Garden Centre fun

Well, I've seen it all now - a RODENT Christmas Tree! It made me smile, I have to say!  Who on earth thought up that RATS would be something you dressed your Christmas tree with?

This was a little Christmas scenario - a cross between Holland (Windmills) and Switzerland - cable cars and snow!  Nothing like as good as the splendid one they have in Charlies in Carmarthen though.

I always love the look of these Christmas dried fruit and frosted pine cones but am too mean to pay £10.99 for some (or MORE).  I have a dehydrator so could make my own, but first I would have to find the dehydrator!  Sorry, photo below not a brilliant one.

Thousands of different decorations.

Lots of different coloured themes.  There was even one stand bedecked with pigs, cows, sheep, tractors and other farming themed decorations! (See above).

Hedgehogs too . . .

All sorts of different trees and ideas to decorate them.  We of course stay with the traditional tree from the wild woods.

Needless to say with all the flashing lights, and different colours, Rosie was on sensory overload for a bit!
 

How cute is this little chap?

I will do some outside photos and what I bought later.  There were some trees there with staggering prices - one enormous olive tree in a planter had been reduced - from £999 down to £899.  Bound to fly out now!  A 6 foot or so Acer in a pot - £349!  Huge planters big enough to hide a body in, £349.  I bought just two lots of bulbs as they are expensive there and so I bought things I wouldn't necessarily find elsewhere.

I have been having no end of techy problems. The printer (an HP, drat it) has suddenly refused to let me use the cheaper alternative to its own printer ink (which would cost me £40 + instead of the £12 I've been paying.  I had just bought some replacement ones and it doesn't want to know and won't even print black any more.  Now, do I buy another cheap printer complete with ink (probably a Canon) or do I give in and buy expensive ink for a printer which is otherwise working but calls for the dear stuff?  I can get the Canon with own ink for the same price as the HP ink . . .  Canon come with not very good write-ups reference about setting up on the computer.

I was up in the middle of the night, trying to get yesterday's photos off my phone.  It decided it wanted to load up everything on there again and then I was out of storage space and the only way to put more photos on and access fresh emails was to bite the bullet and pay Microsoft £1.99 a month for extra storage.  THEN I couldn't find the photos.  I could see them on a Pictures page but couldn't find the link for it.  Finally this morning I have accessed them on a fresh Photos link which I used for my blog.  I still don't know where they are otherwise and of course my chief technician has gone home now!

So with the printer (also a scanner) playing up I couldn't scan documents to send to the Bank to have Keith's current account balance transferred to mine, and will have to go down to the PO in a minute to post them, recorded delivery.

I gave up on the lovely but challenging Medieval banquet 1000 piece jigsaw.  Life is too short and I hadn't touched it for a fortnight.  Instead I sat down yesterday and found the edge pieces for the 500 piece Summer Cottage.  

I have been offered a space next weekend (single table) at the Antiques Fair Keith and I used to do.  I have a little overspill area where I can put some small pieces of furniture but need to get myself organized over what I am taking, and give a little Georgian child's chair a good polish today.  I want to sort out what is going and have it all in a couple of boxes.  It unfortunately clashes with what would have been Keith's 84th Birthday, and the children are all going to be here for that and cook venison.  I nearly said no I can't do it but I heard Keith's voice telling me not to be so silly.