“The thing is,” says Pa, “every now and then, Sainsbury’s have an offer on chocolate oranges.  Three for the price of two, that sort of thing.  So…”  He waves a hand in the general direction of the bed and shrugs. 

The bed in the box-room at Ma and Pa’s house is stacked with an assortment of what I guess supermarkets would call ‘stocking fillers’. Post-it notes, socks, sherbert lemons, scented candles, tins of gin, chocolate raisins, pens, home-made Ma-malade and chocolate oranges. Many, many chocolate oranges.  All the chocolate oranges, in fact.

ActorLaddie’s nephew, Alan-in-Australia, when he phoned to give his condolences, mentioned that he’d had a fancy for a chocolate orange the other day but none were to be found anywhere in Sydney. That’s how many chocolate oranges are in the box-room.