A success at the sales!

Mum is very petite and has tiny feet, so we usually have fruitless searches for shoes.

'no sorry, nothing smaller than a size 4', is the normal refrain. But today we scored a little success. T K Maxx had several pairs of size 3, which is very rare. Mind you, most of them were ideal for 16 year-olds, not the over 80's, so we had a limited choice. However, lucky daughter was lucky today. One particular pair proved both comfortable and the right size, as welll as being in the sale, so we bought mum a new pair of shoes! They will be ideal for indoors so she can save her rather nice court shoes for trips out.

I had recently been delighted to buy some quite nice expensive shoes in an Edinburgh charity shop and brought them to her with childish glee. She was over the moon - a posh pair of shoes size 3!

Alas, we were both amazed and dashed when they were actually too small for her. We don't live in Edinburgh, so I shall recycle them in one of our local charity shops. What a pity.

Size has always been a problem for mum. When younger, she regularly resorted to making her own clothes because the sizes in the shops were too big for her. Many people remark on how small and smart she is, but it has become increasingly difficult for mum to find smart clothes in a small enough size.

She is quite particular about her appearance, and always optimistic when we go clothes shopping. Skirts usually need 12 inches lopped off the hem, coats need 6 inches off the sleeves, it must be so disheartening for her.

Even at 80-odd, she wants to look smart and well-turned out, so the hunt for petite clothes goes on....