Morning all. Grey, windy and showers on and off. Our neighbours have just received an oil delivery for their central heating. They used to rely on a wood burner when we first arrived, but decided it was too much like hard work cutting logs, stacking them, stoking the fire and cleaning all the ash away afterwards. A full central heating system was installed with a boiler that looks large enough to heat a factory, and boy does it take some fuel. They are grateful that oil prices have been low this year, but 5,000 litres, three times a year is still a lot to pay out. Have a good day whatever the day demands of you.
Managed to get to the supermarket this morning.. Interesting experience when blood levels were low.. It was heaving but managed to get Xmas food... Have a good shortest day folks
I read about a good trick Yorkie. For big supermarkets, search for them on Google Maps and click on the location. Scroll down a bit and there's a 'popular times' section. This has an estimation of how busy the shop is, gathered from smartphone data live from the shoppers. Useful if you want to avoid crowds (or need an excuse to not be sent out for shopping )
Morning all. Bright and very mild, so off to do a final shop for just the two of us as we will not be going to join with the family over Christmas. Son-in-law on his way back from Switzerland today, and they have a very high rate of infection there, so we will play safe. Rather different from the story I heard from son in Leeds last night. Their next door neighbours are very elderly and received a first dose of the vaccine last week. They think they are safe now to travel from a tier 3 into a tier 4 part of the country to spend Christmas with their son, so any rules do not apply to them. Have a good day whatever you will be doing.
I must remember that. Our nearest supermarket is in the neighbouring shire and we're prohibited from travelling there - so yesterday my wife and I made a 50 mile trip to the nearest one within our shire - and it was hell...
Good one! Waitrose was queing outside with people let in as others left........... sainsburys was heaving and no one stopped from going in
You would think that a look through the door would be enough to stop people going in - that and the 33K+ new infections yesterday.
Morning all. Wet and windy today. I got rather wet extracting a loaf from the bread machine which only takes a minute. Must say we are rather alarmed at the number of cars around with UK number plates. They must have arrived last week I guess. Son-in-law drove down from Switzerland and said that the roads were very quiet without all the lorries that were stuck in and around Dover. It cut the journey time by almost an hour. Have a good safe day whatever you must do.
Morning all. Damp and overcast, although a bit of sun is expected this afternoon. So we have arrived at Christmas Eve, but how different to those in years past. Our son was always the classic last minute shopper, dashing around the shops like a headless chicken to buy up presents and a turkey for the next day. Seeing as he hasn't been into the office for months now, he had to think differently and has ordered everything online. Speaking to him this week I suspect that he has set a trend for the future. Have a good day whatever you must do.
We will be meeting all our kids and their families outside at different places tomorrow... One group are putting a sofa at the end of the drive and will be supplying mulled wine... Then home for lunch and a quiet afternoon...
Just read ‘The Night Beofre Christmas’ to the boys. Seems strange them being in their teens, but it’s a family tradition they won’t do without! Merry Christmas, chums.
Morning all from a grey and damp Christmas day in rural France. A very steady gentle plod through the day for us this year. No need to rush about as we are staying at home, using the wonders of the computer to see family faces. When the children were small we would often finish up wrapping presents for them until late into the night, then be faced with them up at dawn to see what they had. Rather glad that despite the street light outside the bedroom window being on all night, sleep came easily. Have a good day whatever you feel safe to do. Update: It has been snowing.
Morning all. A heavy frost overnight, so a good job that we moved all of the tender plants undercover. First job today is a visit to the bottle bank. The bin that we keep glass jars and bottles in is overflowing for some reason. They replaced the containers down in the village with some that have a stiff rubber cover that you have to force your jars through, so it takes a while to empty your bin. I think I will have to wrap up warm and put the thermal hat on to prevent heat loss. Have a good day with three points to round it up please.
I hate those bins, makes you feel very self-conscious pushing your 4th crate of Leffe bottles through one by one
With me it's Trawler Rum and my daughter's Prosecco bottles. The bins here must be different - there's no stiff rubber cover, just that frayed rubber which makes them look like the back of a whale's throat - that's probably why they're known locally as baleen bins.
It is interesting to see in an emptying session just what bottles contained some really enjoyable wine and some that you wouldn't buy again. The problem is that when you find a really good one at a decent price you go back to stock up with a few more, only to find an empty space on the shelf. Tried one of the white ones that came in our hamper from the commune and although it was good quality it was a tad sweet to my taste. Looking at how much is left it couldn't have been that bad, and it was only me drinking it.
https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/louis-jadot-bourgogne-pinot-noir-523787011 If anyone has a Morrisons nearby I'd thoroughly recommend this wine. Just ordered 11 bottles (12 is too many apparently) to collect tomorrow, nicest wine I've bought in ages.
Morning all. I think we must be on the tail end of the storm as it has been blowing well overnight and into this morning. I have a feeling that I will not be going out. Not a soul has passed by the house, so I guess they are staying in and hoping that there will be some good TV. Have a good day whatever you will do. ok>
Morning All. A drive out in the sun to Oxford with Mrs Fez where she had a pre-op covid test... all rather efficient if not a little unsettling to see it all in action. 5am start on Tuesday to get her back for the op itself, the fields off the A40 and A418 are flooded and with -5C forecast I can't say that I'm looking forward to the drive any more than she's looking forward to the op.
