Today is FRIDAY, Hopefully it will be GOOD

Today is FRIDAY, Hopefully it will be GOOD.

Yesterday, my son-in-law Martin sent a message to my phone saying the he would be going to Sainsburys this morning and to send a list of any shopping we needed for the weekend. We are very lucky to have somebody prepared to do a tedious task like that but under the circumstances it is difficult for people like us to get everything we need on line. The online delivery service I normally use, Ocado, seems to have ground to, not quite a halt, but are only taking orders for deliveries from the government registered vulnerable list. I am not sure how this works but I suppose from doctors surgery’s and registered disabled.

Thankfully I am not one of the people on that list. It must be a much more worrying time for them and for their families. Up until mid march we were getting normal deliveries from Ocado but there have not been any delivery slots available since then. That is rather a shame because we were quite pleased that were able to be pretty independent by ordering online and not having to rely on the kindness of others.

Our dyed in the wool eating habits died quite quickly after that. On weekdays we have one meal a day that is either fresh salmon and salad or fresh chicken and salad. Steve has little mid morning or midday snacks as well. I just eat the one meal. Then we had to start finding other options and we have been quite philosophical about it, dried spaghetti or other pasta and some tins or frozen food. My husband is grand cook and can turn anything into a feast. In truth though, I am not wild about pasta, though I know lots of athletes who live on that kind of thing. In our early days of triathlon there was a pasta party the night before every event all great fun carb-ing up with your friends. Well, I guess I just got pasta-ed out.  

We have since found a couple of companies that will deliver fresh vegetables (but not fresh enough for us) but nobody has luxuries like Lambs Leaf, that I would eat a whole packet of without anything else, that needs to be fresh. We are both full blown ‘FOODIES’ and so have ridiculously high standards, especially himself… The Chef…. That is why we are now so thankful to have ‘Saint Martin’, as we have now dubbed him, to bring us a few of the things that we were missing most.

Cabin fever doesn’t take that long to develop it seems since, if you count the total days that I have not been able to go shopping with my husband, picking a choosing the best fruit and vegetables and the most forward dated of produce, it is only 41 days in total. So come on… I lived through six years of war time shortages for goodness sake. I didn’t know what a fresh peach was as a child.

So we sent Martin a list last night and I added a photo of a couple of things I had forgot the first time, hardly things our lives depended on. We were waiting eagerly for Steve’s Starbucks Blonde Roast coffee pods and a bag of crunchy treats for Birdy the cat. Spoilt cat in spoilt household what can you expect. Champagne taste and beer money strikes again.

In due course this morning Martin arrived and very considerately passed the shopping bags over the front wall for Steve to pick up after he had stepped away. He had been able to get most of the things we had asked for but as we all know these days the stores and not fully stocked so some things are just not available like caster sugar today, so he had very kindly gone home and got some from their own cupboard so that we should not go without. 

In addition to this there were Easter presents that were equally thoughtful. Not only was there a card to wish us a Happy Easter but a packet of hot cross buns and a little Easter cake for both of us. Knowing that we are salad freaks, my daughter had made the poor man bring us a tray of tiny lettuce plants, complete with a grow bag to transfer them to, thereby taking care of some day not too far hence when garden fresh leaves would present themselves for the delectation of our fussy little taste buds. I have planted my darling little lettuce plants already and watered them in welcoming them to our tiny garden.

May I wish everybody a holiday weekend that is a happy as possible under the shadow of the dark cloud hovering over us right now. Like all clouds it will pass in the fullness of time.

Happy Easter to my friends near and far.