Toilet Paper Usage and other gems

Well, I'm back to being by myself again now - George stayed for over a week and then Celeste took up the challenge, though she spent a lot of her time catching up with old friends who she hadn't seen for a while and making sure that my Facebook settings and everything else were all up to date.  You might have thought that since George is the computer buff, he would have done that, but no.  Instead, George supervised the acquisition of not one but two rescue cats, who emerge from the hiding places they have discovered when they are fed, but otherwise I see very little of them.  Once they are less photophobic, I might be able to take some pictures, but until then you'll just have to make do with your imagination as to what they look like - which is pretty much what I have to do, too.  But they really are cats, not vampires!
George and Celeste also encouraged me to join in a couple of things in the village despite my reservations.  "You'll get a reputation, always answering the door in your pjs, Mum," Celeste said.  "Two of my friends have mentioned it already!"  I suspect they're more concerned about how it will reflect on them than me, but I thought it probably wouldn't do any harm.  Annie seems to have been remarkably absent of late, always dashing off in the opposite direction when I do see her - perhaps she's heard about the pjs.
Anyway, the first thing I took part in was a Ladies' Night - so no need to feel like the spare wheel at a dinner party, part of the reason I accepted the invitation.  I was a little worried that it was going to be an Anne Summers party in disguise, but it was a group of women who work long days and are therefore too tired to socialise most evenings.  Strictly speaking, I don't fall into that category, but there was a widow who had been included in the group already, so they didn't mind extending the invitation to me aswell.  Considerable quantities of wine were consumed so it was a very merry evening even though I only knew a couple of the women by sight and the rest not at all.  They were all very welcoming despite my dubious status as a busy working woman and I have agreed to attend the next dinner, in a month's time.  Quite a lot of the chat was them catching up with each other and their respective families, so I just listened, but as I get to know them more, perhaps the names will mean more to me.  I did, however, learn that we each use 57 sheets of toilet paper a day.  Yes, fifty-seven, not a typo.  Not sure where that particularly gem came from or how they calculated it, but I can only assume that someone somewhere is eating the stuff. While I haven't counted my usage, I'm pretty certain that it doesn't come anywhere near that!  A couple of the ladies are encouraging me to join the village WI but one thing at a time...
Finally, before I head off to get dressed, when I was walking through the rain to the post office yesterday, I saw Max drive past, apparently with Verity in the car.  I stopped and frowned at them (yes, I know, I should have waved really) and then mentioned it in the post office queue, where I ran into Deirdre, in full disguise still underneath her raincoat and scarf.
"Oh yes, he moved back in with her.  Didn't you know?"
No I did not! Could explain why I haven't seen her lately, though..