A day out shopping.

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It was a long day today. We were going to the pub for a breakfast (for lunch!), so I told my Mum we should start getting ready to go out at 10:00am. I checked the weather app on my tablet and it said, cloudy with Sun at 9:00am and 10:00am, cloudy with Sun and rain at 11:00am, cloudy with Sun at 12:00 midday, cloudy with Sun and rain at 13:00pm (one o'clock to you), cloudy with Sun at 14:00pm... and so on! I was hoping we'd miss the rain! I had my breakfast, which consisted of Alpen (a kind of muesli), with blueberries on top, and a little pot of strawberries. I had my green tea before I ate the strawberries because when I eat the strawberries first, it makes the tea taste funny! I started getting ready at 10:00am. I went to the toilet, then put my socks and shoes on, got my coat, bag and walking stick ready, and made sure I had my money and my mask. We don't have to wear a mask in the pub, and seeing as that was where we were going first, we didn't need to put our masks on yet. We actually started out at 10:30am. I went outside to check how hot or cold it felt. At first it was quite warm, when the sun shone on me, but then a breeze came through and it suddenly became cold, so I decided I would wear my big coat. Then I saw some of the next door neighbours plant pots had blown onto our drive, so I collected them up and put them back on the next doors drive. Eventually we were off. I started walking off, and then waited for Mum to catch up. We walked round by St. Chad's Church, and half way round I stopped to read one of the gravestones. It was of someone who died in the 1800's, at the age of 40. At the bottom was a verse but I could only make out the first line which said, He left this troubled and cruel world.... When Mum caught up with me she asked me what I was looking at and I told her, and mentioned the inscription at the bottom. We finished walking round St. Chad's Church, up the road towards Netherstowe School, crossed the road, then walked up the top path round Stowe Pool, because that way is quicker. I was scared we wouldn't get to the pub in time, because they only do vegan breakfasts before 12:00 midday, and then they change to the lunch menu. The lunch menu does have vegan options, but they're mainly burgers, and I'm not really into burgers. So I really wanted to get there before midday so I could have the vegan breakfast. I came to the end of Stowe Pool and neared the part where you turn into town, but a little way before that I saw a little bird by the hedge. I didn't know what it was so I tried to get as near to it as possible without scaring it off. When I got closer to it, it turned a little so I could see its red breast. It was a robin! I managed to get within a foot of it. It was beautiful! Then it hopped into the hedge. I looked in the hedge and saw it just sitting there on a small branch in the hedge. Then it flitted away somewhere. I thought that was the last I'd see of it, but then I looked in the hedge again, and it was back on the branch! Then it flew out of the hedge, and skitted across infront of the hedge, and a couple of people who were passing gasped in awe when they saw it. Then my Mum caught up with me and I told her about the robin. Mum always walks slow, and she wanted a rest on a bench, so I went on ahead to the pub. I got to the pub at 11:30am and found myself a seat. I was on table 7. I ordered myself a cappuccino with soy milk and a large vegan breakfast. It came to £12.15 altogether. I was already sitting there drinking my cappuccino when my Mum arrived. She arrived at 11:45am. She ordered a cappuccino too, but I don't know if she had soy milk or ordinary, she didn't tell me, and she had a regular breakfast. On my vegan breakfast I was supposed to have an extra sausage instead of egg, but instead I got an extra hash brown, but that's OK. I had 2 vegan sausages, 2 mushrooms, 3 hash browns, a pot of baked beans, a pot of tomatoes and 2 rounds of brown bread, cut into 4 triangles. It was very yummy. When my Mum's breakfast came, she asked the waitress were the toilets were. So when we'd finished our breakfasts and our cappuccinos we put our masks on and went to find the toilets. It was about 1:10pm by this time. After we came out of the pub, we went to the Halifax building society because Mum needed to withdraw some money. I sat down on a seat that was in there while I waited for my Mum to complete her transaction. I started reading a copy of Country Living magazine, or something like that, that had been left on the seat. I had great fun reading about the mating habits of several different kinds of animals, like red squirrels, hair, otters, sea horses and foxes. When my Mum had finished her transaction, she came and sat on the seat with me for a while. I showed her the picture of the red squirrels and said, that's what you call a red squirrel! She said, more like purple! And she was right! They did look purple! I told my Mum that we shouldn't take too long in getting to Rileys incase it shut! (My Mum has been known to get to Rileys too late and it's been shut!) So after that we went to Rileys and we got some strawberries, 2 golden delicious apples