Shop til you drop...

Keith and I went to Ikea this morning as there were a lot of things we needed for the new bathroom. On the way we dropped off several bags of recycling at the house in Milton Keynes and as usual, the man who has organised it wasn't about. I would love to have a chat with him, as he's doing such good work and has raised £22,000 for his nominated charities, as well as removing tons of waste from landfill.

We found our way to the A5 and were soon parking in Ikea's mammoth car park. It looked very busy and when we went up to the restaurant, people were queuing for breakfast. We decided to join them! I enjoyed a delicious full English while Keith chose two bacon rolls. With coffee and tea the meal only came to £5!

After we'd eaten we had a quick whizz around the showroom and I had a look at the kitchens. One day! I picked up a grey bath mat and some ingenious little clips that come in so useful when you have opened bags of food. Keith put a tin of ginger biscuits into the trolley to accompany my bottle of Christmassy non-alcoholic mulled wine!

In the Market Hall we looked at blinds but there were none that we liked and some of them were very expensive indeed! In the bathroom section we didn't like any of the cabinets either so we felt a bit deflated. I had imagined buying lots of things we needed but our trolley was almost empty!

Downstairs, near to the checkouts, were all the Christmas decorations and I spotted some gonks -

These large ones were £17 but we spotted some smaller ones and this one came home with us -

All too soon he'll be joining his new friends!

After paying for our meagre purchases, we had a quick look in the food hall and I bought Mike some venison sausage as well as a bottle of Elderflower syrup that you dilute with water (or add to cocktails when you're allowed to drink alcohol!).

We then popped next door to Asda as we needed to get dinner for tonight and I wanted to see what non-alcoholic drinks they had. At first I couldn't see any, but then we found a shelf labelled "Lighter Styles" and they were all on there! There was quite an impressive range so I bought two bottles of still wine and a "Nosecco" for Friday night. Keith treated himself to a bottle of non-alcoholic cider to try.

Before heading home we drove to Dunelm and had a look at their range of bathroom ware. I was seriously unimpressed. I did take a pic of this to send to Sophie to wind her up:

Yes?

They did have a great range of window blinds, though and after a lot of deliberation and sending various photos to Sophie, we picked out a solid grey one to go up at the window. As soon as we decorate the room it can be fitted.

Just to eke out the shopping a bit more, we called into Next on Riverside and had a look at their loo roll holders and brushes but again, I didn't see anything I liked. The ones I bought for the cloakroom back in February were no longer for sale so the hunt continues!

We were a bit tired by now so I treated Keith to a coffee and some mini muffins in the Costa inside the store, and after one last stop in Wilco's to buy bird food and white paint for the bathroom ceiling, we headed home. Phew!

Back home I tidied up a bit (Mike had been home all day but had ignored the cups and plates in the sink from early this morning) and prepared potato wedges for dinner. Sophie came home and was pleased with everything but she especially liked our new gonk!