.  We visited our family member and I was so relieved to discover, the operation he underwent, had been a success and for that I say a huge thank you to our National Health Service.  

There was a lot of driving around to do, but during quieter moments, Phyllis talked to me about her sister, my Aunt Molly, who had recently passed away  at the grand old age of 101 years.

Phyllis said, for her, the loss was immense as Aunt Molly had played such an important role in her life. Aunt Molly was born on 6th January 1916 and was the eldest of all the daughters, with Phyllis being the youngest daughter.

Phyllis then opened an envelope and showed me a birthday card which Aunt Molly had received from our Queen, Elizabeth II. The card read,

You will notice in the bottom left hand corner the name Mrs Frances Farmer.  Francis was Aunt Molly's first name, but Phyllis had only known her sister as Molly.  I really did not know that Aunt Molly's real name was Francis, until quite recently, when my cousin Sue told me and she didn't have a clue as to the origin of Molly. It was one of those questions I kept meaning to ask, but never got around to.

Molly is usually a nick name for Margaret or Mary, but Aunt Molly was neither a Margaret or a Mary.  It is curious that we don't know why she was called Molly, if only we had asked.

Like me, one of Aunt Molly's passions was gardening and I like to think this is where my love of gardening came from.  Aunt Molly's garden was huge, with the top half being planted with flowers, as you can see from this photograph, taken during Spring time. The garden was a riot of Daffodils, Stocks and Grape Hyacinths, with a beautiful flowering Cherry tree in the centre of the oval flower bed.

This was just the centre of the garden, as the boarders,

were filled to bursting point.  Aunt Molly tended the flower garden whilst Uncle Reg looked after the huge vegetable plot and neither interfered with the other, although I do remember Uncle Reg telling me that Aunt Molly would try to give him advice, but he was such a seasoned gardener, he really did not need any advice..... but that did not stop Aunt Molly from trying.

Talking of vegetables, I remember Phyllis and I went to a family wedding and we visited Aunt Molly, who  at the time, owned and ran a fruit and vegetable shop. She loved working in the shop as she enjoyed meeting and talking to people. She would greet everyone with 'How are you today Me Duck'. 'Me Duck' is a term of affection in Worcester, as 'Pet or Hinny' is here in Newcastle.

Now when you own a shop, you expect to turn a profit, but the problem was, Aunt Molly was not making any money and the family could not understand why. There didn't appear to be any reason, as the shop was in a good location with lots of passing shoppers. Later the family discovered that  when the older generation came to buy their fruit and vegetables, Aunt Molly would not charge them.  She felt, at the time, that the vast majority of senior citizens, were living on small pensions and could do with a little extra help, which of course, she provided.  Consequently, after a few years, Aunt Molly had to close the shop, because it was running at a loss. Even so, she continued to refuse to charge the senior citizens and gave them free produce up until the shop closed.... what a kind heart she had.

Then from another envelope, Phyllis showed me a sheet a paper showing me the cost of living in 1916.

I was fascinated to discover.

A loaf of bread cost  cost 3 1/2d

Remember, this was when there were 12d to the shilling.

By comparison a pound of butter cost 2s 8d which was a lot of money when you consider the working wage was £2 6d a week. No wonder when my Nan Ivy was a child, she could have a slice of bread, with either butter or jam spread on the bread, but certainly not both.

A 3 bedroom house cost £330, which seems cheap by today's standards, but when an average wage was £2 6d a week, £330 must have seemed like a vast amount of money.

The price of a newspaper was 1 1/2d

Whilst a new car would cost £200

The reigning Monarch was King George V

and the

President of the United States was Woodrow Wilson

Our Prime Minister was David Lloyd George

and the most popular song was,

Ireland Must be Heaven, For my Mother Came From There 

by Charles Harrison.

I was so pleased to discover this song on YouTube.... it is a little crackly, but then it is over 100 years old.

