Men can't shop without being supervised!

What happens when someone goes shopping alone (no not me!)
He comes back saying " you will be proud of me I got a BOGOF" "well done" I replied and thought no more about it.
Then this morning when I was tidying up I noticed these.......

The conversation then went:_

Me "what colour shirts did you buy"?
Embee "white of course"
Me " no they are pink"
Embee "put them in bleach"
Me "No  they will have to be returned: do you have the receipt"?
Embee "I think so"
Me "will need to be sooner rather than later"
Embee "well you wouldn't come with me"!
Me "no I couldn't I was actually at work earning money"

End of conversation he started reading the newspaper.

As it happens I do need something at out local Mall so you can guess what I will be doing this afternoon- Oh he did say there probably weren't any white ones  so let's hope they will refund!

P.S. One thing I will add in his defence is that he is colour blind!

Fun Monday # 96 and Shopping

I am totally disorientated and forgot that it should have been a Fun Monday post today! So this is a rapid addition to what I have already published below.

Sayre is our charming host, today, and she wants to know two things about our holiday:

What was the most touching, wonderful part of Christmas for you this year?
AND What was the craziest, stupidest, funniest part this year?

For me having the family here is always the best part of Christmas, and talking to Sam on skype as she can't be here. I have to say that this year I was in a panic because for some reason my turkey did not seem to cook properly and I thought my roast potatoes would never crisp up so it was an absolute relief when we at down to eat and everyone said it ws the best turkey we'd ever had. Mind you, I do recall we have said that in the past but not every year. I do think this year it was a melt in your mouth experience and the potatoes, cooked in goose fat, were perfect.

Normally I don't get surprised with my Christmas presents but this year the family managed it and I had absolutely no idea what I was getting. Beccy and family bought me a digital photo frame and Embee bought me a magnetic board to accommodate my overflow of fridge magnets, also I can use it for messages. So quite a novel idea, he even managed to get it into the house and hide it without me seeing it which has to be a first!!! (I will be showing a few photos tomorrow).

I don't have any funny, stupid or crazy things to tell you. Well my daughter would say I'm crazy because I buy too much food and it never all gets eating. I just want to make sure we don't run out of things (and it means I don't need to shop for at least another week!)

Sorry this is such a lame post...my New Year Resolution should be to do better but then I don't make *resolutions* because I would be setting myself up to fail!

Next week (5/1/09) Summit Musings will be hosting. Be sure to visit for the assignment.
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Yesterday, the family chose to do some shopping on their final day here in Bristol. We ventured to The Mall and it was not really particularly busy, which was a pleasant surprise.
Embee went off by himself and came back with a shirt he had seen before Christmas. It was in the sale and £10 cheaper so he was delighted.
Ben wanted to go and see Madagascar -Escape to Africa so Joules took him to the cinema.
Mollie decided to spend a lot of her money on some shoes. I'm not sure about the height of the heels but apparently all her friends wear them. Beccy tried them on and though they were very comfortable. My guess is she won't wear them very often but I might be proved wrong!Dillon sat and watched proceedings and did his best to dissuade her.My grand daughter can be a very determined young lady when she chooses...I wonder who she takes after!!! Her mother and her Auntie Sam I think!!!

How much did I spend?...the grand sum of 50 pence (reduced from £1.50..the last of the big spenders!!) on a new ice scraper for the car!

Today-we were up at 5:30am and Embee dropped them to Bristol International airport-I've just had a text to say they are safely back in Dublin and in the car heading home.
We had a great few days and it won't be long until I see them again because I have already booked a flight for February.

Archives:
2007: Home from the big smoke
2006: Friday 29th

Post card from Dublin

Just thought I would share a picture of my youngest grandson Ben hulling strawberries and doing his bit for the environment by using the compost bin. Beccy has him well trained!

The weather seems to have changed for the worst since I arrived here, it's much colder and has been raining quite a lot.

Yesterday we went to buy Mollie some school shoes. Well to be exact she wanted to exchange the ones her mother bought a couple of months back as she felt they were uncomfortable. Luckily she mentioned it before she wore them outside. The problem we had was that every pair of shoes she tried on didn't fit properly or they they didn't have them in her size. After much searching we did finally find a pair she liked that fitted her. You can imagine the relief!

While all this was going on Ben was more than a little bit bored so he chose McDonalds for lunch after which we took him to look at the new Hamley's Toy Shop that had just opened in Dundrum Shopping Centre. It would have been easy to spend a fortune and from the number of people shopping it certainly didn't look as though there was any evidence of a recession! Or maybe everyone was just looking like us!


