Sting in the Tail

I have been waiting anxiously for 10 days for an item of jewellery ordered online from the USA to arrive.  I was able to track its progress and it seemed to take ages going round in circles, but eventually arrived in the UK on 1 December - and then silence!  I was sure it had got lost somewhere.

However, this morning there was a card through the door from the postman to say the item had to be collected at the Parcels Office and there was a Customs Fee of nearly £20 to pay on it.  That seemed very steep, as it was nearly 50% of the cost of the item.  On closer reading of the small print, I discovered that £8 of that was their "handling fee".  What a rip off!!  Hope nobody else gets caught out like that this Christmas.

Anyway, my good humour was restored when I opened the parcel and was delighted with my purchase.  In addition, the sender had included a little gift of a very pretty silver gilt and pearl brooch, as seen in the photo. What a very kind thing to do:-)

A busy day in Perth chasing up light bulbs, lunching at the Library again and shopping for odds and ends.  So mild out there today, but the wind is picking up and we are due to have gales tomorrow so it's batten down the hatches again!