I was thinking also about the vast changes which occurred during Aunt Molly's life.  I really think it is time I started to record the changes which have occurred since I have been alive. I think I will be surprised when I make my list.

For instance, I never imagined I would be able to speak to my daughters via Skype.  I remember seeing a similar thing happening in a 1990s film,  thinking, it would be amazing to be able to speak to each other, face to face, rather than via the telephone.

.... and here we are doing it.... who would have thought it.

So after a few more visits to our family member, it was time to say goodbye and return home to Newcastle.

We left Phyllis stocked with food, so that she did not need to worry about shopping for a while. I popped food I had made into her freezer, again to make things a little easier for her.

I am pleased to say, although she seemed very tired when we arrived, by the time we were due to leave, her spirits had lifted.  This was mainly due to our family member recovering from his operation.... but also, because Danielle drove over to visit us.... and she is just like George, she always makes Phyllis laugh.

.... and as we all know, laughter is the best medicine.

Take care and I will catch up with you next Thursday.

As Always,

ART WORK AROUND MY HOME

Good Morning to you,

Oh my, oh my.... this English weather of ours.

I had fully intended to update you on the progress we have made in our garden, but the weather interceded and I had to change my plans. The rain just keeps pouring from the sky and it seems to be never ending.

.... and on Monday we experienced some very strange weather.  At about 2.00 pm  an eerie haze appeared in the sky, it felt more like dusk than early afternoon. We watched for a while, thinking the haze would pass, but it stayed for an hour or more.  Later that evening we discovered the haze was due to sand from the Sahara Desert, travelling on the wind, mixed with debris from the dreadful fires raging in Portugal. It was certainly an odd thing to witness.

Although this is not the first time we have experienced this phenomenon, as a similar thing happened when we lived in Cyprus. During October, we would often wake to discover trees, shrubs and paths were covered in fine red dust and it was a devil to remove from the car, but interestingly the dust never effected the sky.

Then yesterday we endured the last throws of Hurricane Ophelia. I still went to my sewing group, but my goodness, it was difficult to walk, as the wind took my breath away.  Then today the rain has poured from the skies.  I was keeping my fingers crossed for a break in the weather, but it didn't appear.  So I had to have a re-think what I was going to do today.

I was sat on my settee, looking out at my garden, when the penny dropped.  I could not show you my garden, but I could show you the art work around my home.  It was the colours from the garden that gave me the inspiration.

Now art work is subjective.  You might love the pictures which hang on my walls, or you might not, but what I think you will agree is that our collection is very eclectic.

We are all very different when it comes to deciding what to hang on our walls. Some people, find that wallpaper provides the colour and interest they are looking for, whereas I  prefer adding pictures  and objet d'art, as each piece provides a memory of our years together. I can look at a piece and remember exactly where we were when it was bought.

Our art work is mostly inspired by our travels and sometimes from rummaging around junk shops. It is amazing what can be found. Sometimes the most perfect picture can be found in the most unexpected of places.... such as a charity shop. Maybe the frame is wrong, but the picture is perfect.  This can be easily remedied by replacing the frame to fit in with your decor. I genuinely never tire of each and every picture which hangs on our walls, each individual piece  is still loved, as much as it was the first moment it was brought into our home.  The pictures may change their placement, but to be honest that does not happen very often, once something has found its home, it tends to stay there.

For instance, I love hanging pictures in my kitchen, if there is a space, then it is filled. You can tell that I am not a minimalist. My current kitchen is not as large as my previous kitchen, but there is still plenty of wall space for me to cover,

and this vibrant Matisse print is perfectly placed in my new kitchen. I love this print because it reminds me of the days when we lived in Cyprus.  It really fills my heart with joy when I look at it, as the blue is the colour of the summer Mediterranean sky and the lemons remind me of when we grew our own lemons.  I remember the first time I made houmous (hummus), I picked the lemons from our tree, I squeezed them to release their juice, forgetting how juicy fresh Cypriot lemons were, yes you've guessed it,  I added far too much lemon juice and my houmous (hummus), well, it felt as if I was actually sucking on the lemon.

