Wants or needs?

Yes, there is a difference.   I am in clear out mode once again and this time it is the large cupboard in the kitchen which houses all manner of things and which has got very untidy.
Today was the day I resolved.

First of all I went into town to meet friends W and C for our usual Tuesday morning coffee.  After that I went to the shop next door but two - 'House and Home' - a brilliant household shop which has absolutely everything under the sun that you could possibly need.

What I needed was first of all a new feather duster.   Mine has begun to moult pale blue feathers every time it is used to dust the picture rails.   I chose a more expensive but obviously better choice of a lambswool one.   The other thing I wanted was some storage baskets - I have bought them from there before and they do categorise ones bits and pieces of 'householdery' ideally.

I got chatting to a chap who had some piece of 'man stuff' in his hand and was looking at it longingly.   As I passed him I said, "Do you really need that or is it that you just want it"He laughed - "The latter" he said and put it back on the shelf.   We had a little chat about how easy it is in that kind of shop to collect stuff.

Then I crossed the road and went into our general store - Milners.   Here are ladies' clothes, handbags, haberdashery, and upstairs carpets, curtains and the like.   All I wanted was half a dozen buttons for a baby jacket I am knitting - but that meant walking through the clothing department - and what gorgeous things there were.   Almost everything I wanted.   But did I need it?   What I needed was to go home and assess what I needed to top up my winter wardrobe.   Resisting temptation I came home and got the lunch (yesterday's Times recipe 'Pasta a la Norma' - delicious and easy to make.)

Then I tackled the cupboard.   Getting out my first storage basket I got out all the spice jars.   Oh dear, many of them were out of date (by a long way).  Have you checked yours lately?   You might get a nasty surprise.

Realising that the jars were recycleable but not the contents, I got a bag and began to empty the jars into it.   I was reminded of the John Masefield poem 'Cargoes'   Quinquireme of Nineveh with its cargo of 'sandalwood, cedarwood and sweet white wine' - the smell was glorious - cinnamon, ginger, cumin,
paprika, caraway seeds - they all went into the bag.   Then the jars went into the recycle box.   I was also reminded of Mr Colman of Colman's Mustard who said that he made his money from what  people left on their plate.

Now the whole cupboard is neat and tidy.   It is actually I believe a linen press but it really does make a very useful cupboard for my kitchen.

Next I shall go and look through my wardrobe and persuade myself that I really do need one or two items I saw in that shop rather than just that I want them.   I shall try hard to forget the difference because clothes are one of my passions.