Off to Bristol on our occasional / once a year trip to sample IKEA city where everything is on a vast scale. They must make a ton of money each day if you look at the 100 deep queues (lines in USA) of the customers. At 10am sharp today Sunday the people streamed in for cheap breakfasts (£2.65 for full breakfast but extra for toast, and £1 for coffee).

Thank goodness we arrived early – at 9.50 am to be precise – to be greeted with a deserted underground car park. When we emerged at 12.50 people were driving around trying to find spaces.

The interior was heaving with people most of whom had not just come for the entertainment but armed with tape measures, lists and having earnest discussions with their partners on what to buy. One lady was showing her stay at home husband what she intended to buy using Skype. IKEA arrange things so that you have to walk through the whole store to get to the check out. There are arrows on the floor but it is very easy to get disorientated. Much of what they sell is very well priced and SO cleverly designed. You have to steel yourself not to make ‘on the spur of the moment’ purchases.

I bought a Billy bookshelf to accommodate my ever growing family of books. Of the thousand I own I shall probably only get rid of 20 or so. Some will sit upstairs in the loft. I hate parting with books.  I have an extra 6m of book space  so taking into account the throwing away of papers etc. I have an extra ten meters of space. This is the first time in 6 years I have had a clear out and boy did it need it.

I can only do such much each day because the whole process is tiring. Apart from the physical side a lot of mental activity is required to decide 1. do I want the book 2. where do I put it 3. Do I file by author title or by book title.

That will be this week’s delight.