I have written several times about my visits to the outdoor Cheddar car boot sale and market. (do a search – Cheddar)  We decided to go this morning because we hadn’t been for some months now and wanted to see what it was like. To those who have not been before it consists of a very large indoor storage facility about 80 meters long by 40 meters wide. There is a hard stand area outside and a field. Sellers arrive from 6:00 a.m., they park their cars in a row, and display their goods either on the ground or using trestle tables. We arrived shortly after nine in the morning and as we usually do we split and walked around separately meeting somewhat later.

There is a lot of material there that I am not interested in buying but I did see three paintbrushes for one pound which I snapped up. Francoise bought some wooden border sections for her allotment and for our garden.

I don’t want to sound snobby or anything but we did feel this time that the vibration – or the vibes as people like to say – was very low. Most of the stuff available was basically unwanted junk which was available for 50p or one pound. I find that when I am in nature my consciousness gets elevated but this is getting a little bit too down to earth for my liking. We both felt the same. Maybe we go once or twice a year because you never know what you’re going to see to make your trip worthwhile.

Normally my last port of call is the butchers, pictured above. These are some of the best natural sales people, typical market types, that I have had the pleasure of seeing and experiencing. I almost feel we should pay to watch for the entertainment value. Alas on this occasion I got caught out. He was selling big bags of chicken wings for barbecuing at 20 pounds. This will be a good unit for families and for businesses. He then started offering steaks. When he sells there is always banter and jokes.

I held up ten fingers to say that I wanted to spend only £10 since I am the only meat eater in the home. He persuaded me in the heat of the moment to spend 20 pounds. I was caught off guard and agreed. For the £20 I got four admittedly large size steaks at 1.3 kg. as I discovered when I got home.  They were steaks on the bone. When it was too late I realized I should have bargained for more items to be bundled but things happen in seconds like an auction and once you have committed yourself there is no going back.

I felt annoyed with myself for not having been more insistent. Never mind, I got the four stakes and had one at lunch today. It’s not as if I lost money.  We made a mistake (no pun intended) in that I forgot to bring our cool box so on a hot day we could not really store the steaks for a longer time. We went next door to the large garden centre, walked around and discussed that next time we would buy five small goldfish. Next to us was a couple buying a Koi fish and paying 65 pounds for the privilege. We discussed oxygenization. They kept on their oxygen bubble machine 24/7. I notice that when people have something in common there is an instinct to exchange useful information and we did so on this occasion.

Francoise bought me a lovely butterfly on a stick which had wings that went up and down in the wind so that was very sweet of her.

We went along to Rodney Stoke because on the map it showed a nature reserve but the road to the nature reserve had not been used and I was not going to drive my car up a one way lane with grass in the middle without seeing what was at the other end. We normally visit the Cider Barn where they sell real Somerset cider with up to 7.5 proof alcohol but it was only open at midday and we arrived at 11:35 so we left not wishing to hang around.

We thought of visiting the monthly market at Shepton Mallet but again we had the problem with storing the steak in hot weather so I really sabotaged myself twice. Once was by not bringing a cool box and the second was not being quick enough in my negotiations but on the scale of 1 to 10 on being a nuisance it’s probably about one and a half so we live another day.

This afternoon we did very little. I watched Glastonbury on BBC Two as I did last night. I find the status of music is pretty awful and the tunes and the personalities I remember in previous years were not there. There were too many noises and flashing lights. The ‘music’ was too forceful.  I’m may be too old for that sort of thing but I honestly don’t think it does a lot for people’s spirit.

I really need an alternative to a mouse. It is not a wireless mouse but even so my hand burns when it has been holding the mouse for more than a few seconds. The same applies to the remote control for the TV even when I am not pressing a button and using it. It’s like my body is trying to get used to the electronic circuitry and deciphering it. When I’m on the mobile phone I have to put it at some distance from me on loudspeaker. Unless I can find a solution to this my time on the computer will be very limited which will affect the huge volume of writing that I do.