Bah Humbug!

The shopping is done......what we haven't got now we can do without! Our little village is bursting at the seams and the shopping centres are bedlam.

Christmas is upon us once again!

(All cartoons are thanks to Google!)

Somehow, with each year that passes, I feel less and less 'festivy' and more and more like Scrooge and I have been known to mutter 'Bah humbug' (among other things) at every car that races past. It's just as well that I don't use a walking stick.....yet..... or I would be shaking it at people!

Yesterday (Thursday) was the last Hospice shop duty for the year, so I decided to 'nip' (ha ha) into a couple of places to get a few last minute things like special cat food for Morris and a box of prawns for us as our Christmas braai! (Does the term 'chuck another prawn on the barbie' come to mind after reading that?) But, the vet was out of pouches and he must not eat the 'cheap' food because of his struvite crystal problem (Morris that is, not the vet!) They were expecting a delivery, could I hang around for an hour or two, go to the Mall and come back maybe?

No. I could not.

So, off I went to get a box of prawns from our local Sea Harvest Factory shop. But, sadly, the only prawns they had were lurking in a broken box at the bottom of the freezer and they were from............ no, not China, but Argentina. So I left them in the lurk and drove straight home. As I passed the Mall I could see that there was no parking available anywhere! During the 'normal' time of year you can choose from thousands of parking spots as close as you can get to the entrances at any time of the day, but with the influx of 'up-country' people, you can drive around for ages simply looking for a place, any place, to safely leave the car. That doesn't work for me, as I easily forget where I have parked and on several occasions I have been close to calling the Security people to report my stolen car!

But, I digress!

So this morning Rob and I decided to try our luck in Saldanha, where there is a wonderful fresh fish shop called 'Charlies'. And we were in luck! Not only did we find local prawns, already cleaned (oh joy), but Rob found smoked angel fish and some beautifully prepared garlic mussels ready to pop into the oven! The shop was full of jolly people and of course we got chatting and took ages to get out of everyone's way!

Christmas is a time for wishes, and on the TV at the moment is an advert for a car that drives itself. I don't want that as I enjoy driving, especially the quiet back roads when I go to visit Catherine. But there are other things that 'do it themselves' that I can wish for:

    #Food that cooks itself followed, by pots that miraculously replace themselves in the cupboard clean and shiny.
    #Washing that loads, unloads and hangs itself on the line........and gets itself off the line again and puts itself away.
    #Ironing that does itself and clothing that then folds or hangs itself up.
    #A vacuum that takes itself round the house and gets into corners and behind things.
    #Self controlled dusters.
    #Fridges and freezers that regularly defrost themselves without leaving puddles on the floor, and throw away all the slimy leftovers that gather behind the fresh food.
    #Windows that are always shiny and see-through.
    #Self cleaning bathrooms!

There are probably loads more but those will do for now.

And in the meantime I wish my nearest and dearest a Happy Christmas.

And that wish is 'Bah Humbug' free!