A lovely morning, and being humbled

 When we got up yesterday it was such a lovely sunny morning we decided to go to the caravan - being Saturday there was far less traffic about than there would be on Monday, when we were planning to go.  So having put the washing on the line that had done overnight on the Economy 7 (using extra pegs as it was forecast to be very windy in the afternoon), I got some supplies together and off we went, arriving about 9.30.  It was lovely to see a few more familiar faces there, 3 of the owners near to us were there, having all had their first stayover Friday night.  We caught up with them then got stuck in to what we wanted to do - taking the horrible creaky metal framed bed to the big new hospice charity store in Weston.  We got all the parts in and on top of the car with few problems....other than having to stand on a stool as the roof of the car is so high.  There were staff at the hospice store to help unload it from the car, thankfully.  We then looked for and found a nice second hand divan bed, it's nearly new, very clean and comfortable, has drawers in the base and was a remarkably good price.  That's now installed in the caravan, just needing making up with fresh linen when we go next week.

After having a drink and snack, we then re-packed the car with all the remaining wooden bits of the old sofa, which we'd dumped in the van garden.  One of our neighbours here at home has asked for them for firewood for their multifuel stove, so that has saved us having to take it all to the tip and helps her out.  Oh, I also took a bagful of the tinned and jarred food we'd bought the other day, and put it all away in the cupboards.  A quick hoover round before we left, so there's not too much to do now before we go to stay there towards the end of next week.  We got home about 1.30 pm, pleased with what we'd accomplished in the few hours we were there.

Watching the news about Ukraine every day is gut wrenching, it's having a profound effect on me.  I'm sure we all feel helpless, there's nothing much we personally can do other than making donations (we've done that a couple of times now).  It's making me realise even more just how bloody lucky we are - we have 2 homes (ok, one of them is a holiday caravan) whereas many Ukrainians no longer have a home.  Yes there are gaps on the shelves in shops and lots of missing items - but there's still plenty of food etc around, if we can't buy one thing we can get something else to replace it.  Ukrainians, even if they're still in their homes, or what's left of them, may not have any food left in the shops, that's if the shops are still standing.  Yes, prices of goods and fuel for our cars and homes are skyrocketing, but we can still afford to pay for it, albeit having to economise where we can.  WE ARE SO BLOODY LUCKY.

It's very humbling.  And it's certainly made me realise I have nothing to complain about at all.