Bee Orchid's articles

My second week in work, and I had an ‘Uh oh’ moment. I was told to take rubbish and security tags from each till; simple enough, then told to take the cardboard out to the warehouse. I was pointed in the right direction, asked a man in the area where I need to put the cardboard, he showed me, then I casually mentioned that I hadn’t been out the back to the warehouse. He inquired: weren’t you shown around the entire store on your induction? I replied not, then he asked if I even knew where the fi…

This week, I’ve mostly been working. Firstly, even though I sent a card, I really want to apologise to Gracie for letting her Birthday pass without me wishing her a Happy Birthday on her page. I’ve posted a belated one but it’s not the same. So sorry… So, working. On Tuesday I attended an Induction for the supermarket job. I should be working in the café but with social distancing, the café, along with other areas, is closed for now. I said I’d be willing to do what needs doing, so I was p…

This week, I’ve managed to get some supplies in. Usually we have a good stock here, mainly because of winter but also because of Brexit uncertainty. Recently though the supplies have dwindled, mainly due to financial concerns and I was becoming increasingly anxious about the empty shelves in the supermarkets and in my ‘larder.’ The one day I went to the supermarket and thought: great, no queues, only to be told to get a trolley or basket and join the queue around the corner. Oh my, it snaked aro…

Foccacia - made by my son. This week, my car was due its MOT (road worthiness certificate) and previously, the garage had told me that my wiper blades were rubbish; not the words he used but I’m being polite lol. I popped to a large out of town outlet, bought said wipers, and paid an extra £4 to have them fitted. I’ve looked online at videos, and tried to do it myself, but I simply couldn’t get the old wipers off and I was concerned I’d damage the ‘arm.’ My old Suzuki, they were easy, maybe t…

Recently, I’ve had 2 interviews for the same supermarket, different branches. The first interview went very well, so I thought, though I never heard back from them. The supervisor had been on leave, but she’s now supposedly been back for 5 days; no news means no job as far as I can tell. The second interview was today, Saturday. I was a little apprehensive, though they seem to work off the same ‘game plan’ so I knew what the questions would be, and I was able to answer fully and constructive…

With all the craziness in the shops at present, we have started to ration our supplies. Normally I’d make a batch of green lentil ‘bolognaise’ that would feed 4 so I can freeze half of it, but this time I stretched it to feed 5 and gave myself a smaller portion. I’m not being a martyr; I’m conscious that I do need to lose weight and packed out my portion with the addition of a green vegetable that my son doesn’t care for. It was very nice, and far nicer than the lamb version I’d made not so long…

The situation in the UK at the moment puts me in mind of Dad’s Army. For those that might not know, this was a sitcom about the British militia called the Home Guard during the second world war, and was broadcast from the late 1960’s to the late 1970’s. One character (they were, mostly, all old men) would run around telling everyone not to panic, but in doing so, was panicking himself, whilst another would declare loudly: we’re doomed. I usually shop on a Sunday; the store is quieter, and it’s t…

When my car was new, some 10 years ago, I used to spend most Sunday mornings washing it and keeping it clean. I’m always up before my son and cleaning the car early on a Sunday morning usually meant I wouldn’t be ‘bothered’ by the chatterbox who lived 2 doors down and seemed incapable, most days, of getting herself dressed. I would find it acutely embarrassing talking to her whilst she was in her pyjamas, so went out of my way to avoid it. After washing the car, I’d invariably damp dust the inte…

All the lovely flowering saplings in the top left of this photo have now gone. Such a shame... Sunday: We had some much appreciated sunshine here and some laundry was quickly hung from the rigging. It’s been ages since I was able to wash, air dry, and iron a load on the same day. It was warm standing in the sunshine, briefly, though cold enough to remind us that’s it’s still early March. A little later, I popped out for some groceries. I talk to myself; I know I do it, and invariably I’m goin…

A little while back, I wrote to the local council, then the regional council, and finally the highways people about the parking and access issues that we experience here. Eventually, I had a reply stating that the issue had been resolved, and the matter closed. When I replied to the email, asking how it had been resolved, the email was ‘bounced’ back as being an email that one couldn’t reply to. Marvellous! Basically, I’d stated that if they turn the whole area into permit parking only, they’d g…

Around here people play games with their cars. There’s the let’s see how many times I can turn right through a ‘no right turn’ sign, the how many times I can drive the wrong way up the one way street, the lets play tailgating until the car in front pulls over, and of course the game of jumping the traffic lights. We now seem to have a new game; let’s see how close we can park to the car in front/behind us. Several times recently I’ve watched a driver almost ‘kiss’ my bumper before leaving their…

Weather-wise, it’s déjà vu all over again here; wet and windy and keeping me awake at night. It was forecast, so it’s not a surprise, but I’m sick of it none the less. Thankfully, after last weeks storm, nobody has left out rubbish, so the street is relatively clear of debris. On that note, I was more than a little irritated by a neighbour. Her bin had fallen over as mentioned before, and her rubbish was spewing all over the street and included an orange bag of rubbish. Sunday evening, I could h…

What a difference a day makes. Saturday started calm and dry with no winds. The Ship’s Dog seemed in fine form, so we did our usual short circuit to the trees and grassy area for him to sniff around, eat grass, then detoured on the way home and did the other circuit we sometimes do. The weather was pleasant, he was walking fine. I, on the other hand, started to regret the extra circuit on the way home as my leg had started to hurt. It comes and goes with no rhyme or reason except that when…

Once a month, on a Thursday though that’s irrelevant, I go to the Bridge Club, meet up with old friends, talk, and play cards. A few months ago, I noted that Bob was missing. I asked after him, to be told he had passed away. Would his children move into his house, or try to sell it I wondered? Apparently, Bob had taken out a Retirement Mortgage and a life insurance policy, and upon death, the house and monies from the policy revert to the bank. His family must have been devastated, in more ways…

The weather here continues to be dull, dreary, dismal. We’ve had copious amounts of fog, even freezing fog, black ice, clouds, rain… What we haven’t had is a sunny day in goodness knows how long. Ok, I know it’s only January, but how long can this continue? Even when I was in full-time employment I didn’t much care for January, or February for that matter. Christmas is over with, and there’s not much to look forward to until springtime and Easter. I’m religiously taking my vitamin D tablets, and…

When I was in school, so many years ago, our physics teacher also taught us about personal hygiene. He was a bear of a man, and you played up in his class at your peril. Even so, he was one of my favourite teachers and his lessons were always interesting. He used to liken germs to little creatures that wore hob nailed boots, and he’d draw said creatures on the board for us. Last week was my son’s first week back in uni, and he had 2 full days there. Tuesday, he came home complaining that a st…

Perfection, like happiness, is very relative, and open to interpretation. These days, with so-called celebrities amongst us mere mortals, it seems wedding must be perfect. If they’re not lavish, expensive, and attended by royalty and other celebrities, then they’re not perfect. I had the perfect wedding, back in the eighties. Friends and family came, the groom and I turned up, we had nice food and wine, and a good time was had by all. In other words, it was perfect, to us at least. I’m sure s…

Each year, in the UK, we have a New Year honours list. This year I’ve decided to make my own list. Top of the list goes to… no surprises, my neighbours. Christmas Eve, around 8pm, they had visitors. They were noisy all night and kept my son awake though I did manage to fall asleep from sheer exhaustion. They woke me about 4 times in the night, generally being raucous. People went out around 5am, and the house was quiet as the grave for the next 24 hours, which was a nice change. Friday night…