Today saw the three of us head to Exeter for a shopping trip. Heidi has not been here before, and in fact neither have we since Freddie was in Exeter.

The shopping areas have changed after a great deal of redevelopment so we got a little lost. Its OK, not really our cup of tea (or Costa Packet coffee indeed) so we skirted around the new bits and headed in to the areas we knew.

Heidi was asleep for most of the time but soon perked up in the afternoon and was chuckling to herself constantly. Eyes were bright and swivelling about, looking at all the lights and bright clothes as she sped by the shop windows. Noisy smelly buses made her frown as they thundered by in the “pedestrianised” areas, and a passing police car with siren made her jump and squint a little.

Lunch was a rather grim pasty in a place we had never been before. I have yet to discover a proper pasty in a shop, though the Pasty Heaven chain (W C Rowes) do one which occasionally meets with my approval. A grey paste that someone could have chewed beforehand is not what it’s about. Chuck steak, potato, onion and swede all recognisably the size of a 5mm cube, in short pastry is proper. Plus salt and pepper, with a vent hole in the top and the intial of whose pasty it is seals the deal.

Heidi needed a nappy changed so we headed to Debenhams and R and H went in to the baby changing facilities. Looked good to me, but I could not stay long in there. They say that your own baby’s poo does not smell that bad, but others are really difficult to stomach. Once in one of these infernal spaces, once you go to open the nappy bin a waft of a hundred different babies comes out and fills the room.

It’s evil. It is like the fart of Beelzebub, it really is. A concoction of different pongs escape and I can’t stay much longer. R gives me a weary shake of the head as I escape to compose myself outside in the comfy chair.

We move on to other shops and then head home. We stopped at The Range on the way back to look for something and had a coffee. Heidi was fast asleep by now, and this was good. In the coffee shop we had a drink although every few minutes the sole member of staff would smash a metal implement repeatedly against the metal worktop (three times), with such a force the mezzanine floor shook, and of course woke Heidi each time. She was actually clearing coffee grounds each time from the machine but the frequency really got on my nerves…..

We got home where a slightly sweaty Miss Wills took a bath and happily relaxed into her Moses basket knowing tomorrow would be another day.