Abstract Thursday - ‘Mono Abstract’

The temperature was more bearable today, so my walk to St Luke’s was pleasant. After coffee, Alison and I had a look at some clothes which the local interiors shop has started doing as an extra thing. They always do the windows so beautifully, mixing the clothes, shoes, jewellery and bags with selected curtain fabrics, cushions and other interiors items which they sell. It’s a lovely shop, owned by the daughter of a lady who used to attend St Luke’s before moving out of the area, so I’m always happy to find something to buy there. Today I couldn’t resist getting a loose (and therefore cool) shirt top in green with tiny stars all over it. When I rediscovered the moving little notelet from Mum on Tuesday, I also found an envelope containing the remainder of the last money she had gifted to me for Christmas 2022, the year she died. She had put everyone’s money aside in good time and written their names on the envelopes, so that even though she was in hospital in December and passed away just after Christmas I was able to make sure everyone had their last gift from her. I’ve made a list of the things I bought with that and my last birthday money, and I’ve decided that the shirt will be the final gift from her. It’s really fitting, because Mum absolutely adored clothes and always coordinated her outfits so elegantly. I know she would have told me to buy that shirt if she’d been beside me in the shop.

After lunch, another letter arrived from the DWP confirming my successful application and the amount of State Pension I will receive after my birthday in the autumn. It will be very helpful to supplement my work pension. Now fully distracted by financial matters, I also got round to opening a special members-only fixed term bond at my bank which pays a bit higher interest, and put in the maximum amount allowed. My attempts at planning for old age have been thwarted at every turn over the years by events outside my control. Being one of the WASPI women who have been made to wait an extra six years for my State Pension, I’m jolly well going to make the most of it when it starts!

Many thanks to Ingeborg for hosting the Abstract Thursday challenge, with this week’s theme of ‘Mono Abstract’. My mono colour is green, and it’s an abstract of the Acacia Pravissima I can see in the garden through the lounge window.