Archives:
2007: Bog Frogs

BHS (British Home Stores)

If I was clever (like my youngest daughter Beccy) I would write an open letter to British Home Stores. Having just looked for their web site I'm not sure whether to be impressed for their simplicity or more annoyed because it is as bland as their in store customer services. Let me explain:

When Beccy was staying with me at Christmas we went looking for a new coat for my grandaughter and in case you don't want to read the link we found one in BHS. Now unfortunately within six weeks the pull up on zip fastener had broken off, she could still manage to do it up but we felt this was not really acceptable after such little use. On my last trip to Dublin I returned with the coat but no receipt (it had been thrown away) I took the coat back to the store hoping for an exchange. Of course the coats were now in the sale and greatly reduced and they did not have one in the same size. The young lady on customer services was very helpful and rang other stores but to no avail, she discussed with a supervisor who agreed I could try and get it repaired and they would pay the cost if it was not too much. He assured me that if I couldn't get it done I could have a full refund. After chatting with Beccy we decided that it was not really worth it as there would then be additional costs of posting the coat back. So today I went back for the refund and they then told me without the receipt or proof of purchase I could not get a full refund, I argued put my point and the girl who served me last week suddenly appeared, she remembered me but insisted and I quote "I would have told you" the refund would only be for the sale price-noooo I don't think. The manager who dealt with me last week was not on duty and this manager would not budge. When I explained that I had brought the coat over from Dublin the response I got was they have a BHS in Dublin. Really I said "I don't think my daughter realises this as it would have saved us so much trouble," I asked if I could have the address, the manager looked in her book "sorry it's not listed." I think that says it all and I left the store feeling frustrated, angry and realising why I have never liked the store anyway.

The frustration was compounded because I had just been on a wild goose chase to another store ASDA (owned by Walmart) where I had been told I would find this...



But no luck, staff there were equally unhelpful. Both Sam and Beccy want a jar and hubby would like to try it- I am banking on Sainsbury's selling it from March 7th onwards but I have lost faith in what customer services are telling me- maybe my faith will be restored.

I just tried ringing my daughter to be told by my 6 yr old grandson she was out at 'PowerCity' and I'm hoping he was joking when he said he wouldn't tell her I phoned. Must send a text to see if she's back yet.

PS Spoken to my Beccy who now has to send me her credit card statement so that I can prove we bought it at full price and I can see the next problem will be that they will want to refund to her credit card and will want that produced which of course will be impossible.
(my grandson did not tell her I had phoned but worse he had not turned the phone off and the line had been open for over 2 hours which explains why I was getting the engaged tone when I tried to call again- I think he might just be in a little trouble but he's only just beginning to answer the phone)

PPS Just wondered did anyone see the eclipse of the moonlast night, we had a brilliant view around 11pm.

Pink Saucepans!!!

Do you remember Beccy's new kettle. Well I was walking through Marks and Spencers on my way to get some currency (euro and dollar very good exchange rates at the moment so thought I would get stocked up for the year ahead) and what did I see their new range of kitchen ware that immediately made me think of the kettle. I took this photo of the pink saucepans and they had pale green on display as well. They were not very expensive so probably not particularly good quality but lots of fun and they would brighten up the kitchen.

Emerald Isle

It has rained non-stop today, but as we had planned a shopping morning it didn't really matter too much. For a long time now I have been looking for a pair of brown boots and the first pair I tried on were exactly what I had in mind so I promptly bought them and it is one of the quickest purchases I have made for a long time.






Beccy has been wanting some measuring cups to help her with recipes that don't have conversions and we found a set of oval shaped orange silicone cups in House of Fraser in Dundrum shopping Centre. We were not able to find any spoon measures which surprised us so its back to guessing for a while longer. The cups have already been put to good use but I'll save that for another day.

I decided to give myself a treat

I don't think you could call me a shopaholic unless, of course, I am buying for my grandchildren and then I can't resist. Today when I was doing my grocery shop I decided to take a peek at the clothes and accessories aisles. I saw a rather nice handbag and convinced myself that I really did need to keep my hands free for taking photos on my forth coming trip to the states and this would be ideal, so it found its way into my trolley. Then I happened to see a cardigan that is just right for this time of the year and would be an asset to my travel wardrobe so I decided to bring it home and just try it on and the best part was I was able to get a £5 discount so that made it a bargain. What could be better!!


Unfortunately the first photo does not clearly show the handbag so let's see if my second attempt is any improvement.
Well at least you can see the bag now! In case there is any doubt the colour is brown.

Aching legs

Today is a memorable day for a colleague of mine as she retires today. When I popped in to see her earlier, she was busy packing up her office ready to return the equipment. After a quick cup of coffee, thank you Sue, and a chat I then went on to shop at Makro for some party items, including drinks. I got a bit carried away and I hesitate to say, as its so early, but I bought Christmas cards and wrapping paper (I shall probably put it all away and forget where and then when the time comes buy more; I am allowed senior moments now). My mother asked me to buy a vase for her to give as a present so I called in to The Mall a local retail outlet, found just the thing in M&S and I am now back at home; lots of walking hence the acking legs and no lunch. So as it was already 15:45 I made a quick pitta bread with tuna and salad and decided I deserved a rest sitting at the computer.
I could tell from the look on my mother's face she was not impressed with the vase (it has to be very fussy e.g. lots of flowers for my mother to like it; instead this is a simple clear vase that would suit any room or decor). She did concede that it was just right so I won't have to take it back which is what usually happens. I don't think the photo does it justice what do you think?. For the photographers, I know that I have some reflection on it but was unable to remove this. I can see I need to update my programmes for more versatility.
I shall spend the evening preparing for tomorrow's lunch party and I am not sure if I will get time to write about it until Thursday so may not post tomorrow.