My new kitchen is an L shape kitchen, so I have plenty of space to enjoy these Cambodian dancers by Auguste Rodin. Whilst I  cook I can imagine the dancers swishing their sampots as they dance.

I love how they have been drawn, they are almost ethereal. As I love dancing around my kitchen these are the perfect prints to be hung on my kitchen wall.

This photograph makes me happy and sad at the same time.  If you have ever visited a Middle Eastern spice market, then you will know how vibrant the colours are, but there is a tinge of sadness to this photograph, because the market is almost empty, it makes me think of all the displaced families in the Middle East.  This should be a spice market which is filled with noise, with people busy buying their spices.

.... and in complete contrast, I did say I had an eclectic mix of pictures, are these two beauties,

which I bought in Italy. They are both hand painted and the frames are handmade in wood.   Because they were handmade, I love the thought that no two paintings are the same.  I adore the large frames because they make me feel as if I am looking through a window, actually, I would say I would be discreetly looking between the beautiful plants sitting on the windowsill.

Now this piece of art, you may love as I do, or you may dislike it, as members of my family do.  This was bought in New Dehli from a cooperative. Villagers would bring in their goods and the cooperative would sell them and make sure that each piece was priced fairly.  The brass has been hand beaten to create this beautiful design and I love the fact that the beauty of the brass is offset by the dark wood.

I loved visiting India, it is such a beautiful country with so much colour and vibrancy, but it is also a country with huge poverty levels. When I look at the picture it reminds me of the extreme poverty I witnessed and each day it reminds me to be thankful for the quality of my life.... it also reminds me to focus on what I have and not what I wish I had. 

Now these beautiful young ladies were bought on a visit to France.  I loved this print at first sight and knew exactly where I wanted to hang it.... but there was a problem.... there were two different prints which I loved as much as the other.  But as is always the way, money comes into the equation and I could not afford 2, so I had to choose which one to buy.  So after much consideration and a lot of mind changing, I chose these two lovely girls.

We brought the print home and the minute it was placed on the wall, we fell in love with it, all over again.

.... but I also had the perfect space for,

this beautiful girl who was left behind.  Now I was not the only one who loved these prints.... George did.  So a month or so later, George decided to go to France for a day trip,  in the hope that this young lady was still waiting for us.... and do you know she was still hung in the shop waiting to be bought.  It was destiny, she was meant to come and live with us.

.... and the final piece of work I want to show you is,

this 1960s inspired piece of applique and embroidery.... I absolutely love it.  I was a teenager during the late '60s and I vividly remember the use of oranges and golds.  In 1970 these colours were popular for the home as well as clothing. I remember having wallpaper with large orange and yellow flowers, I think this was the only time we had wallpaper on our walls. That was a feast for the eyes.... popular then, but nowadays I could not imagine living with such bright colours, although I do believe they are coming back into fashion.  Phyllis said when she visited our first home, the living room was so vibrant, it felt like she was visiting a discotheque.... do we even use such a word nowadays. 

.... and guess where I found it?

At a car boot sale a couple of years ago.  It was propped up against an old mangle.  Well of course the mangle caught my eye first, because I thought it would be the perfect garden ornament, but the vendor was asking far too much money for it. Which was a shame because George remembered, as a child, his grandmother using a mangle in their backyard and he had the same thought, as I did, that it would be lovely to have climbing roses scrambling through the mangle, but it was not meant to be. So I decided to walk over to look at this piece of embroidery which was propped up against the mangle and I loved it.  

At first glance it looked like a 'naive' piece, but in actual fact it is a well thought out piece.  When I looked on the back of the frame it came from the Grant Iveson Ltd Gallery in Whitley Bay. There is a lot of light and shade in the piece, which, disappointingly,  I have not been able to capture.

