Sunny.

Phew, today has been a scorcher though here by the coast there has been a welcome cooling breeze. I took the photo below at 7.30 when people including the rowing club, not Peter as he has an evening routine that he won't break even to go for a row, were still out on the water. Now at 9.40 the sun has just dropped below the horizon leaving a red glow in the almost cloudless sky. The usual group of neighbours gathered on the cliff to watch the setting sun.

Today was a town day. First stop the dump where I got rid of all the hedge trimmings without having to queue up.

Then into town where I collected my walking boots from the independant shoe shop and they fit. A bit long but wide enough which is most important. While I was there I cheekily got some advice about my bunion and bendy toe, (they also offer a chiropody service) and the lady was very helpful. She didn't think my bunion was bad enough to bother showing to my GP (doctor) and as I've been careful about not squashing my toes is more likely to be genetic rather than self inflicted. The only treatment is surgery and currently that can be done in a keyhole way but not yet on the NHS where it's still a larger procedure. These boots cost £130 which is the most I've ever paid for footwear but they are very good quality and should last a long time.

Another of my stops in town was Matalan, just for a browse and I bought myself two pairs of shorts half price in their sale. They both needed some alteration, the turn-ups on the plain one were floppy not sure if that's a style but not for me. I've already put in a line of stitching from behind to secure the turn-ups as my top stitching isn't that neat and I couldn't be bothered to get the sewing machine out. The patterned pair have a half belt that ties at the front, not the best look when you're trying to hide a bulge so that will be coming off. I also bought a linen Panama type hat for Peter which is too big but I have a plan before I take that back, tea towels and a hand towel for the toilet.

Another stop was Homestores where I found this rush basket which is the perfect size to hold our Kindles, reading glasses and the nature guide I use to identify birds I see and prop up my Kindle when I'm reading. We both like to read over our leisurely meals but I'm not so keen on having piles of 'stuff' either on the table or the cupboard inbetween meals. They also had the plasters I like so I bought 20 boxes. They're cheap, very sticky and not always in stock hence the bulk buy.

I did the usual food shop at Lidl which had even less stock than usual as the open fronted refrigerated shelves were empty due to there being a fault with them so I walked over to Tesco's for some extra bits.

When I got home there was washing to be done, dried and ironed and some time for sitting outside sewing the shorts.