Hansel and Gretel

I took the bus across to Hindhead today. Mirinda volunteered me to help with their website. It needs updating, but the person who used to do it has gone and there’s not been a replacement for a while.

I spoke to Coral last week and planned to go in today and meet Ann. Ann is the amazing 94 year old lady who runs the music centre. Coral was going to Malta for a week, so Ann would give me the lowdown.

Which is why I found myself walking down the footpath alongside the A287, having crossed the road from the bus stop in order to do the same a little further down. Because, of course, pedestrians come last when it comes to convenience.

It was fortunate I went this week because, when I had lunch with Dawn the other day, this part of the road was being worked on and the whole place was down to one lane and the bus stop had been temporarily closed. I’m not sure how easy it would have been to access by foot.

But, naturally, how on earth can we destroy our environment if we don’t prioritise vehicular travel? When one understands that, one can be happy.

But, today at least, the traffic was actually minimal and I managed to reach the music centre without any hassle.

I knocked on Ann’s door and she greeted me, along with her walking stick which, almost, matched mine. Mind you, she looked a lot more steady on her feet than I’ll ever be again. Well, unless I go to Lourdes and a god does actually exist.

(Sorry, dear reader, I seem to be straying onto my two favourite topics – traffic and religion. I shall stop doing that now.)

Ann took me into the inner sanctum, where all the admin takes place. Coral has a lovely office, I have to say. “This is where my secretary sits,” Indicated Ann, gesturing directly at a lovely big cat sitting in the office chair.

“Your secretary is very cute. What’s her name?“

“Gretel,” Ann replied. “There used to be a Hansel as well, but he died.“

“Not eaten by a witch, I hope.” I commiserated.

Gretel then proceeded to ‘help’ me navigate the website on Coral’s PC. Gretel is amazingly skilful at not treading on the keyboard as she wanders around on the desk. Ann apologised but I was quite happy, saying that it must be lovely having a cat at work. I also said my girls would probably not be so enthusiastic when I went home.

Having ascertained that I could access and update the website, and armed with Coral’s incredibly well documented instructions, I then returned home.

Ann was worried that I’d made the long trip with very little success but, as I told her, it was a lovely bus trip through the countryside and not a hassle at all. Obviously, I’ll make the changes from home in future.

At home, the dogs didn’t react to the fact that I just spent more than a little while, stroking and petting a cat. Maybe Freya’s season is too strong, blocking out all other odours.

In other earth-shattering news, I was quite pleased with dinner tonight. I made lax och räksallad and thought it looked quite attractive on the plate.

Rather than making my usual home made dill version, I tried some Kewpie, Japan’s iconic mayonnaise, to drizzle over the salad. Like my homemade stuff, it has a very low carb content and is delicious. I think I’ll be using it more often.