LT has an appointment in Norwich so I’ll have half an hour or so to scuttle around shopping or – more realistically – looking at things I’m not going to buy.  I clearly don’t do enough of this, as I keep getting urges to buy something expensive, like a sofa or a new car.  I think I might be a bit like an earthquake or a volcano waiting to happen – if I shop a little bit on a regular basis, I let off just enough (figurative, I assure you) steam to keep things under control, whereas if I mooch around at home, which I’m perfectly happy to do, there’s a retail explosion waiting to happen sometime.

I went to call on my friend Jan, who’s been housebound since she broke her upper arm, two years ago next week.  She was a long time in a nursing home, but finally came home in July last year.  She can walk, using a zimmer frame, but both her front and back doors have awkward entrances and she can’t manage them safely.  She’s a very determined and self-assured lady of 86 and she isn’t always the easiest person to help, but I have ventured, after rather wanting to do so for several months, to suggest that, with help, a wheelchair might enable her to get in and out of the front door.  She didn’t totally dismiss the idea, though she came up with a few token arguments, so we might get somewhere.  If she could be wheeled as far as the car, the chair put into the porch for her return whilst her frame was stowed in the car, it would be lovely for her to get out and about again.  She’s so sociable and getting so very bored.  She does have lots of visitors, but it’s still remarkable, really, that she’s been able to keep her spirits up.