A lovely Sunday

A good day all round.  

Chapel this morning, preaching in the northern part of the circuit to a lovely crowd of friends who always make me feel very welcome.  Nipping into the town nearby there to buy a new curtain rail for the EFG's new room....lots of traffic up there and took some time to negotiate. 

Getting home in time to have a quick cup of tea before visitors arrived for the afternoon, the FH's cousin and his family.  Lovely chinwag with them all afternoon - and the chaps helped the EFG put up the new rail too!  

(image from mirror.co.uk)

BGT final [thought the choir should have won but loved the dog and the magician too so was very happy with the top three] and we also had a roast dinner, eventually! Well, the carnivores among us did, anyway - there was a potato and something curry that the EFG enjoyed... 

Tired but happy tonight - and the YFG is safely tucked up in bed for a relatively early night before she gets back to exams tomorrow: history, and the paper on Crime and Punishment - sounds like a joyful experience for her, eh?!

And that was May - who knows what June will bring?  Looking forward to finding out...

Garden tour

Today has mostly been spent in the garden, in between doing three loads of washing and hanging that out to blow.  I have also had a neighbour round to have a chat for an hour or so this morning.  She's got some problems and needed a listening ear for a while.

But let's have a look around.  If we go to the bottom of the garden, there's a gate.  Needs a touch of paint, I know...

and if we go through the gate, we can peep into this area

and then, around the corner, we find this splendid secret garden, hidden away behind the shed.

All the new lawn has been cut again this weekend, as well as the existing lawns - somehow, the new lawn is much harder to cut that the old stuff and I have to put all my weight behind the mower to get through the new stuff.  The poor recycling bin is full again.

And Shadow just l o v e s to luxuriate on the new lawn, stretching and twisting this way and that.

In the greenhouse, four cucumber plants are growing, freshly planted out this morning.  They are "Telegraph" so they should grow straight like the poles.

Plenty of lettuce growing on, getting bigger and moving towards being planted out in a week or so.  More seeds went in today for the next batch.

UJ brought me six tomato plants, and thinks that they are Gardener's Delight.  They are growing well and some have their first flowers just developing.

Five courgette plants out in the veg beds.

Freshly tilled earth, just right for the seed bed.  Spring onions, land cress, beetroot, radishes and spinach all went in there this afternoon.....hope they grow!

The potatoes were earthed up on Wednesday when UJ was here.  They are doing well and putting up some good leaves, so I hope that they are also doing the business under the ground and producing some tubers!

Now I have had a shower, put the supper on and I am about to work on the sermon for tomorrow.  About time I sat down for a while, I think.

Just one word

And the word is "passed" and it is the best word I have heard all week!  The local tutor for the Faith & Worship course has heard from Methodist HQ that I have passed the written assignments that I sent in for the end of March.  That means that I have passed the entire written course.......phew! The relief is amazing.  She is coming over on Wednesday to go through the results and the comments with me - I expect that there are things I could have done differently and better, but hey, to have passed?  Well, I am grateful.   The presentation at the preachers' meeting went well on Wednesday evening, and the meeting recommended me to continue forward. I now just have one more trial service to take at the end of June, in the presence of a minister and a preacher, and if they are happy, I am there.

Now, don't get confused - this is the course and practicalities which surround the Local Preacher appointment which I have been studying for for the last five years. It is nothing to go with the lay ministry assistant job which has still not been advertised.  That's a different story.....one we'll get to when the powers that be get the contracts and job description ironed out.  Hopefully that will happen in June.

It's been another full day here - I did an extra hour of overtime this afternoon, more than I had planned to do today, but it was bucketing down the rain this morning and I knew that the garden would be too wet to do what I had hoped, so I thought I might as well earn a few more pounds, and do the gardening tomorrow.  Once I had finished work, we went off to town to spend the Lidl voucher and stock up the fridge.  I also bought some spinach seeds as the EFG is eating it daily: it is not cheap and so I thought I had better grow some!  We're all sorted now for the week ahead.

Tomorrow is a house and garden day - so I had better get up a little earlier than I did today...

Have a good weekend, wherever you are xx

Been busy

Too busy!  Had a few sneaky lie-ins this week which has been lovely, and the EFG has been pottering about, moving her stuff in to her "new" room so that we can get the old room ready for the students.  The YFG has been hard at the revision, as well as watching old episodes of Torchwood for light relief.  We have watched some of the semi-finals of BGT, and wailed as favourite acts haven't made it through to the weekend's Final - but there are too many favourites for them all to get through!

