[Sundae]

Thanks, Scriv. Small world.

Went to Thame (pronounced Tame) on the bus with Mum yesterday. Her treat.
Got pole position there and back (upstairs front seat) which is great for looking into people's gardens, bedroom windows and at men's bald spots which they haven't even noticed themselves yet.

Mum wanted to go to the market, I wanted to go to Waitrose and we both wanted to have lunch out.

I didn't take many photos. I don't often when I'm out with her, I think it's because I have someone to talk to! Now I've come back and thought of loads I could have taken of course. Never mind, maybe we'll go back another day.

Thame is a lovely place, just over the Oxon border. I used to live and work there. I'm sure all the local yokels will say it's gone to hell in a handcart, but those of us coming from Aylesbury just see a market town the way it should be. Small independent shops, especially catering to the tastes of nearby (wealthy) villages. Tea shops and cafes, butchers that sell hand-made pies, local eggs, game. High-end jewellers that don't need to display their prices, a chocolaterie, an Aga shop (for goodness sake!). And all that and everything.

We wandered the shops first. The bookshop is still open, which delighted me. I could spend hundreds in there, much of it on wrapping and cards. I didn't have a penny on me, so I couldn't even be tempted. They've moved the children's section though. It used to be in the back room, magically lit even on the gloomiest days by a large skylight. I used to creep in there to worship all the magical books. NB I was 19, not 9!

I dragged Mum into a kitchenalia shop - wonderful. It was like being in Heal's (Tottenham Court Road). Just the sort of things you never see in a town with only retail park tastes. An electric blue mixer with a see-through bowl - POW! When I win the lottery and can afford too many gadgets this is the kind of place I will head to. Lovely local staff (local accents anyway) helping people in a friendly way buy armfuls of things on their platinum Amexs. I did gaze wistfully at the Gruffalo and Very Hungry Caterpillar melamine sets though. Within my price range if the twins get baptised.

The old shoe shop had gone, as had the shop selling clothes by Ghost (I was skinny back then, they suited me). The jewellers where Mum bought me a watch for my 21st birthday was there though. Mum found a ring she liked. Then again, what's not to like about a diamond ring that costs over two grand without being ostentatious?

On to the market. Again, I could have spent lots of money. I really wish I'd taken a photo of the sign for American Cherry's though. The market wasn't as large as I remember, but then it was much busier than Aylesbury and seemed to have more serious shoppers, come in from the villages in their smart little cars for the day, or on the bus (there's a reason the rich stay rich!) Fruit and veg stalls, bread and bakery, cheese, eggs, a meat stall (sealed cuts in generator run refrigerated units - this isn't Egypt!). Saw some nice kaftans for me to waft about the house in on hot days, again should have taken a photo - labelled Kaffans. That was the same stall selling Linnen Trousers. I could have bought five or six bags too. Not handbags, bags for toting things to school now that mine is giving up the ghost. Needs to carry lunch, book, camera, purse, mobile etc as standard, and double as a shopping bag when I go into town. Not as easy to find as you think - except on Thame Market!

The flower stall was large and well stocked too. Like being back on Columbia Road in East London. Mum already has freesias in the hall, but I'd have bought some of their glorious pinks and sunflowers for the living room and kitchen respectively. Should have taken a... ah well.

Back via the bakery stall. They sold Rum Babas! Mum and I have been looking for these since I moved back home. When Mum & Dad were first married, they used to buy them as a treat from a delicatessan in Kingsbury. That closed when I was a teenager, but supermarkets still sold them. Now, nowhere seems to. I tried to make them some using a recipe I found online, but they turned into a sodden mess. As did I, finishing off the leftover rum.

Turns out they weren't that great - they were a bit dry. Still, it was a bit of excitement. And it would be hard to live up to the memory of the early rum babas, bought at a time when the 'rents couldn't even afford a television and went to bed at 21.00 to save on electricity.