ANOTHER GOOD MORNING...

...at the Community Fridge today.  My Blip friend, Amanda, had obviously forgotten it was Thursday, as she asked me if I was going to be having a PRD - Pink Robe Day for those who don’t know - but I sent her the top photograph, showing that I was all ready to do my stint.

Just before we opened, I spotted Debs rifling through the clementines trying to sort out the ones that had gone off - and caught the expression on her face that said “I don’t really want to do this!”  However, we do try to keep the fruit and vegetables looking good for when our customers come in, so it’s a job that needs doing, whether we feel like doing it or not.  I try and keep an eye on them during the course of the morning and it was amazing that even though it had done it some time before, I was still finding fruit that was soft and going a little green around the edges, so sometimes the only place for it is the food waste bin that is taken down to the tip regularly.

It didn’t seem very busy when we first opened, but the café gradually filled up and I had some good conversations with various people.  The middle left shot shows part of the lovely coat worn by our youngest customer, who comes in every week with his Nana.   I did get permission to use just this part of him as he was asleep when they arrived.  

Below that is a Harry Potter bag and purse belong to S - who is obviously an avid Harry Potter fan - she told me there was a good HP store just down the road and that she had had both the bag and purse for her birthday last week.  

The bracelet belongs to another lovely lady who comes in each week with her mother and again, in both instances, I had their permission to use these shots.  

The last shot at the bottom right is a lovely scarf knitted by P;  she tells me she has the pattern and has knitted a lot of them;  she assured me it is very easy, so I will see when she brings me the pattern - I may need help with this one!

It is so rewarding to be able to chat with people at the Community Fridge café and once again, I didn’t do a stitch of knitting - although I took mine with me it stayed in the bag.

I have brought the Prayer box home to sort out as it’s in rather a mess - we are a Christian organisation and always have a Prayer Table to the side of the hatch where people come to buy their coffee and cake for 50p.  However, today I was rather frustrated to have to root through all the Christmas booklets before I found others that are more relevant to the time of year - that said, I did give one of the booklets explaining various Christmas customs to a young girl who came with her Mum and wanted to know more about the Three Kings who brought Gold, Frankincense and “Mirth” - her word - to Baby Jesus.  She and her Mum were both surprised that it was spelt “Myrrh”.  

There is always a table where all the men sit together and chat - and some of them are gems, because if they are still there at 2 o’clock when we are due to close, they sweep the floor and put the tables and chairs away, without us asking - which is such a help to us.

So all in all a lovely morning and then, just as I was going, R. a lady who lives opposite the Church and who often takes lots of the vegetables if they are too rotten to be given away, and puts them in her compost heap stopped for a chat.  In the course of conversation, she mentioned that she has a show on Swindon 105.5 and was very interested when I told her that I used to be on the “Girls About Town” programme.   I did mention Blip - of course I did - and told her about my Street Challenges, which I had Blipped but then recorded in the actual streets, so as she said she was interested in that, I said that I would print off the various Blips for her to see. She told me she has a programme about the “Birds and the Bees” on a Friday afternoon at 2 o’clock so I might just have a listen - I might learn something!!  I did tell her about the Merlin Bird ID app, so she then asked if I would like to “say a few words into the microphone” at some time.  I told her I would think about it - I think this is called “networking”!  

I must say that R. was delighted to be given a heart, but asked if she could have one marked "Joy" instead of the one marked "Love" so I was happy to oblige, but told her to pass the "Love" one on to someone else, which she said she would do.!

The best of the day has now gone and it is looking very grey and dull, but having had such a productive morning, I am feeling good.  

P.S.  I did give out quite a few hearts today!