for my step-dad, a half cucumber, radishes, some liquorice allsorts and some cream cheese and chive flavoured savouries. While I was in Rileys I told my Mum I could hardly breath in my mask, so my Mum said, take it off then, and I did. Then we went to The Card Factory because Mum wanted to buy some Easter Cards for her friends. She managed to find some posh looking ones with 10 in a packet, so she got 3 of them and when she got to the till she decided to get a pen aswell. Then we went to Iceland (the shop, not the country!) I got some more vegan sausage rolls because I've only got 1 left in the old packet. Mum got some little potato things that have bacon or something in them, some vinegar (it was a really large bottle), a baguette kind of garlic bread (I'd told my Mum I didn't want any pizza style garlic bread anymore because I'm trying to lose a bit of weight, and besides, I'm not really supposed to have the cheese that's on top of it anyway!), some lamb burgers, (they're actually lamb quarter pounders but my Mum always calls them lamb burgers!) and some birds eye fish fingers. When we got to the till the cashier asked my Mum if she'd like any mini eggs for Easter. There were 3 different sorts, so my Mum decided to have 1 of each! After we came out of Iceland (the shop, not the country!) we went and sat on the bench outside. Then it started to hail! It hailed for a bit then stopped, then started again, then stopped, then started to come down quite heavy! So we went into B&M to get out of the hail! I thought we'd be going into B&M to look for some more peddle bin liners, ones that were not too small for our peddle bins this time, but we didn't end up getting any. Instead my Mum got 2 different kinds of skinny bars. (They are like cereal bars, but they're not cereal bars, they're more like fudge bars or something like that.) Then we were heading towards the tills when I spotted a box that had a design a bit like a suitcase and it had a sticker on the top of it saying compartmentalized box. I wanted to look inside it to see what it was like because I thought it would be useful for my earrings that I make, but I couldn't undo the lid, and my Mum was already half way to the tills, so I raced after her with one of the boxes. I explained that I wanted to see inside but I couldn't undo the lid, so my Mum got the cashier to open it! I liked what I saw so I went ahead and bought it. It was only £2, which I gave to my Mum to buy the box with her skinny bars! When we came out of B&M it had stopped hailing again. So then we went to the toilet opposite the cathedral. It started hailing again when we were half way there. We went to the toilet and as we were coming out again we thought it had stopped, but then it started again! We waited just in the entrance to the toilets until it had gone off. As we were waiting, Mum commented on a sign that was showing people the way to the toilets. It said toilets, with an arrow pointing left to where our toilets were, then it said accessible toilets, with an arrow pointing straight on. My Mum wanted to know what accessible toilets meant, so I said it was probably another disabled toilet. And there at the end of the block was a disabled toilet sign, but it was by a green door which was closed, so I thought that can't be it. I thought it was probably round the corner. So when the hail went off I ventured out and went round the corner of the block to where I thought this other illusive disabled toilet was. And there it was, a big green door was open, and as I stepped near the light came on. I called Mum to say it was here and to come and look. It had a raised toilet seat, and a cushioned back rest to lean back on. Then we set off for home. It was already 4:00pm by the time we actually set off for home! As soon as we approached Stowe Pool it started to hail again! It was really strange because it would come on for a couple of seconds, then go off again, and then repeat that routine! I saw a little dog, I don't know what it was but it looked like a black and white setter type thing but I thought it was too small to be a setter. Anyway it came up to me just when the hail came down again. I said to to the dog as I stroked its little head, you don't like the snow do you? No, neither do I. Then I said, you'd better go catch up to your owner, cos his owner was calling him. I said to my Mum, it said it was going to rain, not hail! Then I saw another robin by another hedge and pointed it out to my Mum. I wondered if it was the same robin. As we were about half way round Stowe Pool the hail actually stopped and the sun came out. We turned into our street and the lady at No.2 was coming out to post a letter with her little dog. She saw us and came over to talk to us and we were talking about my art and my cards. I stroked her little dog which was a kind of scruffy terrier type. I forget what she said his name was but she said he is 15 which is very old in dog years. When we actually got back in our house it was 5:05pm! We had been out 6 1/2 hours! Just to get some shopping. My Mum asked why it had taken us so long and I said it's because you walk too slow and because we've been to the pub for lunch! And, of course, sheltering from the hail!