I have done 5 and a half hours on the phone today, in an effort to get some time off tomorrow - I have just an hour and a half left to do in the morning and I will have done my allotted hours for the week and three hours' worth of overtime too.  It has been a hard slog today, and bum-numbing too so I got outside and did some lawn-mowing, plant-watering and general weeding whilst my dinner cooked tonight, just to m-o-v-e around a little.

My heart goes out to Jacqui at The Barefoot Crofter as she shares the news that John passed away last night.  I'm sure that Jacqui and her family will be in a lot of prayers tonight and in the days ahead, I pray that she will find strength in her faith.

Quick round up of the day

Last night, the YFG and her friend had a sleepover in a tent on the new lawn - I heard them in the house early this morning, watching tv - but I didn't realise until I got up at 8am and asked them, that they had been there since just about 5am when they woke up and got chilly!

In contrast, the EFG slept till nearly 11am - she's still getting back to regular hours...

Today, I have done four and a half hours on the phone as I am attempting to do my usual week's work in four days, and then I will get some overtime pay.

I've watered in the greenhouse, weeded a vegetable bed and planted the courgettes out, strimmed around the lawn and veg beds, and cooked the supper.

I've been sorting out the linen cupboard, and there is a heap to go to the rag-bag, the charity shop and the tip.  I have enough left for the students' beds as well as ours.  The linen has to be relocated as the EFG needs the cupboard as she is moving all of her things out of the room which will be for the students.....there's an awful lot of stuff finding its way to my room.

The presentation I have to give to the Preachers' Meeting tomorrow on one of Wesley's sermons has been written - finally!  I should have been called "Last Minute" for sure!  That is going to be a little daunting tomorrow evening, so think of me, please, and think positive thoughts/send up a little prayer.  

AND I booked a holiday!  Just a short weekend break at the camp site near Sheringham where my mum and dad first had a caravan when I was 9, and then my sister and uncle eventually took over the plot until a few years back.  Well, I can rent a caravan there for a Friday to Monday break in July, and so it is arranged - we'll pop down there on Friday afternoon after I finish work and enjoy the weekend.  I haven't had to take the Monday off work as the boss has agreed to me working the hours over the rest of the week, much as I am doing this week.  It will be before the prices skyrocket for the school holidays as the girls are both at home now, and we can take advantage of the cheaper prices this year as we are in the unique [for us] situation of them both being available before the school holidays kick off - and gymnastics finishes the previous weekend, so it has no impact on that at all.  This will be my holiday for the year, so I am looking forward to it!  A day out at Sheringham and Cromer, I hope, and then perhaps a NT property like Blickling Hall on the Sunday - that would be ideal for us.  Just have to hope the weather plays ball...

It is half term now and I am taking advantage of not having to get up early and taking an extra hour in bed each morning for a bit more sleep!  

Knees up!

The bruise on my poor knee has come out to quite dramatic effect!  It isn't as sore as it was, and I seem to have calmed down again from the jarring effects of the fall.  Thank you for the good wishes!  I hobbled around for a couple of days but managed to cut the lawn with the YFG yesterday and the exercise must have done me some good.

Hope you have had a restful Bank Holiday weekend - back to work in the morning!

Welcome home

The EFG almost fell off the train yesterday under the weight of the enormous rucksack she was carrying, as well as trying to lug along the two huge suitcases.  Good job she was not flying home as she would certainly have exceeded the baggage allowance......and when she got home, the suitcases seemed to "pop" all over the sitting room floor as she was unpacking and pulling things out to show me.  Never mind, we can find homes for everything as we go.

She didn't bring home much washing as she had done it all in her laundry room there, where they have driers - such hardship it is going to be here for her without a drier!  She had me laughing though - she has brought the rails from her airer home as they wouldn't fit in the storage box, although the concertina ends did fit - so the rails are here and the structure is there!  I was so pleased that she had found time to nip to Hobbycraft in Aberdeen and find me a couple of balls of Regia sock wool so that I am nearly all set to start my sock knitting experience - the Sockalong lady recommends a short circular needle, so I just have to find one of those now as all the local shops in town yesterday only had long ones.  One scarf is finished, so just one more to complete and then I am going to start on the socks.

