Retail Herb Therapy

Mint

I have always known that retail really does work for me as a form of therapy... but only to a certain spend limit - I also suffer greatly from buyers remorse so I have to get it just right. I returned to London on Sunday night for my anniversary on Monday and to try and find something to squeeze my ever-expanding self into for my father's cremation on Thursday and I'd planned to venture into Westfield and buy myself anything that I tried on that I wanted. I can never afford to do this anymore and thought I deserved it. My darling friend Florence picked me up to drive me there (had been whisked out to lunch by lovely work friend and was short on time) and we stopped off at a garden centre on the way.

I had prepared myself for Westfield, I had not mentally prepared myself for the garden centre. The garden centre had not mentally prepared itself for me. I strolled in there with the dog assuming that I would just get some more flat leaf parsley and maybe some coriander, but then the dog disappeared for a pee under the herb stand so I was stranded there face to face with a strawberry plant... it tipped me over the edge. I had an image of myself spending Tuesday morning in the sun effortlessly potting herbs that would make me look like a culinary goddess and general all round domestic wonder woman. I spent £60 on herbs. £60!! I did buy three terracotta pots and Florence's compost that the overwhelmed lady serving us forgot to put through but still!

Lovely Tuesday morning pootling in the garden turned into hardcore 2 hour slog involving more dragging the dog to the garden centre for extra pots and the tarragon I'd forgotten amidst the buying of herbs I'll never use. Now we have strawberry's, flat leaf parsley, coriander, tarragon, oregano, thyme, mint, marjoram, I managed to resist the basil (much better to buy the supermarket pots and keep them inside and replace when they die) but fell for some dill which I love but will last a week and make me even more resentful of it never being in supermarkets. I even got some lovely white and salmon pink flowers which could be petunias but I can't remember, for the hanging basket of death.

Forgotten flowers in hanging basket of death, with clean laundry being aired behind

I created garden havoc leaving it for Joe to clear up as I had to rush back to Hampshire to have lunch with my mum where I shall now stay until Monday morning... please pray for rain or I'm going to have a meltdown when I return to my pots and pots of dried sticks.

Tasteful herbs made less tasteful by husbands BBQ in the back... and using old colander for the Thyme

Needless to say I found nothing to wear in Westfield and am planning on cutting holes in the top and sides of a bin bag - I'll end up hating whatever I wear anyway won't I?