Loved and Lost

 It’s sad to hear that The Body Shop is closing down. As a teen and young adult, I loved this shop with its high ethical and animal welfare standards and exciting range of products. I was a big fan of the White Musk range and this stuff, too:

The Dewberry range, especially the shampoo. Sadly, as often happens when you find a product you really love, the Dewberry range was discontinued many, many years ago. Ah well. I remained a sporadic customer, dropping in if I passed a branch, developing a liking for their pink grapefruit selection. I was sad when they sold out to L’Oreal, who have animal testing issues. 

And then, yesterday, the sad news of the death of Steve Wright, a long-serving BBC radio presenter. This is how I remember him from my youth:

I used to listen to his show when I was a teen, then young mum and housewife. He wasn’t my favourite BUT he was a mainstay, a reliable listening experience that would often raise a smile on a dull day. He played great music! 

Life rolls on. You love, you lose, you move on. That’s how it works. 

This morning, I bought my first packets of herbs seeds for this coming growing season. That’s going to be my gardening focus this year - herbs and flowers. Too early to sow anything just yet although I do have some cress making a half-hearted attempt at germinating in a pot on the kitchen windowsill. I bought basil, sage, coriander, dill and parsley because they were the only organic varieties I could find in the garden centre. I’ll source the rest online. 

Currently, I’m doing a lot of research into the varied uses of herbs as medicines, cooking ingredients, cosmetics, dyes. It’s an ENORMOUS topic but a fascinating one - lots of history, botany, chemistry and folk-lore. I shan’t be taking any formal courses - my life history has taught me that I am a great one for going off half-cocked when I find a topic that interests me, and I waste money taking courses and qualifications that come to nought. Nothing formal, then. Purely for my own use and interest. Go with the flow and see where it takes me. 

And I can report that the swap from one Internet and phone provider to another went very smoothly and we are now better off to the tune of £41.67 a month! That’s over £500 a year! Of course, despite me cancelling the old direct debit, British Telecom STILL took the payment for this coming month even though we are no longer their customer, and then immediately refunded it. What’s all that about, then?Awkward baskets. 😠

Still, job done. Loved, lost, moved on.