Last Tuesday was a rainy day in Sedbergh. The rain was drifting down like flour through a sieve, you know the stuff that makes you think do I need my umbrella or not.

Rain or not I had to pop out for a few essentials. First stop, Offices Services, where I got into conversation with Janet.

You see I’d telephoned the photographic studio at the holiday centre I had recently visited with my family and received a bit of a shock.

We’d had some professional photos taken and after scrutinising them on the photographer’s website, I decided to get a CD of all the photos, at the cost of £32.

Reasonable I thought.

How silly of me, it was £32 per photo, £340 for the lot on a special offer. “What” I was heard to exclaim. Which was exactly what Janet repeated when I told her.

Next stop the Spar. The lovely Linda was behind the counter and Fred and I were chatting with her while being served.

He’d recently been to Manchester and we asked if he had enjoyed his trip. Fred replied that he’d, “stood outside M&S, stood outside Primark, stood outside John Lewis, and stood outside Debenhams” ( I see a pattern emerging here).

Why do men put themselves through it?

Why do ladies insist on taking their husbands with them? It hardly ever works. On the odd occasion when my husband Keith has been foolish enough to come shopping with me he quickly gets bored.

He usually goes off somewhere and sits on a bench if the weather is fine or in the car if it isn’t. I wouldn’t mind if he gave me a clue as to when and where he was going.

I’m talking away to him one minute - the next he’s disappeared. I end up looking all over town for him but I know when I find him I can guarantee that he will be asleep.

During our years together I’ve found him asleep in all kinds of places.

Coffee shops, libraries and town benches and when we were visiting Pompeii I found him asleep on the grass in the middle of the Amphitheatre.