Betting wit MRS BEASLEY

Can sell a very obscure book? Eclairs are at stake

The poet Browning, when he was in a particularly good mood one day, wrote that the lark was on the wing, the snail was on the thorn, God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.

I’m feeling inspired in the same way as I work in the storeroom of our charity shop. The tea is in the pot, there’s a box of books to unpack, and Mrs Beasley’s back in charge. I have no information on the local population of larks and snails, but all is definitely right with the world.

If you are visiting for the first time, you won’t know that Mrs Beasley gave up being the manager of this shop a while ago, but has now returned. And who would have thought what a pleasure that would be?

I have treated myself to a chocolate Hobnob by way of celebration. And then another, as it was the only one left in the packet. Waste not, want not.

During her first long stint in charge, she was sorely afflicted by dynamism, efficiency, and the will to get things done.

That sort of thing is all very well if you are running Apple, or Amazon or one of that crowd. When you are running a small charity shop, it just gets on everybody else’s nerves.

My main memory of her time in charge is the sound of her high-heeled shoes click-clacking across the wooden floor at high speed.