Another day of mixed sunshine and cloud, mainly cool. Mum, Emily and I went to Wyevale garden centre, where we pootled around looking at the fish and letting Emily play with the toys for sale, before having lunch in their restaurant. Then we drove into Hereford and parked at the leisure centre. There was a new play area right next to the car park with loads of great equipment for all ages, and she was really happy, but I soon had to end her fun as she was late for her nap, and bundled her into the buggy.
Mum generously offered to walk Emily around while I went shopping for an hour. I spent half of it in M&S trying on bras, as I was determined to stock up on essentials, which I did with reasonable success. Emily seemed happy enough to wake and find I wasn't there, thankfully, so she is obviously becoming comfortable with Mum. We went for coffee and cake, after she had a ride on a Thomas machine in the shopping mall. 50p is a small price to pay to see her face light up with such a huge grin. We finished our trip with another visit to the playground before turning for home in what passes for rush hour traffic round these parts.
I was struck by what a nice place Hereford would be to live in. In the past I have been unimpressed with it and thought it terribly provincial, but viewed through the eyes of a mother it has bags of character, especially round the cathedral and castle green, and it is surrounded by lovely countryside. Its compact city centre (like Durham it is really only large town graced with the presence of a cathedral) has improved a lot and there is a better range of shops these days, though the credit crunch may see some of them off again, perhaps. Once again I was surprised by a high level of customer service and politeness.
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