For goodness' sake

Last year the people of the UK consumed 10 million turkeys at Christmas. Furthermore an estimated £22bn is spent by UK households at Christmas, with the average household spending £835. Of this, £161 is thought to go on food and drink and the rest on gifts (£634) , cards, trees and decorations (£40). Source: YouGov

The waiting room was full-to-bursting at work this morning and I did question why they weren't all out Christmas panic-buying, as is traditional. Turns out they were doing that too! I gave up trying to park in Haslemere at lunchtime (particularly when I realised I had no parking money on me) and headed to Liphook where I sought refuge in the oasis of calm that is the Countrywide store. I bumped into our friend Stuart who was lurking behind a clothes rail and he gave me his top tip for dealing with all the silliness: to step back mentally and see how funny everyone's behaviour is. And it works! I tried it in Sainsbury's afterwards and chuckled my way round instead of scowling.

Home now for an afternoon of Christmas baking. The weather is so foul outside that the dogs may not actually get a walk today...