My Neighbour . . . . .

. . . . . . Totoro, yours for £12.99. Mrs TD tried on several (lots of) patchwork hats (£34.99) and ended up buying a greetings card (£2.23).

We broke our journey to the Frozen North for a light lunch at a “craft shop and restaurant.” By the time we reached the actual entrance it had been downgraded to a cafe - a quite rightly too. The coffee wasn’t brilliant and I will never understand the insistence on making a toasted sandwich with Mother's Pride and red (dyed) cheese. The bulk of the cost of the food is in the labour of preparation so, why skimp on the ingredients? The selection of cakes looked good, but it was lunch we were after.

They did supply the day’s blip. Any child will recognise this character as Totoro from the 1988 Japanese animated film; the cinema has shown it to a couple of local schools as well as our mainstream audience. If you get a chance to see it, try counting the legs on the cat-bus - I think it’s twelve - but wouldn’t guarantee it.

I’ve just posted yesterday’s “Cow Parsley.”