The EFG has a terrible cough, and has been tossing and turning all night.  I think we might need to get to the shop today for some medications.  She had cough mixture in Aberdeen but didn't bring it home......too much to carry!

The YFG had an interesting evening last night at Islington Town Hall, where she went to an author event with my sister.  Bobfest is all about the cat which helped author James Bowen get his life back together. The event was about raising money for The Big Issue.  She wasn't quite sure what to expect but it wasn't what she thought it would be - we were expecting the author to speak, and she had hoped to see the cat!  But the author seemed to be very shy and didn't say much at all, just signed copies of his book, and the cat was not in attendance at all.  The YFG was overwhelmed at the fans who had come from Finland, China and Brazil [that she knows of] to the event, and their enthusiasm for the cat and the writer!  She said that the term, "crazy cat lady" took on a whole new meaning for her last night.

All a bit of a different experience from our simple village life with Shadow!  The YFG came home and said she didn't like the way London smells.........what can I say to that?!

Sore but happy

Very stiff and sore this morning, but with a grin on my face as the EFG's train left Aberdeen about an hour ago - she is on her final trip home of this academic year!  She's weighed down with lots of luggage that she is a bit stressed about managing at the changes, but some kind chap has hefted her rucksack into the rack for her, and she has her eye on him getting it back down at Newcastle!

(image from en.wikipedia.org)

I'm off to gym this morning but I am not sure I shall be much use - I was there last night but just made the tea and supervised kids to the toilet down the hall as I couldn't actually coach.  It seems to be a quiet weekend anyway, with a lot of people away for the bank holiday or even for the whole week for half term, so hopefully there won't be too many kids there this morning!  A hot bath in a minute might help loosen the stiff muscles, I hope...

And there is gardening to be done, so I'm planning on keeping moving around, however slowly.  Hope you have a good weekend xx

A bit bleugh!

I went full length on the utility room floor yesterday afternoon, rushing to come inside to answer the phone.  I have a bright bruise on my knee, and several other aching bones and muscles all over my body, including a bit of a headache.  I shall NOT be rushing around today!  I shall probably be moving altogether more sedately indeed.

Just today to get through before the YFG gets a break from school for a week, and I get a day off work on Monday - and I am very ready for it again.  I have other holiday booked during the year, but there are 6 days left available to me to book, and I can't decide how to take them yet!  I've got a week booked already in August, and the l-o-n-g stretch from then until the Christmas break might be just the time to take a few more days off, except that I cannot take them in the October half term as we have to share out the allocation of school holidays, and I have already got my share of those.   So I am probably going to take them in the Autumn - but as a whole week, or perhaps two blocks of three days or even three blocks of two days added to a weekend........too many possibilities!

If anyone is wondering about the OTHER job in the church, it has still not been advertised, so that is no further advanced at this stage.  Apparently, we have to wait for the powers-that-be higher up in the chain to agree the job descriptions and contracts, so these things are taking much more time than had been anticipated.  The local minister is quite upset about it all because he had wanted the lay workers in post in June......I don't see that happening at this rate!

Best be off to potter my way through the day - work, chatting at chapel at the knitting club for half an hour, gymnastics tonight, Sainsbury's delivery coming tonight, and a rummage in the freezer for some supper - have a good day!

Roll on Saturday

The EFG will indeed be home on Saturday, so she is busily making preparations today.  All sorts of arrangements fell apart this week, and she isn't feeling at all well with a really chesty cough, so I told her to get herself on a train home as soon as she could.

I shall meet her off the train later on Saturday afternoon.....whilst the YFG is off on a trip with my sister to London to an event all about Streetcat Bob.  I know very little about it, save that my sister bought the tickets for a surprise for her husband and then found out he had a prior engagement and couldn't go with her - so the YFG gets a well-deserved trip out.  Nose back in the books after the weekend though - still more exams to go.

(image from dailymail.co.uk)

Teaching

Do some parents teach their children about managing money at all?  Or should I put it another way - do some parents not allow their children to learn about managing money?  Heard about a student this week who pays all her loan/grant to her parents and they add a little to it, and then give her an allowance each week......drip feeding her enough for one week at a time.

