These pouches of soup have been in the bottom of my bag for well over a year now. I bought them after a run of days when, for various reasons, I didn’t manage to get out of the office for lunch. Since I’ve bought them, it’s only happened once, which is why I still have most of them in the bottom of my bag…!

On the basis of this (admittedly rather limited) evidence, I conclude that the purchase of dried Campbell’s soup guarantees you time to eat lunch. Buy some today!

Sometimes, I think I’m a bit critical of M&S… it’s only because I care. So, today, I thought I’d feature something they’ve done that I really like!

This massive “home” sign is really striking, distinctive, navigationally useful, helps break up the vast store into small attractive areas, displays products well, and is totally on-brand in terms of font and colour scheme. More of this, please!

It seems that Italy’s former Prime Minister has been freshly ground and bagged by Taylors of Harrogate… unless I’ve misunderstood?

This is an extra photo to make up for missing a day earlier in the week.

Wendy and I often struggle to be in when deliveries arrive, and also to get to the Post Office to pick things up during working hours. So we’ve started using ByBox, and having parcels delivered to a nearby locker. It is fantastically convenient.

Tonight, we swung by to pick up a parcel delivered yesterday morning. It’s hard to think of any other delivery system that would allow us to collect parcels at 7pm on a Sunday!

ByBox tell me that they will soon enable posting of boxes from the lockers too, which will be brilliant!

I really enjoy a Bassetti liquorice stick now and again – my nan used to buy them for me as a child. I don’t see them in shops as much these days as I used to, but occasionally like to treat myself when I do!

Wendy painted these flowers for my parents a few years ago, and the painting now hangs on the wall in their house. I possess absolutely no artistic skill, so I’d not have a hope of producing anything even remotely similar…!

I know I’m easily amused, but the little Christmas hat on the Tesco logo did make me smile… it’s quite cute!

This Christmas will be the tenth for which Wendy and I have been together. For six of the past nine Christmases, I’ve made Wendy an advent calendar: I didn’t for our first two Christmases, and a couple of years ago – much to her disappointment – I just bought one from Hotel Chocolat.

I’ve done all sorts over the years, from a hamper of small gifts, to small gifts hanging on the tree, to stuffed “mini stockings” (aka trainer socks), to customised crackers. Oddly, I’ve noticed that several of those ideas are available in commercial packages this year… perhaps that’s been going on for a while, and I just haven’t noticed.

This year, I’ve prepared 24 mini gift-bags, all assembled on our mantelpiece. Frustratingly, 24 wouldn’t quite fit side-by-side, hence the two odd ones at the front… but I guess that problem will be solved by 2nd December anyway! I’d normally keep it all hidden until 30th November, but couldn’t find anywhere big enough to secrete it this year! And fear not – the rest of our decorations are most certainly not up yet!

This big wheel is next to Asda in South Shields. I guess it’s related to the remnants of St Hilda’s Colliery which are next to Asda, but whether it’s a bit of the colliery or some artistic interpretation I’m not entirely sure.

The colliery was active for 130 years, during which 118 miners were killed, many of whom were in their teens or early twenties. Some were as young as 9. Fifty-one miners died in a methane-fuelled explosion on 28th June 1839.

Next time someone complains about ‘elf ‘n’ safety, remind them that there are few workplaces these days with mortality figures quite like that.

This picture shows the Goldcraft jewellers, located within a Morrisons store near me. A jewellers in a supermarket seems a little odd to me – perhaps it did to others, too, explaining why its shutters were down today.