THE Man of the House and I have a new spring in our steps.
Our backs certainly ache less, but it would be more accurate to say we have new springs on our bed, as in a new mattress.
After years of making do with mattresses that have come our way - some older than we are - I had finally managed to persuade him that a firm base for sleeping on was not a luxury but a necessity.
I spoke at length about how we had certainly given the mattress we sleep on a long and useful life and that it was now well past retiring age.
While aware that the Moth throws very little out, I felt this one could rest on a bed seldom used and surprise visitors with the spring that protrudes just at hip level.
That spring and I know each other intimately and I blame many of my back twinges on trying to accommodate it.
Eventually, the Moth agreed that a new mattress was a good idea. This was half the battle. The process of breaking to him gently how much it would cost now began.
I did this by showing him pamphlets from furniture outlets and underlining what I thought was in our price range. Because we have never bought one, this was a shock to both of us.
Mattress technology has moved on from the springs my body is so well acquainted with.
The biggest breakthrough, as far as I could see, was in preventing 'roll together'.
I could quite understand that at the Moth's and my ages, this might be desirable, although a little depressing as a long term forecast.
I remember Mum telling me that when she and Dad were on their very brief honeymoon just before he departed for World War 11, they had stopped overnight at a country pub.
The landlady had led them proudly to the best bed in the hostelry - a four poster. They had climbed in to the very high bed with difficulty.
Once over the frame, they had then sunk down into its depths, because the mattress was composed entirely of feathers.
'Roll together' wasn't in it. They spent the night trying to climb out of the suffocating mass which, every time they nodded off, enfolded them. It must have been the Victorian equivalent of sleeping in a very large beanbag.
By the time we got to a shop, I had picked out a mattress and all we had to do was pay for it and arrange delivery.
"Don't get into a conversation with the salesman," I warned the Moth. This was as much out of concern for that person as preventing us paying more than we could afford.
The Moth is one of those people who will go into a shop and engage the salesman in lengthy conversation without having any intention of buying what they are both discussing.
He claims salesmen don't mind, it's all in a day's work, all he's doing is giving them a chance to practise their spiel. I think that if all customers are like the Moth, businesses will go out of business very rapidly.
The Moth ignored my warning and, instead of getting in and out in five minutes flat, we were still in the shop an hour later, discussing the merits of mattresses that prevented 'roll together'.
We were having it explained to us that if one partner were much heavier than the other, new technology had devised the intelligent mattress, one that could prevent the fatter partner from creating a dip so that the thinner partner would wind up rolling into it.
As I am the fatter partner in our relationship, I wasn't finding the conversation very flattering and was considering interjecting with suggestions for an anti-having your skinny partner poke you with his bony elbows and knees mattress, and what had the boffins come up with for that, so I moved away and had another look at the mattress we intended to buy.
The one that the Moth and the salesman were discussing was at the top end of the range and I knew it would be a come-down when the Moth finally revealed what we were actually going to spend - if he ever did.
But when I heard him say "How does this not rolling together work when it comes to dogs? We've got one fat one and one skinny one and when they're on the bed we both roll into them" I decided enough was enough.
I left the shop without buying anything, and the Moth followed somewhat sheepishly some minutes later. "I should have just given you the money and let you buy it," he said, and I agreed.
A week later that's exactly what happened. I walked into the shop, relieved to find an assistant in charge, paid for the mattress I wanted and left.
There has never been much in the way of information on our old mattresses - there is no longer even a label on some of them. So I was surprised to find what amounted to a small essay of information on our new purchase and spent some time reading it.
We have a bargain. Not only do we have a quilted plush top with foam and polyester for extra support and comfort, insulation specialty netting prevents pocketing of surface comfort.
Convoluted foam creates extra body moulding comfort and high resilient CFC free premium foams relieve body pressure points supporting spinal posture.
A firm orthopaedic spring (yes, there still is a spring in there somewhere) prevents roll together.
The dogs will be so happy.
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