If this student has a history of being very stupid with money, I can see their point.  But for most, I think that they need to learn how to manage funds themselves.  The EFG has full control of her dosh, although I have sat with her a couple of times to discuss her budget and how to work out how much she might need to allocate to different budgets, and whether she is getting a good rate of interest on her savings account.  I have looked at accounts with her and weighed up the pros and cons of taking a special student account, or staying with the account she opened here a few years ago - we came to the conclusion that the main benefit to compare the student accounts against was the overdraft fees and since she didn't plan on needing an overdraft, that would be irrelevant.  Then we compared free gifts, and railcards seemed to feature heavily in that category - we had already bought a three year one and got a good discount, so that wasn't much of an attraction either - so we concluded that she might as well stay where she is!

We have an open relationship when it comes to talking about money - she told me how she had spent £60 on a pair of Doc Marten shoes, and I opened and closed my mouth like a fish a few times!  We've chatted about the best bargains in Lidl and Sainsbury's and which give the best coupons - and where to save cash.  She meal plans very well, and has done me proud.

I have hopes of her coming home a little earlier than expected as she is not well and I really want her home NOW!  She's got to work a few things out with her friends about storage, but I am keeping everything crossed that she pulls it off so that she can come home and collapse.

Tears today

It seems that everywhere I have been on the internet today has sparked tears in me today. 

 I started off reading how John's condition has deteriorated at The Barefoot Crofter and it made me weep to think of his family because it reminded me of our journey here, and I know some of how they might be feeling now, and in the days ahead.  I've added them to my prayer list at home.

And I have read and re-read and read again Ann Voskamp's heartbreaking post at A Holy Experience about Love and what these women, our sisters, are going through in Iraq.  She always makes me think, and challenges me to pray, to believe and to act in faith.  I have done what I can tonight, but if you can't donate, then please pray or do what you do, for these women and their children.  We might live in a different world when we read how they are suffering there, but they are about 3,500 miles from the UK.  I don't expect to have to read about women and children living in those kinds of conditions in 2015, sleeping in a metal shipping container with no running water, no sanitation and little hope, having run from their homes in fear.  Having to choose which of their children to take with them, burying their children on a mountainside because they died from hunger and thirst.  The tears brim again now as I think of this.  And look at those photos - those are women just like you and I.  Children just like ours, full of expectation and hope, children who should be able to grow up in safety.  

Just tucked the YFG up in her bed, snug under her duvet and safe in her own room, fresh from the bath and in clean clothes.  Hugged her extra hard tonight.  Counting our blessings.

Free from choc bun recipe

Because I love these chocolate buns, I must keep the recipe somewhere safe [here!] so that I can make them again!

Heat the oven to GM4, 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners.

Break three eggs into a bowl, and add 160g caster sugar. Beat with a hand held electric mixer for about 5 minutes until it is all frothy and light: when you lift the beaters out of the mixture, you should be able to make trails of batter across the mixture.  Add half a teaspoon of vanilla essence to the mixture.  Grate 50g peeled courgette in to the mix, with half a teaspoon of baking powder and 180g gluten-free flour, and 2 tbsp cocoa powder.  Gently fold all of this into the mix until it is completely incorporated, and then measure out tablespoon fulls of it into the paper liners.  Use up all the mixture across the liners until they are all evenly filled.  Bake for about 20 minutes until risen and beautiful!

I used Dove's Farm plain white gluten-free flour, because that is what I had in the cupboard!  I think the mixture would have taken up to three times as much courgette, but that was all I had left......

When they are baked to perfection and cooled, I frosted them with a chocolate buttercream made from Vitalite [dairy-free], cocoa powder and icing sugar.  I didn't weigh any of it!  There was about one and a half tablespoons of Vitalite, but could have done with less as I have loads left.  I know I added about a tablespoon of cocoa....but as for the icing sugar - well, I start slowly and just keep adding it a little at a time until I get the right consistency and it doesn't taste of margerine - not a very scientific method but it tastes good.

Apart from the one I decorated with the mint and raspberry, I am eating them just as they are, but if you had any dairy-free chocolate buttons [I know such things exist], perhaps one of those plonked on the top of each one would finish them off nicely - the raspberries tasted great too though, and raspberry with chocolate is a great combination.

I shall definitely be making these again, and perhaps experimenting with some other flavours too.

