did you get the things we needed? (an occasional series)

We nipped (or popped) to the tip at lunchtime, to dispose of old carpets and various chucked away gubbins from the server room, as previous detailed.

From thence, we went to Costco, armed with no shopping bag and no list. Still, we only wanted cat food and butter. Which cost £192 by the time we'd finished ...

• 96 tins and 48 pouches of cat fud
• 4 packs of Beurre d'Isigny
• 1 big box of shortbread, and a multipack of butter cookies
• some small kabanos, as the big ones were sadly lacking
• a bath mat
• a half bottle of dessert wine to accompany the xmyth pud
• a bag of leeks (a constituent of tomorrow night's supper party) and a bag of shallots
• 2 dozen bagels and 8 part baked baguettes
• a whole Brie, and some Port Salut (bugger, forgot the smoked cheddar)
• a big gammon to cook up for lunches
• a tub of good quality choc chips for baking
• a box of 9 Brita water filters

But - *even better than that* - they had a fabulous heavy duty stainless steel mandoline, something I've wanted for ages. I've always been wary of them, not least because I couldn't work out how to store it safely; this one comes with its own storage box, and looks Very Sharp Indeed. Can't wait to try it out. Some videos here. Sliced finger with every meal.

We didn't get: smoked almonds (couldn't find any), or Maltesers (you call *those* fun sized?). They didn't have any mixed nuts in their shell either; we always buy a bag of these for festering season - we don't eat nuts, but Iggy likes to bat them round the room, and who are we to deny a chap his pleasures?

ramtops' twitterings

Today's tweets are ( behind the cut )