Happy workers = happy customers

A shop in Waitrose, a smart UK supermarket chain,  always makes me happy, contrary to a shop in Lidl which is a regular and depressing experience when we are in Italy.

Yesterday driving home from a delicious and chatty lunch at friends we called at Waitrose early evening for a few essentials to take to Italy.  At the till we were served by the nicest gentleman who chatted about our purchases, which he thoroughly approved of and their destination in Lazio.  We then chatted about Waitrose, he said he worked there part time to fill in his retirement and loved it for 4 reasons.  He works with a great bunch of people, he loves the customers who come in and chat, he works in pleasant comfortable surroundings and sells lovely shiny things.  It was uplifting to listen to his positivity, he was a great advertisement for Waitrose, and I will give them feedback to this effect.  I imagine they look after their staff well as they are part of the John Lewis Group but I doubt the man was earning much above minimum wage.  Compared to all the workers currently demanding big pay rises, and some like train drivers still striking when they get them, he was a breath of fresh air.  

We have our own local supermarket Booths in Ilkley which is equally pleasant, staffed with nice people, lots of local products and within walking distance so I use that regularly.    We have to drive to Waitrose so generally call in if we are passing otherwise i’d be there every few days chatting to our new friend.  

Knit yourself happy

Interesting article in The Guardian confirming what I already knew, that crafting gives greater life satisfaction than having a job.  

Among other results the team found engaging in arts and crafts was associated with an increase in happiness on a par with ageing by 20 years (as Keyes notes, wellbeing goes up slightly with age), while the sense that life was worthwhile was more strongly associated with crafting than being in employment.  

I could have told them that, knitting isn’t 9 till 5, you are your own boss, creative, productive, no commuting, no performance reviews though we can be quite critical of our work, calming, I could go on.

So I have been working away at my wellbeing knitting up left over sock yarn.  The first pair worked well as I had almost enough of the multi coloured yarn that I supplemented with some blue.  The next pair I’ve started is more challenging. 

One sock is complete, it’s lovely but now I am wondering if I have enough of the same 3 yarns to make a match.  Not that it matters, there’s no one overseeing my work and no customer complaints number to call and hold on for a week listening to irritating music if you want to criticise my self expression.    

We’ve been away

We had a few days away last week staying with friends in North Yorkshire.  They live in an idyllic little village with a river running through the village green, a smart pub with restaurant and rooms, lovely old houses and pretty gardens, what more would you want. Well maybe better transport links and a small village shop but still.

En route we called briefly to see friends near York, we always like a visit there to see them, their pretty well stocked garden and their two adorable cats.

With our hosts for 3 nights we took walks round the village, sat out in their sunny garden, chatted a lot and relaxed. Together we visited Helmsley walled garden which was a delight and enjoyed a delicious lunch in the cafe, I can recommend it all.

We also found to time to visit friends we hadn’t seen for 35 years.  We received the warmest of welcomes and had a wonderful time, it was uplifting.

On our way home we called at my brother’s where happily both our nieces and 3 of our grand nieces were there to see us too.  We had lunch in the sunny garden and had fun with the little ones.

So lots of people seen, we really enjoyed our days away but as you will have gathered I took no photos at all.

Back in Ilkley we’ve had sunny days and some relaxation on the balcony when we are not glued to the Olympics.  The spare bedroom storage has rather slowed, the drawers are still to fit and we need to source handles and knobs.   MrFF has been busy with our broken boiler and we have had replacement parts fitted to 4 gas flues that run through our loft, our own and those of the 3 apartments below us. According to our lease the flues are our responsibility but MrFF discovered the leaks into our loft were a result of management’s lightning conductor installers drilling our flues for a fixing, which should never have happened.  It’s taken 3 years, during which time we have had to deal with the water ingress, to resolve this, up till the day before the contractors were due the negotiations continued, it was exhausting.  We are leaseholders with a share in the freehold, we are treated like anti social tenants but fortunately we have the strength to stand up for ourselves.

We haven’t had news of our Italian cats for a couple of weeks, we assume they are safe and well with Giovanni and enjoying the August holidays with his family.  We had a major badger invasion in our garden, the pots we thought we’d protected with high netting had been turned over and the contents taken out.  On the security camera at the back door we’ve seen black squirrels, a small fox and a badger eating the cat food Mario leaves in case Grigio comes down, it’s a wild life haven.  The garden looks very dry indeed, I am expecting fatalities when we return.

So another month or so we will return to Italy, I cannot wait to see the cats, maybe not so excited about the garden but being there will extend the flip flop days I am currently loving, I am such a lucky girl.