£9.60!!!!!!

I wandered down to the shop yesterday and one of the things on the list was, stamps. Not the type of thing you buy every week what with all the modern ways to communicate.  In fact I used our last stamp the other day and it had a christmassy theme on it so you get the idea of how often we use the "snail mail"
Could I have one book of second class stamps and one of first class stamps please I asked my sainsbugs colleague at the kiosk.  Another exchange between us established that the second class only came in books of 12 and the first in 6 or 12, I opted for the book of 12 second and a 6 of first class.
I dont usually buy first class stamps purely for the fact that we dont use the mail all that often and i'm in no hurry when I do so second is fine by me.  With all the background noise and my dodgy ears I did not hear the price quoted by my colleague and proffered a £10 note not having picked up any change when i exited the house earlier.
The till was opened and my colleague scooped up some coins and dropped them into my outstretched hand, only 40p?  I gave him the look of - - but I gave you a tenner?  "The stamps are £9.60p" he said, I replied "Oh my god" and wandered off clutching the 2 books like they were gold bars.  I checked on the net when I got home first class post is 60p and second 50p minimum!  I will utilise the more modern forms of communication with even more glee now and start saving up for stamps with which to post the Christmas cards.  Thinks - - - I could just scan one card and e mail it to all the recipients.
The much trumpeted "sorting out" of Johns garden (our next door neighbour who has a tip for a garden) never materialised over the weekend.  Well it kind of did, the workforce, his son and Father turned up but instead of attacking "the garden" they spent all day attacking a wild rose which is growing down the side of his garage.  I always thought that the rose belonged to our friend Sharon who occupied the next house along but could be wrong. So here's the pic I only include one as a before and after shot really because after many hours of cutting and slashing the scene does not appear to have changed, except for the large pile of cuttings outside Sharons garage.  I wonder when it will be removed?