A few days prior to a procedure to fix Mr C’s unexpected health condition that caused us to cancel our Madeira trip in October we had a last minute day trip to London.

We enjoyed a special meal deal in The Ivy looking towards Tower Bridge, our destination for the day. Tower Bridge with its glass walkways and views of London from above is well worth a visit. After our tour of the bridge we had hoped to visit the nearby Tower of London but in winter months it closes earlier, meaning we had run out of time. Instead we visited Foyles book shop where neither of us were tempted to buy anything.

A couple of days later I took Mr C on the 50 minute drive to the hospital (in appalling weather) where his procedure to remove some anomalous non-malignant cells was due to take place. General anaesthetic was administered but when the consultant prepared to do the procedure he found that the anomalous cells had vanished…

He was allowed home rather than having to stay in hospital overnight. Another 50 minute there and back again journey for me. We stopped on the way home to pick up something for our evening meal. A cup of tea was in order and we were tempted by naughty cakes.

Recently our outside security light stopped working. We got it checked by an electrician who told us that the light fitting was broken and needed to be replaced. Locally you can have any colour light you like as long as it is black. Our Sunday mission was to go a little further afield to a countryside shop that we thought might stock a white outdoor light.

In the morning before setting off on our mission we visited mum who completely blanked me, turning away from me and pulling her hand away, so I gave her a quick hug and left. Sadly on this occasion she knew what she was doing.

This meant that we had lunch in Mere Park earlier than we had expected which was not a bad thing as the service is always rather slow. The food however is always delicious and on this occasion I chose poached salmon and pasta salad. Arriving early also meant more time for browsing the store. We ended up leaving with some new cushions for our outdoor chairs; our current ones are showing their age and the seat pads have become uncomfortable. I also couldn’t resist buying another colouring book as if I didn’t have enough already.

When we visited the outdoor countryside shop that I had in mind I realised that I had muddled it up with another shop. Mr C came to the conclusion that shop I had been thinking of was Charlie’s in Shrewsbury. Mr C was right and so was I with regards to the lights; they had several lights in white to choose from. We left with our purchase and arrived home just in time for pre dinner drinks with the elder Mr & Mrs C.

Later at home we enjoyed Normandy Pork which had been cooking to perfection in the slow cooker whilst we had been out on our adventures.