Gran loved shopping on a Tuesday morning. Why we never quite understood, maybe because it wasn’t pension day she thought there would be less people to contend with, but it was folly to turn up at her place early on a Tuesday as she would be fussing about getting herself organised for her weekly shop.

Her pantry was a store of exotic jams and goods that only she knew the true nature of. Once a year, she had a cleanout of all the items that were out of date.

One time I was being nosey and looked about in her pantry only to discover a mouse in one of the baskets she had in there.

“Oh, don’t be bothered by Herman he just drops by from time to time to check out what’s there and on occasion have a bit of a nibble. He loves those ‘Marie’ biscuits for some…