A few weeks back I asked if it was possible to be poor but happy. My friend Ron of Clare has responded with an emphatic “Yes,” adding immediately “most of the time.”

He says, the other week,he and Carole rolled into Clare Town Hall and browsed the table sale, had coffee and homemade cake and chatted to friends.

“Afterwards, we (went) around the corner to a table sale in the United Reformed Church.

We are not religious but they also make a good cup of coffee and the biscuits are free!

They also make very good and quite crumbly fruit cakes. Most yummy indeed! We met more of our local friends... we had more conversations, some of them a continuation of others, and had a most enjoyable time.

“On the way into Clare, walking around from place to place and then walking back, we met yet more of our friends and acquaintances and had some more chats. I joke quite often that, on a bad day, it takes just ten minutes to walk into town yet, on a good day, it may take 40 minutes or more, since one meets people and has a good chat.”

“It may not sound very exotic, being just two table sales and two cups of coffee, but meeting people, sitting and chatting is always most enjoyable. It costs very little and is, well, just good fun.”

Proposition proven. Thank you, Ron.