REETH'S FIRST MEETING WITH HIS SWINDON RELLIES

I had made arrangements to meet up with a friend today, over at the North Swindon Orbital Retail Park, so thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce Reeth to Marks & Spencer.  It’s a well-known fact that you can take youngsters to M & S to buy their clothes but once they get older, they wouldn’t be seen dead in anything that comes from that store!

So as Reeth is quite young, I thought that his introduction to M & S should be to meet up with some of his rellies - namely Percy Pigs - so off we went.  I decided to go into M & S before meeting Lin, and was looking around surreptitiously for some Percy Pigs and there they were in front of me - and they were very large.  According to the label on the back of the display they are Limited Editions of 2021 Christmas Percy Pigs.  

The next hurdle was to ensure that I could take a photograph without causing too much hassle - well you know me - I very often have to do some rearranging.  However, today was my lucky day because standing just to the right of this display was a man who looked rather managerial - and in fact, I learned later that he was the Manager.  He was standing next to a young lady and they were chatting about another display.  I spoke to them, explaining that it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month - and, of course, I was wearing a ribbon to prove it - told them about Blip, which meant taking a photograph every day and then asked if I could put my little pig in with the very large Percy Pigs.  They immediately said that was fine and when I asked if I could rearrange them, they both said “Go for it!” So I did!

After I had taken my shots, I went back over to thank them, and then I saw that the tall man was wearing a badge that said “Michael - Manager”;  the young lady wasn’t wearing a badge, but told me her name was Imogen so I told them they would get a mention in my Blip today.  I showed them my shot and they laughed and said that it looked good, so perhaps I should print one off and take one over to them sometime.

I did get some strange looks, as you can imagine, but we Blippers are made of strong stuff and these sort of looks don’t bother us, do they?  I took lots of shots and you can see how large they are by the size of tiny Reeth in the middle of them all!

Job done and I then went to meet my friend, Lin.  We hadn’t seen each other for sometime, so it was good to see her again to catch up with all her news.  She said it was her turn to pay, but I insisted it was my turn, and again, I was very fortunate, because after showing my Costa card, the young lady told me I had three free drinks on it, so I didn’t pay anything at all.  I did mention to Becky, who served me and Laura, who made our coffee, how lovely it was to see their smiling faces - so they beamed even more.  I said I knew they couldn't see my face behind the mask, but I was smiling, to which Laura said that she could see I was smiling by my eyes!

After we had had a coffee and a very long chat, we went back to her new flat, which she moved into a few weeks ago, so that I could have a conducted tour - and very nice it was too.

I know I don’t need to tell you what to do about clicking, but I will just remind you - if you click on this LINK, those who aren’t fortunate enough to have an NHS like we do in the UK, and who have to pay for their mammograms, can have a free one and we all know how important it is to check your breasts and have regular mammograms.  Thank you to all who have been busily clicking and finding pink things during Pinktober to remind us all.  

“Surviving cancer was one of my greatest feats;
     I don’t take that for granted 
          and I am eternally grateful, 
               many years later,
                    to have the opportunity  
                         to live a wonderful life.”
Chris Kondracki