Saving The Planet

Diary of An Elderly English Woman:Day Two

“Apothecary”. What an evocative word! I was  mulling over  it awaiting my flu jab in the pharmacy in Ledbury yesterday. 

Imagine a wizened fellow of indeterminate age, distilling belladonna for the beautiful ladies, and extracting mercury for the gentlemen with the pox that had succumbed to more than their charms. I picture Merlin, only crazy, as a consequence of the mercury fumes. 

I came close to flirting with the handsome Nigerian pharmacist:: Twenty-third of October, 1950,” I purred as he inquired of my birthdate to fill in (out) the obligatory form.

“Yes! I know!I don’t look a day over thirty!” 

This was so ridiculous we both laughed. 

I enjoy making people laugh. 

In, jabbed, out. Walk up the hill to the Sue Ryder Shop ( Thrift Store) for an item I’d spotted on the way down.

“I’ll take this off your hands, “ I said, handing over a gaudy insulated picnic tote, on wheels,  to the volunteer womanning the till.

“£3 please,” she replies, handing over one of those second-generation cash machines that require a pin. Deja-vu kicked in with a moment of panic, but fortunately, this time, I remembered. 

I am now the triumphant owner of a vital piece of kit that is an essential tool in my new regime. 

Confused? I’ll explain. I am Doing My Bit ( as my grandparents would say during the Second World War) to Save the Planet. I am Walking To The Shops. 

This is no great sacrifice, per se, as the Co-op is less than half a mile away, but my Noble Purpose on arrival, is to collect a pre-ordered bag full of discounted food that had reached its use-by and was headed for the bin. It’s now headed for my newly acquired picnic tote on wheels for the drag up the Hartpury Rd and supper. 

Him Indoors and I are hooked. You don’t know what’s IN the bag until you open it, so every day it’s like winning the lottery! OK, so you might not, as a rule,  buy a plant-based Cornish Pasty, but it tasted good, as did the apple pie, and the parsnips, so no complaints. 

I got my steps in, fed us both for £3.39p AND according to the App, saved 1.7kg of CO2 :more if you count the walk. 

Win-win-win.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/too-good-to-go-end-food-waste/id1060683933