Dogs and Hardware

Alfie broke two leads today. He tends to be a bit - excitable - when we first go out, which means he pulls a lot, leading to comments from passers by along the lines of "Who's taking who for a walk?"
This morning, screeching round the corner of Lucy's at a rate of knots (and trying to avoid the scaffolding poles as I shot past them), the handle parted company with the chain. Alfie, free at last, shot off down the pavement - thankfully only as far as the Riverside Walk, where he and Islay disappeared to a traffic free zone.
So, for the afternoon walk, I used the 'Medieval' lead I use for Islay when she has to be chained up at re-enactment shows. This time, the leather handle snapped.
The handle was easy to fix. I just plaited scraps of fabric together and tied them on to make a new handle.
For the modern lead, I went to Jones' Hardware.
Jones' Hardware is wonderful. They have everything you could ever think of for DIY, and the service is fantastic, whether you're buying garden machinery for hundreds of pounds or, as I was, a split ring for 25p. They also have a Cookshop, with everything you could think of for the kitchen. And they like Islay, who now has a lead that's as good as new.

Meanwhile the new St Michael's Hospice charity shop opened today. They support a local hospice in Herefordshire. They're using the shop which used to be a games shop - board games, fancy chess sets and so on - just down from the Blue Boar. So Hay now has three charity shops; St Michael's, the Red Cross and Oxfam.