We did our good deed for the day today as I had been asked by a couple in the village if we could do some shopping for them because they are confined to their house due to health issues. We don't know them really. We have met the husband David on a couple of occasions when he has been walking down the 'new road' shouting at one of his dogs, Derrick, who obviously has a mind of his own. David was due to have a stent fitted when all this lockdown started and the hospital cancelled on him and his wife Isobel only has one lung.
Isobel sent me her list, I had asked her to be pretty specific so that I could find exactly what she wanted and didn't substitute with something she neither recognised nor wanted!!! You realise when you are shopping for someone else that they know exactly what they mean and you do not!!! We had a bit of banter over the phone as to whether Cypriot Brandy could be deemed to be a necessity and I reckoned if they weren't going to kill one another then it was!!!
John came with me so that he could do our shopping in his trolley and I could do Isobel's in my trolley - we didn't want people to think we were panic buying or stock piling. We arrived at just after 10.00am. Technically now I am able to take advantage of the early morning slot set aside for the 'elderly' but of course John cannot so as we only wanted to do one trip we went after 10.00. There was a small queue but we reckon that they were waiting for the 'elderly' to get out safely before letting in the great unwashed. There were no shortages save for Ambrosia Creamed Rice which Isobel wanted and we had a couple of exchanges when I still couldn't find what she wanted despite clear and concise instructions but if it is something you don't normally buy it is still hard to recognise.
We dropped their shopping at their door and waved from a distance. They had wanted to give us something for our trouble but we refused, that is not why we had offered to help. Our compromise was to agree that they could take us for a meal when all this madness is over.
My 'make do and mend' 'zero waste' initiative is reaching new heights. I have this book in the toilet for times when people want a little peace and quiet - I bought it for Dad after a trip to the National Trust 'back to backs' in Birmingham several years ago.
John is a bit concerned that I am taking things too far but there is some really good stuff in there so I have this to fall back on should the need arise and I have decided to end each of my blogs during this lockdown with some pearly words of wisdom contained within. That being the case I am hoping that lockdown isn't going to be too long as this is only a little book.
John and I have now started the Lockdown Movie Challenge. John loves to watch a film, I don't so we rarely agree on something that we will watch together. Today we had to each select three films and each film was given a number and then we rolled the dice until all six numbers had come up and that would be the order of the films that we would watch. John's film choice 'Parasite' came first so that was the film we watched this evening. Korean with sub-titles it was a surprise winner at the Oscars and we were a bit uncertain as to whether we would enjoy it but it was an interesting and entertaining watch and we enjoyed it.
Anyway here is an extract from RATIONS A PECULIAR HISTORY...
...QUEUING
During the war what is certainly true is that people would often join a queue without any idea of what they might find at the end of it. Indeed, mothers would thrust money into their children's hands with strict instructions to bring home whatever they could afford - and were often disappointed with the result!!!
Isobel sent me her list, I had asked her to be pretty specific so that I could find exactly what she wanted and didn't substitute with something she neither recognised nor wanted!!! You realise when you are shopping for someone else that they know exactly what they mean and you do not!!! We had a bit of banter over the phone as to whether Cypriot Brandy could be deemed to be a necessity and I reckoned if they weren't going to kill one another then it was!!!
John came with me so that he could do our shopping in his trolley and I could do Isobel's in my trolley - we didn't want people to think we were panic buying or stock piling. We arrived at just after 10.00am. Technically now I am able to take advantage of the early morning slot set aside for the 'elderly' but of course John cannot so as we only wanted to do one trip we went after 10.00. There was a small queue but we reckon that they were waiting for the 'elderly' to get out safely before letting in the great unwashed. There were no shortages save for Ambrosia Creamed Rice which Isobel wanted and we had a couple of exchanges when I still couldn't find what she wanted despite clear and concise instructions but if it is something you don't normally buy it is still hard to recognise.
We dropped their shopping at their door and waved from a distance. They had wanted to give us something for our trouble but we refused, that is not why we had offered to help. Our compromise was to agree that they could take us for a meal when all this madness is over.
My 'make do and mend' 'zero waste' initiative is reaching new heights. I have this book in the toilet for times when people want a little peace and quiet - I bought it for Dad after a trip to the National Trust 'back to backs' in Birmingham several years ago.John is a bit concerned that I am taking things too far but there is some really good stuff in there so I have this to fall back on should the need arise and I have decided to end each of my blogs during this lockdown with some pearly words of wisdom contained within. That being the case I am hoping that lockdown isn't going to be too long as this is only a little book.
John and I have now started the Lockdown Movie Challenge. John loves to watch a film, I don't so we rarely agree on something that we will watch together. Today we had to each select three films and each film was given a number and then we rolled the dice until all six numbers had come up and that would be the order of the films that we would watch. John's film choice 'Parasite' came first so that was the film we watched this evening. Korean with sub-titles it was a surprise winner at the Oscars and we were a bit uncertain as to whether we would enjoy it but it was an interesting and entertaining watch and we enjoyed it.
Anyway here is an extract from RATIONS A PECULIAR HISTORY...
...QUEUING
During the war what is certainly true is that people would often join a queue without any idea of what they might find at the end of it. Indeed, mothers would thrust money into their children's hands with strict instructions to bring home whatever they could afford - and were often disappointed with the result!!!
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