A typical Saturday

I'm a creature of habit and if I'm at home in Leicester my Saturdays tend to follow a pattern:

Start the day with the Guardian while eating breakfast.

Go to the Post Office to collect parcels that the poor postie hasn't been able to fit through the letterbox (today, among other things, a train set for my nephew's second birthday, a letterpess print from What Katie Does for my kitchen, and The Rough Guide to the USA from Waterstones).

Walk into town, come rain or shine, through Nelson Mandela Park and past the prison, down King Street to buy a Big Issue from the vendor outside Waterstones.

Go to H&M to see if they have anything new and exciting (bought today: a great egg yolk yellow cardigan).  I don't usually go into Debenhams, but decided to check out the sales today and was glad I did: this little beauty was £7 in the sale from the Topshop concession!

Wander around the independent shops in the Silver Street/Lanes area and surrounding arcades. 

My favourite bookshop: Chapter One.  It opened a few months ago and I LOVE it.  Really cheap, really good stock and always plenty of new things to look at.  I have bought their 'Go away, I'm reading' tote in three different colours so far.  Today I resisted adding a fourth bag, but picked up Claire Tomalin's biography of Katherine Mansfield for £2 instead.

My penultimate stop: the peerless Rockaboom in St Martins Square.  This shop is a Leicester institution and I try and buy something every time I pass (my excuse is I'm supporting independent business).  This afternoon I got Odd Blood by Yeasayer for a fiver: bargain.

Finally, Firebug.  My home-from-home, the best bar in the world, this is where I end the afternoon with a pint of Thatchers Gold cider (pictured with the book I was reading) and some lunch.