Notes from the country with Vicky Turrell

  You might guess that it would happen sometime. I just knew, but I did not think that it would be me. At this special time of year when we have lots of visitors it is more embarrassing. And worst of all it was the red and not white or champagne. I knocked a glass of red wine off the small table and it went all over the carpet. It would not have mattered too much if we were still living at our cottage where we had old stone floors and patterned rugs. But this new fitted carpet is plain and beige. The stain went diagonally across the centre of the room. How do you get rid of a red wine stain? We went to the internet of course. There is an answer to every question. I remember a friend coming to see us a long time ago at the cottage and she spilt red wine all over our new cream settee. It was before the internet and we relied on our own experiences. She rushed to the kitchen and opened a bottle of white wine and covered the stain which miraculously disappeared. We had another adve...

  “I’m not paying,” shouted the man in front of me in the queue. “I just want to have a quick look round.” We were in a cathedral and the man was adamant; he only wanted to pop in for a few minutes and did not want to pay an entrance fee. He was taken to one side by a church worker as his voice got louder. Everyone felt uneasy as we edged along and I went to pay. I remember our village church door was always unlocked. You could go in and look around whenever you wanted. Then came the thefts. First, it was the lead on the roof that was stripped, then the candlesticks from inside were stolen. You need to ring the vicar if you want to go inside the village church now. At the cathedral I paid with my mobile. I have read that the limit on contactless payments is to be lifted as we carry less cash and do not write cheques. Two years ago, when I bought my glasses, my contactless payment was refused and Mr T had to come to rescue. We each paid half! I am very used to shopping on-line n...

  Why did I not notice before? I have been walking down our road all week and now suddenly it is lit up. It started with lights in a window, then a shining tree appeared on a lawn and all at once the whole street is twinkling and flashing. Everyone’s garden is full of brightness, except ours. It never occurred to me to decorate outside as well as inside. When we lived at the cottage there was no one to see and we did what we pleased. But now we have moved house it is very different. We are dark and gloomy and letting the side down. To tell the truth we have been letting the side down indoors too, but no one sees this. I decided that I had better try a bit harder, so when I visited a local supermarket, I was on the lookout. It is not as if we have not got any decorations, we have a lot, but they are all packed up in boxes, not yet opened from our move. Much better to get a few bits and pieces from the shop I thought. I had success immediately. I saw a tub of fir cones and each c...

“It’s not worth bothering anymore.” This was a friend talking about curlews. She was one of those people who go out and count the bird population in defined areas. “There aren’t any to count, anymore.” The number of curlews has dropped drastically. They used to be a common sight on our farm when I was young. We learnt their bubbly ‘song’ as they flew over our farm fields in early spring. My dad called it ‘the dirty weather bird’ because he said they brought rain. They like the rain. Much later in my life we heard it over the fields in Shropshire and used to think of it as a sign of spring. Then its call became frighteningly rare until we did not hear it at all. But last weekend I was in a bird hide and I heard the once familiar noise then looking up saw the brown bird with its long, curved beak. There is still hope. I am not sure about my amaryllis though.  I bought two some weeks ago. One was from a garden centre and one was from a supermarket where they were selling lik...

  ‘Turn left’ I heard. I was in a supermarket and concentrating on my shopping. I did not want distractions. I was in a hurry. ‘At the next junction turn left’. This time the voice seemed more insistent. I was irritated I do not need instructions on how to find my way around a shop. But soon I realised that the voice was coming from my pocket. It seemed to get louder and at the fish counter queue people started looking at me. Hastily I felt in my pocket. My Sat Nav was giving me the directions home. I did not know how to stop it. What should I do? Go out of the shop without my purchases, or stick it out and pretend the voice was nothing to do with me? I stuck it out. I am used to following instructions from my mobile or little connected pods at home, but are we getting too many warning of bad weather? If you get extreme weather, then it is important to know but my computer had been telling me for several days that a disaster was about to happen and the little pod is urgently fl...

    I have won £100. An email came yesterday to tell me the good news. I imagine myself wandering the stores for a much-needed new coat, I am thinking I will get one brighter than my usual safe navy. I read the rest of the email to find out that someone is ‘delighted to send me £100 gift card’. But all is not what it seemed and I must buy through a firm on the internet. There are words like ‘apply’, ‘fill in your details’ and ‘sign up’ that are ringing alarm bells.   I have not entered any competition or put my name in a raffle, nor have I had an advert telling me about a reward if I get a new product. My shopping spree is rapidly disappearing and when you next see me, I will still be wearing my old coat. I saw someone yesterday who was meeting me for the first time, but she knew me from this column in the Shropshire Star. I was at a Craft Fair selling my books. We talked of my teeth which I wrote about not being white enough. She said that they looked good, so I am...