I should say that this recipe was inspired by one by Harry Eastwood in her book, Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache.  I made her American Vanilla Cupcakes several times, and they are stunning.  But this recipe is only inspired by that one - I've used more eggs, less courgette, different flour, less baking powder, no salt and less vanilla essence, and changed the flavour completely to chocolate.  I don't think she's got much competition from me, really....

Quiet room

Laying down in a quiet room early tonight was going to be on the cards before I got chatting on the phone to a friend whose birthday it was yesterday.....Been a productive day, all things considered.

I made some chocolate cakes for a treat - gluten and dairy free ones.  Then I got to thinking about how to take a photo for you.  I would usually just literally take a picture like this one, above.  But I had an interesting chat with a 13 year old gymnast the other week about her GCSE course choices - she has included photography and Food Tech in her list as she wants to be a food blogger.

So I thought I'd try harder this week:

I'm impressed on so many levels at this girl's ambition, drive and interests, and so I am going to give her some of my recipe books that I am going to release from the shelves here - she might find a couple of recipes she wants to try.

And I'll keep trying to be more adventurous with my photos!

A few links

I have been pottering around the "interwebs" occasionally over the last couple of days, and have found a couple of links that I know you might like to see.....well, I think you might!

For those of you like me, who want to learn to knit a sock, there is a "sockalong" website, which has inspired me to have a go, when I have finished the scarves [yes, two] which are currently on the needles. There are so many photos and instructions on the website that I can't imagine getting lost.  It looks great - and there is also an accompanying Facebook page where you can ask other sock-knitters for advice, which seems to be a great combination!  The website is at www.winwickmum.blogspot.com.

And then there is a recipe and a handy conversion site I have found. Ree Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman, posts some great recipes, and I have a daughter with a bit of a thing for chocolate chip cookies, so these gorgeous looking creations are going on the "to-bake" list this week.....I just had to work out how much a "stick" of butter was, and that was where this conversion site came in.  That link will take you straight to the section for butter.  A "stick" of butter is apparently 4 ounces.

For those of us who want to be able to do more with our slow-cookers than just the odd stew or casserole, I found this post full of links, and I think that some of them might be worth having a go at - there are lots of chicken recipes, which I love, so I shall put those top of my list!

I have continued my decluttering this week - we have taken a very old [pre-2000] Dell computer, complete with an enormous old monitor, to the skip.  We were advised to remove the hard-drive and "smack it with a hammer" before chucking it, so the YFG and I had great fun hitting it rather hard with a hammer last night on the gravel out the back.  We then left it on the driveway overnight as it began to smell a little strange and we thought it best to leave it out there.  I also offloaded an old tv that had a VCR in the bottom of it, a broken shredder, an old handmixer that burned out, and some old sofa cushions and an ancient duvet.  A skirt suit and a couple of winter coats went to the charity shop. I was quite pleased with that haul for the week.

This afternoon, I have mown the grass.  Not the new turf, but just the previously-existing lawned area.  Thinking about how long that took, and looking at the expanse of the new sections, sheep are beginning to look like an attractive option ;)

Hope you are having a good weekend xx

Images from "home"

My heart is very deeply attached to Scotland, and I'm hoping that God will lead me back there one day to live.  One day.  

Until then, I have to be satisfied with the occasional foray north of the border, and whiling away half an hour with a cuppa, looking at images like this....go on, have a look!  You'll love them too!  I just had to add that link to this blog somewhere - to share it with you, but also so that I don't lose it myself.  I'm going to have to share it with my FB friends too!

The Other Half

The television has become such a low priority for me these days that I frequently forget to watch programmes that I had previously thought would be worth viewing. Consequently, I missed the last Vera, forgot about Safe House half way through, and still haven't seen anything of the new Home Fires series.

(image from theguardian.com)

I did manage to watch "How the other half eat" on the on-demand system for Channel 4 on the tablet earlier this week, just because I was feeling nosy as to how they made the programme.  It was an interesting twist that the ones eating all the junk and ready meals were the mega-rich family, spending £300 a week in their local Sainsbury's to feed 6 people, whereas Mrs Average Income was spending a more reasonable £80 in Aldi each week to feed 4 - although I think you would get an awful lot of food for £80 in Aldi and perhaps even she could have spent less if money was an issue.

