A couple of offers, reminders of Babette and Vacancies.

Over the course of the last week or so, two things have reminded me of Babette.

Deciding to clear out most of her clothes, a job that I’d been happily ignoring for the past almost 2 years, (she died 8th August 2021). I recall, not long after she died, having a conversation with a friend who had to go through the same thing, 3 years prior. She had disposed of her husband’s clothes in stages, in sort of bite size chunks, which I rather liked the sound of at the time, a sort of Darwinian approach to it…

But actually, when it came to it, there was a big part of me that just want to get it all over and done with as quickly as we could.

So, a couple of weekends ago, I discussed my thoughts with the family and in the end Jeanne (middle daughter) and I went through the clothes and shoes, deciding what to give to charity and what to put in the bin. Well, I didn’t know just how many shirts, trousers, pullovers, the odd skirt, and scarves one woman could possibly amass in 28 years…quite a lot is the answer!

It was, as you can imagine, quite an emotional time, both the tears and the lovely memories and the occasional funny moments. The presence of her clothes, as Jeanne observed, almost made us feel she was going to come back at some point. So, parting with them was not quite as I’d imagined.

Do I feel better for having done it?

Yes…. I do now.

The other thing that made me think of her particularly, was a letter, copied in “The Week” (a magazine that summarises how the papers reported the news last week). It had copied a letter sent to the Guardian, entitled “Out in a blaze of glory” and it went like this.

Regarding the best funeral songs, one of the last crematorium services I conducted, was for a fairly young woman, and it included the Alicia Keys song, “Girl on Fire”.

No one in the congregation seemed to spot the incongruity.
John P. Atkinson, Swansea

It made me laugh out loud when I read it and, of course, reminded me of Babette’s funeral, and of her beautiful turquoise blue casket, that she was cremated in. Turquoise to the very end she was!

Vacancies

Ok, onto more prosaic matters. We have two vacancies at the warehouse at present. The principal role of both is that of picker and packer, but we are also looking to train the right person in leading the small team there.

And there is also room for learning to help on the website software itself, in its development and maintenance.

If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested, please contact Emma Hay in the Reigate shop 01737 242302 or email reigatemanager@aolcookshop.co.uk 

Details of the basic job are on the website here as is the application form.

Products

SMEG Stand Mixer
Now, another line that I thought would sell well, but for some reason hasn’t, is the Smeg Stand Mixer, which admittedly is up against the market leader, the KitchenAid Stand Mixer which is only £50 -£100 more.

Most colours are priced at £449, with the exception of Grey, which is £499.

So I am selling our stock off at £150 discount.

This means that ones at £449.00, come down to £299.00.

And the Grey one at £499.00 comes down to £349.00.

This is below cost, so once they’ve gone, that’s it.

Use code SMEG150 online

Le Creuset 3Ply Roaster
This is a really lovely bit of kit. It’s stainless steel, it’s uncoated, so will outlast you (whatever AGE YOU ARE), and comes with a free rack at the moment.

Roaster: RRP: £225.00

Rack: RRP: £37.00

Total: £262.00

Official offer price: £185.00

Our Price: £146.20.

Yes, I know, an odd price, but the cheapest on the internet that I could find, by some margin!

That’s it for this week. I’ll leave the last word to an amusing fellow, who wrote to The i Paper, who entitled it “Mortgage nerves”. He wrote:

My mortgage provider has asked for an extra £350 per month. I have written back to tell them to “hold their nerve” as Rishi Sunak “is on it”. I hope it works.
Rob Sindall, Oadby, Leicestershire

Nicely understated sense of humour.

I trust you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend.

Kind regards
Andrew
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director