WIDE WEDNESDAY - ONE THIRD ON THEME + EXTRA!

It was, according to Mr. HCB, when I came downstairs, a dull, dank and dismal morning, but we had already decided last night that we would use our Breakfast Voucher, which entitled us to two half-price breakfasts at Hilliers Garden Centre at Lechlade.

As we drove along and got nearer to Lechlade, we could see a field full of sheep and also a lot of swans - there were obviously some rich pickings in that field!  You can see from the top wide shot taken from the bridge over the River Thames that it was foggy and a little dismal, to say the least, but we don’t let the weather dictate our mood!

After a very good breakfast, which we both enjoyed, we had a wander around the Garden Centre when Mr. HCB pounced on a couple of bargains - 4 organic grow bags and 2 bags of potting compost, both reduced - we know how to live!  

While he was off browsing amongst the compost, I was wandering around the Garden Centre and saw these Christmas dinosaurs that were only £5 each in the sale - I didn’t buy one, but did do a bit of rearranging - well you know me - and rather liked the fact that one of the dinosaurs looked like an “odd one out”!

This made me think that being an odd one out is sometimes regarded as being eccentric or crazy and standing out from a group - and whilst these sort of people are often looked down on, and even laughed at or mocked, who is to say that the other five aren’t the odd ones!  In our world today, the odd one out is often the one who will “go the extra mile” or has the courage to “swim against the tide” or even to “stand up for what they believe in” - and we need people like that.  If everyone was the same, what a boring world it would be!

As I wandered, and remembering it was wide Wednesday - but not having looked at the theme, I rather liked the array of bottles, so took a shot of them.  When I looked later, I saw the theme was “Nature” and the top one is about the only one that fits, but I’m sticking with the whole collage as it does contain wide angle shots.

I did have some lovely conversations at the Garden Centre, and of course, gave away several of my little wooden hearts.  The lady on the till in the restaurant was very touched and said she just wanted to keep it in her hand!  A bit later, we were helped in the actual shop by a lady called Mary-Kay - and I saw her again outside just before we left, so I gave her a heart, on which was written “Peace”.  She was profuse in her thanks, so asked if she could give me a hug.  

Then I spoke to a man stacking the bags of compost and asked if he would kindly help me with a trolley, which he did, so I gave him a heart too.  When he looked at it, his eyes filled up and he said that his wife had just heard this morning that she was to be made redundant from her job, so he felt that this was a sign - the word “Hope” was written on that one.  I only had one heart left in my pocket - and to be fair, I never know which one I will be giving - so I said that I would like to give him my last one for his wife and the word “Joy” was written on it.  He said his wife wasn’t particularly happy in her job anyway, so I told him I hoped that another job would turn up, even better than the one she was leaving - he smiled and said he hoped so as they were only a year away from retirement.

All in all a great morning - Mr. HCB is sitting in the conservatory doing more on his 2,000 piece jigsaw and I am about to listen to the songs we will be singing at the Sunday evening service as there are one or two I’m not that familiar with and we will be practising tonight.  

I have put in an extra - which is a wide angle shot - but you will never guess who is about to tuck into the huge bar of chocolate, straight through the wrapper! I guess I could have put this in the collage, as chocolate does come from cacao beans!  I’m just concerned that if once I open it, I won’t be able to resist.  I worked it out that if 50g of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate = roughly 15 Syns on my Eating Plan, then the whole bar, which is 850g would total 255 Syns.  Provided I stick to the rest of the plan, I could eat 50g a day for 17days - but the big question is “Would I, or indeed could I, stick to 50g a day???”  I think a better idea would be to take it to Church on Sunday and let the children, and perhaps some of the adults, enjoy it!  M xx ;-)