Mrs Average was making everything from scratch, they were eating balanced meals and eating together at the table; Mrs Rich was more haphazard about it all, and there was a "cupboard of dreams" to which the children had unrestricted access, full of chocolate, sweets, cakes and other general rubbish - and of course, when the families had their rules and food swapped, Mrs Average's children did actually make themselves little piggies in this cupboard whilst Mum was despairing of them ever eating another vegetable, I think.

I found Mr Rich quite snobbish: "beef cobbler is something that one ate at primary school in the seventies" for example.  They turned their noses up at some of the recipes that they were advised to make, and Mrs Rich was in despair at the amount of time she was expected to be in the kitchen.

I watched it as a one-off, and I don't know that it is a series - I don't think I would watch it every week if it was a weekly event.  We all know that there are all sorts of domestic regimes out there, and each family do their own thing ever so slightly differently from the next family in the street.  If you are a long-time reader here, you'll know that we are more like Mrs Average, and I expect that you are too.

Reminder

A note to myself - when having had a busy day but no rain, start watering the turf BEFORE 8pm or you will still be doing it at 9.20pm in the dark.......not helpful!  Hoping for rain tomorrow......sorry!

Home improvements on a budget

Last month's savings went on the turf and the fence, and it looks as if some of this month's will also be spent on home improvements.  There is a trend to build modern houses with a shower in the master en-suite but just a bath in the family ablutions.  That means anytime anyone wants a shower, they come trailing through my room........which is OK for family but not so great with long term house guests - or even short term ones for that matter.

I have had a friend of the FH's round this morning, who is a plumber, and we are going to have an over-bath shower installed in the family bathroom.  I thought it would have to be an electric one, but that was going to be really expensive, considering where he was going to have to bring particular cabling from to supply the shower, but he can do a standard thermostatic mixer shower off the tank, which is just across the landing, and take the pipes up and over through the roof space.  I hesitate to call it a loft as the hatch is a bit small and there is only a lonely tv aerial up there!

Is it really necessary? No.  Will it make my life easier? For sure.  Will it improve my quality of life? Yes - four or five women in a house with only one shower? Of course this will improve things!  And it will be another USP for this house in this development - none of the houses currently on the market have a shower in the bathroom - and when most of the houses are identical in layout, you need something to sway the buyers in your direction, or make them think that your house is really worth the asking price, I think.

(image from soakology.com)

 I could definitely fancy this set up but not at this price!

Anyone new to this blog must think that I am being very spendy.  I am but I'm not, too.  I've been laying in that bath for years, wondering how to get a shower over it one way or another, so this is not a spur-of-the-moment whim. Furthermore, I have the money to pay for it, and no-one will go into debt to achieve this.  Our generally frugal lifestyle allows us to make the monthly savings which pay for this kind of spend - once in a blue moon or two!  And, yes, I am Very Grateful that we are able to make these savings as I know that plenty of people are living one month to the next with not a spare penny.  I know.

Furthermore, I have been told about a chap in the village who does decorating for £50 a day, so he will be on my hit-list to call to get the stairs walls painted - which architect thought it would be a good plan to have a full-height wall around the stairwell, and a window so high in the outside wall that the sill is a flies' graveyard because I am not bringing a ladder in every week or two to get up there to clean it!?  [When the house is on the market, I shall have to, but that will be time enough!]

Tough love

I've got a child in bed, worrying about her first exam tomorrow, and I have another miles away, miserable about feeling displaced by our exchange students coming in September - she'll have to move out of "her" room and into the smaller spare room so that the two girls can share her old room....motherhood is one heck of a challenge, sometimes!

Out with the old

Those boots I showed you ages ago have finally had to be retired from active service!

I can't remember exactly how long they have been in use, but I think it is around ten years that I have been wearing them, and almost constantly in the last five anyway!  They have been extremely good value for money and I shall be sorry to lose them......

I do have some other walking boots around, but I have found that the ankle support section is too stiff for everyday wear, and will necessitate the wearing of thick walking socks on every occasion.

So, in my best frugal manner, I called in to a Factory Shop whilst I was passing on Saturday, and I had already seen in their flyers that they were having some Karrimor walking shoes in, so I looked for those.  I tried on a pair, and they fit beautifully, and are incredibly comfortable.  They were a little more than I wanted to spend, at £28 on the tag, but comfort is worth a lot!  I was consequently a very happy shopper when they went through the till at £22.

If they last 10 years, that will be just £2.20 a year, and anticipating near daily wear, just fractions of a penny per wear!  Bargain....