Chip butties

We spent the day in Catford crafting and caking, with a HUGE emphasis on the caking! Julie produced an enormous caramel and orange thing which looked like the Cookie Monster until it collapsed under the weight of its own decadence! 

We chatted about ping pong, allotments, pear tarts, Russian homophobes, cabarets and jam. We ate incredibly tart blackberries and I tried not to pull my famous lemon face. Nathan span some wool, Julie's friend Cathy made a tapestry kneeler for church and the rest knitted waistcoats, blankets, cardies, phone socks and shawls. I watched on, smiling like my Grandmother in the early stages of Alzheimer's. 

On route to Catford, we stopped off in Hackney at the Tesco store where I'd had my bothersome incident a few weeks ago. I was met by the store manager, a bubbly Brummie called Stuart, who gave me a little envelope with a "gesture of good will" inside. I now consider the matter to be closed. Tesco's customer service department have been highly organised and polite throughout and I was hugely impressed by the friendliness of staff in the Morning Lane branch today. Hats off to a lovely girl in the bakery department, who, not knowing I was the shirty bugger who'd complained about their store, went out of her way to find me a lovely hot baguette, straight out of the oven, because I'd asked if there was any fresh bread. She very much brightened my day. The difference between good and bad customer service is minuscule and often merely comes down to a smile, as the charming lass on the checkouts comprehensively proved. 

Today's divine laziness ended with chip butties in front of the X Factor. Piles of chips were stuffed between slabs of buttered sliced white bread. Sometimes, as Tina tweeted, there's very little better than sharing chips with good friends.