I am sorry that you can see the roof of my conservatory, but I tried every which way to take a good photograph.  I propped it up on the end of the sofa, whilst I lay down so that you would not see my reflection.... but that did not work.  I lay it on the floor, again that did not work.  I lent it against my unit, but the vibrant colours could not be seen, so I tried my trusty mannequin, my wicker chair, and whilst you can see the reflection of the conservatory roof, I feel it doesn't detract too much from the design and the colours are perfect.

Actually, each piece I have shown you, had to be removed from its usual home, because of the reflections which could be seen in the glass.  I really must change the glass to non-reflective glass.... maybe someday I will get around to it.

This is just a small proportion of art work I love and I wonder what you feel it says about me.

It is an eclectic mix, but each and every piece I absolutely love.

How about you, what sort of art work do you love? and have you changed your style over the years?

Take care and I will catch up with you next Thursday.

As Always

OUT AND ABOUT WITH MY SHOPPING BASKET

Good Morning to you,

Are you a casual shopper?

Do you enjoy wandering around the shops, for nothing in particular, but to see if there is anything which takes your fancy?

I have to tell you, my days of casual shopping are long gone.

When I was younger, I loved meeting up with my friends to shop.  I shopped with Phyllis and I shopped with Natasha and Danielle and still do when they come to visit, but nowadays I tend not to go to the town as much as I used to.

As I've grown older, I tend to make a note of the items I am running low on.  For instance, if I see that my favourite bottle of perfume is running low, then I write it down in my notepad. I then wait until a few more items have been added, before I take a trip into town.

.... and last Thursday afternoon, I checked my notebook,

and discovered, 

there were enough items on my list to warrant a visit to Newcastle.  I asked George if he fancied a trip into town the following day.  Although before he agreed, he did  check to make sure I was not buying him clothes. When I replied, absolutely not, only then did he agree to come with me.

Now you may be wondering about the 'absolutely not', it does sound rather harsh, but you will understand, when I tell you, that George is a dreadful clothes shopper. He loves wearing nice clothes, but he is an absolute nightmare when it comes to shopping for his clothes, and for someone who is so easy going it really doesn't make sense.  What I have come to realise is, when we were both working, George was super busy and really did not want to think about the clothes he wore, so I took on the role of buying George's clothes.  I would show George the clothes I had bought and he would happily put them on. Although having said that, I do remember on one occasion, I had bought George a pair of brown casual shoes, nothing fancy, just something casual to wear with his corduroy trousers.... yes he loves cords. Well, when I presented the shoes to George, he really did not like them, in fact I would go so far as to say George hated them. 

The offending shoes were relegated to the back of the wardrobe, never to see the light of day, for about 8 years.... honestly I kid you not, 8 years. They were brand new when we moved to Cyprus and they were in the same condition when we returned to England. So a couple of years ago, I decided it was time to do something about the shoes, they really needed to be moved from the back of the wardrobe.  I mentioned to George that I had found the said shoes and if he was not going to wear them, I would donate them to charity.  After all 8 years is a really long time to have a pair of shoes languishing unworn in the back of the wardrobe. George took the shoes and said 'Those are nice, I'll try them on'.  Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather, he really didn't remember them.  I held my tongue as George put on the shoes.  He walked around the room and said 'I like these, they are really comfortable' and so I couldn't help myself, I asked 'How about the colour?' I know, naughty wasn't I,  to which George replied, 'Actually they are nice, I think I'll wear them with my cords'.  Yes he really said that.  Now it could have gone either way, I could have mentioned the fact that George had made such a hullabaloo 8 years ago about the shoes and that was why they remained unworn, but I chose not to follow that tack, because  if I did, I think there would have been a few choice words spoken. So I decided to bite my tongue and say nothing,  so that peace and harmony could remain in the Bryson household.  Although I couldn't help myself, I had to vent my frustration somewhere, so I mentioned what had happened to the girls, who both laughed and said 'That's dad for you!' They then said, 'Don't feel down, you haven't lost your knack, remember, you really do know what dad likes to wear, even if it takes dad a few years to realise it.   So with a smile on my face I left it at that.

