Staying Home: Day 66

This morning was shopping day. I was chauffeur today as our little car is still in self-isolation. The garage are back working, but the dealer they normally get parts from isn't. They are hoping they may be able to source the part they need from somewhere else, but they are playing catch up and (quite reasonably) are prioritising customers who are essential workers. (Cheerful aside: H now has a car of her own on order, courtesy of her boyfriend's work scheme, as she will need one when she starts work in September. She won't get it until August though.)

The shopping expedition didn't quite go to plan. H queued for Aldi, only to find they are now back to coin deposit trolleys and we didn't have any cash with us. They also no longer have anyone wiping trolleys down (though she later discovered there is a DIY hygiene station) and we had forgotten both wipes and hand sanitiser. She joined the queue for M & S Food (same retail park) while I went home and collected £1, wipes, sanitiser and a jumper (she was cold!). She got what she needed in M & S, then queued a second time for Aldi and shopped there. Final stop was B & M (discount store that sells both home items and some food), but after she put a few things in her trolley she saw the queues for the checkout, decided the store was uncomfortably crowded, and abandoned ship. Most of what she was going to buy there we can get online or somewhere that feels safer. 

While H shopped I sat in the car with my laptop and made a start on the current freelance job, which has a tight deadline. By the time we got home it was lunchtime. After lunch I sat in the garden for a while and worked, then retired to the hammock with my Kindle. The photo above of my view from the hammock makes it look very green and rural. In fact we are on the edge of a large 1970s housing estate, but it is quite green with some well grown trees; we also have a hedge round the garden which was there when we moved in nearly thirty years ago, and is badly in need of cutting. 

We were a bit later going for our walk today, and took what has become one of our favourite routes. It is almost exactly three miles, takes us just over an hour, and is a nice mix of town and country. We walk down through our estate to the pub which now sells groceries (no need to shop there today!), and then turn up through what was once a small hamlet with some nice old houses. The building below was originally a watermill, but has now been converted into either two or three houses. H used to have a friend who lived in one of them, but I can't remember the layout.

This little stream must once have been the millstream. From there we walk along a track and across fields - good for blackberrying in the autumn - until we eventually come out at the top end of our estate, from where it is a ten minute or so walk back home.

H made lamb koftas in pitta bread for dinner, though I opted for some veggie falafel kebabs instead as I prefer not to eat too much meat. We were a bit late eating as TG had decided to do her latest catering task (making a fruit / veg presentation that would appeal to a child) and was hogging the kitchen. We then watched the first half of the final Harry Potter film. There was a major girl panic at the beginning when a large spider (the fat chunky kind, not the long legged sort) ran out from under the jigsaw board and had to be caught and evicted.