I bought an M+S beauty bag out of sympathy for them...well sort of.

[soupyspoon]

I do like a bargain and I also like shopping, so not saying there was nothing in the act for me.

How was dinner@soupyspoon? I was initially excited about the recipe you were cooking but my head has been turned by the talk of crisps. Specifically, crisps sandwiched between 2 slices of bread and butter. Accompanied by a nice cold glass of milk.

Its on the corner

And from our house, we can go left and walk all the way round on the same road and get to it, or turn right and go all the way round and get to it.

Imagine that.

So accessible.

I'll be honest. The beans could have done with a bit more cooking time, but they were edible.

The sauce was outstanding. Unbelievable. I am cooking it again. I have enough lemons.

And I forgot to sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on it after all that.

Is it a typical corner shop type of corner shop or one that has world foods from far flung places and makes you go oooo or hmmm must try this as you wander around picking things up then putting them down again as the person behind the counter is watching you suspiciously because they know you have only gone in for a nosy ?

Its got one of those doors that makes a terrible 'nee naw' sound when anyone goes in or out. Im surprised the bloke behind the counter doesnt have a nervous twitch by now

He does parcels, both in and out. Very convenient.

They sell 'Jacks' brand of food, frozen and tinned. Also very convenient.

They sell Scampi Fries and pork scratchings.

I dont want to make it sound like I live on those.

Also lots of chocolate bars. Things like orange kitkat or other flavours. (I dont know if Ive made that one up)

Hmmm doesn't sound like a place where one could pick up a jar of preserved lemons in an emergency.

I dont like pork scratchings. Which is an odd thing to say really as I've never tried them. But I dont want to. I dont like pork.

Now you didnt have to walk passed the bag on the stairs, to go upstairs to get that perfume did you, and still the bag remains on the stairs?

Ignore me

I did. Thats exactly what I did.

And then I was stair shamed into taking it up.

No way. I asked him for raspberry jam once and he didnt have any.

I had to make do with blackcurrant.

Heavens to Betsy....just seen on Vinted...the blessed beauty bag for sale at the eye watering greedy price of £62...several others on there too. I know a girls got to make a living but jeez....

There were loads there and on Ebay when I looked. I'm still tempted

I dont know how they know about it so quick. I didnt know it existed until I popped in there and saw them.

Anyway I thought I should draw to your attention that there is a much better thread than this one at the moment. Its about a mussel (mollusc) stuck in a butler sink overflow.

Not impressed by the big daddy choc bar...bit meh...give me a bag of their choc mini whips and I'm anyone's...

The rest is a blur.

If you're not some kind of guerilla marketer you probably should be because I'm now also the proud owner of some very moreish chocolate pecans I didn't know I needed. Not just chocolate pecans, m+s chocolate pecans.

I never got to the pecans, I still need to discover these.

Im on the pork scratchings tonight again.

BTW guys. I don't want to side track anyone but you can now order online again!

Accordingly I did my shopping in-store today. Everyone was really jolly and full of beans in the changing room, chatting on about the hackers etc and how M&S customers weren't going to be beaten. It was really inspiring. Blitz spirit all over the shop.

Blitz spirit 😂

Good news about the online ordering .

The chocolate-covered pecans are out of this world.

No ordering online in Ireland yet 😔

They bump up the exchange rate to a ridiculous level here so we shouldn’t even buy anything off them anyway!

That is true but dh needs a suit for a one-off event. He is not willing to spend any significant money on it, or spend any serious time looking for it, so I figured I could get a couple delivered as they are not too bad for suits.

Well we have gone full circle now that the online ordering is back. The whole reason I went into a physical shop was because I couldnt order my bras online and even when I went in, they didnt have my sizes

So last night I ordered everything I needed, hopefully they are coming tomorrow!

So I wont be tempted any longer by piles of goods at the top of the escalator and my lemon buying days are now long gone.