So Friday morning arrived and we hopped onto the bus and enjoyed a 30 minute journey into Newcastle. It is so much easier using the bus, rather than trying to find a parking space in town.  It makes the whole shopping experience, much more relaxing.

Our first stop was,

Kiehl's.  I love their products and this Turmeric and Cranberry Seed Masque sounds like it should be added to one of my dishes rather than to my face.  I love this product and I find after applying the masque, my skin looks much brighter afterwards.  I would say that, rather than rinsing off the masque, which contains seeds, I find it easier to use a wet flannel. I buy flannels from the Pound Store and wash them after each use.

The masque is put onto a cleansed skin, left to dry for 5-10 minutes, then water is added to the masque and you gently massage the face before finally removing the masque.

I know turmeric is very popular with ladies who live in India.  Natasha did once bring me a packet of  turmeric from India, especially for the face, but knowing how turmeric stains, I never had the courage to use it.  After all, walking around with a yellow tinge to the face is not a look I like.  However, I promise you, there will be no yellow tinge from this Kiehl's masque, it will leave you with a lovely glow.

We then headed to Holland and Barrett to buy,

some organic quinoa.  I use this quite a lot in my cooking as it is full of protein.  In 2015 we made a Quinoa salad and further back in 2014 we made Tabbouleh using quinoa.

I also bought some Vegan Yeast flakes, because I am trying to introduce more plant based food into our diet.  I was shocked to hear about the way a factory in Bromsgrove dealt with their chickens.  I won't go into detail, suffice it to say, I feel at the moment, a plant based diet is something I am becoming more and more interested in.

.... and now it's time for tea. I wonder, are you like me? Do you sometimes find, when your head is full of 'busy', it is hard to sleep at night. I was talking to Natasha about this, and she suggested trying Valerian tea, as she had read that it was a good aid to sleeping.  So an hour before I go to bed I drink a cup of Valerian tea, and do you know, it's working. What I would say, is, check with your doctor before taking this tea as I know some herbal remedies can interfere with prescribed medications.

It was then time to head over to Neal's Yard.

Are you confused, no it isn't someone's back garden. Neal's Yard is a company which sells ethically sourced products.  My sister in law, Gloria, recommended their products when I visited her a couple of weeks ago. I normally buy Molton Brown products, as I love their hand wash and hand lotion, but when I used the Geranium and Rose hand wash in Gloria's bathroom, I was smitten. I  decided to try the Citrus hand wash and hand lotion as I wanted to use them in my kitchen.  The hand lotion is light and rubs into the hands so easily and the combination of these 2 products are really lovely.

We then headed over to John Lewis where I chose some Christmas material for the 2 quilts I am making. I will not share the material at the moment but I will when I show you the progress I am making with the quilts.

We had thought to stay in town for a coffee, but we were both feeling a little tired, so we decided to head for home, but before we did, there was just one more shop I wanted to pop into. I was hoping to buy a pair of pyjamas for Sadie, my mother in law.

My goodness the buyers must have read my mind, because on a counter near to the entrance, I discovered these lovely flannelette pyjamas,  which I know Sadie will love. It's interesting, because both Sadie and Phyllis, my mother, love pink. Actually I have bought a pair for Phyllis as well.

So job done, we headed for home.  Well almost, as on the way to the bus top, George popped into the Dickman's Pie Shop, where he bought two pork pies.

.... so much for our plant based diet.

Before I leave you, I wanted to say, I am not paid to recommend these products to you.  They are products which I use in my own home and which I thought you would be interested to know about.  I also thought it would be fun to introduce 'Out and About With My Shopping Basket' every 4 weeks.  Sometimes I could share hats... I adore berets, or it could be a scarf or a piece of jewellery, sometimes clothes, maybe flowers, also food.... who knows.  It all depends on what I buy during the week and what I feel will interest you. Knowing me, it will be quite an eclectic mix of items.

So take care and I will catch up with you next Thursday.

As Always,