Just another day in Lockdown – 15 May 2020

Today was Friday and we were having Paella for dinner. That much was clear. The rest was up for grabs.

I’d two sudoku puzzles to complete before I even got on to today’s. By about 12noon I’d done that and was on to the phone to Wheelcraft to find if they’d crafted my wheel yet. They hadn’t. But then it’s a three man business and they did seem to have a fair backlog waiting to be filled, so I didn’t really expect them to have rebuilt my wheel in a week. Big Al was very apologetic and said he’d get on to it right away and make some phone calls. I reckon I’m fairly small beer for him and to be honest, I’m not really in that much of a hurry to get it back. I can wait a few more days.

We needed some chicken thighs for tomorrow’s dinner and some paninis for lunch, so we walked down to the shops with our masks in our pockets. No point in having them if we don’t use them. The best bet today was The Food Factory (AKA Iceland). There are rarely queues and the prices are decent. Also, they have the duck eggs that Scamp likes. On the way some eejit from Condorrat was cycling down the the pavement and rang his bell to tell us to get out of his road. I took exception to this and told him to go on the road. He mumbled something and I told him again “Go. On. The. Road”. Single syllables for those with single brain cells. He mumbled a grunted “Fuck off” so I said “You too”. Apparently he’d said he didn’t have a helmet. So what was he wanting me to do about it? Buy him one?  Dobber!

We wandered round The Food Factory getting strange looks from the other shoppers who had never seen anyone wearing a mask before. Probably they’d never heard of Coronavirus “Didn’t know you could catch a disease from ginger.” This will mean nothing to those of an English persuasion. We got our messages and walked home without being accosted by any more helmetless cyclists with. Scamp was delighted because she’d managed to bag herself some Caster Sugar!

The weather fairies are predicting a fair amount of rain for us on Sunday and Scamp was out in the afternoon preparing for it by spiking the grass in the front garden. I was photographing the bluebells, the bees on the apple blossom and the rhododendrons which are just starting their display.

Indeed, as planned, it was paella for dinner tonight. It’s ages since we’ve had it, probably about a month and tonight’s was really good, even if I say so myself. With a wee glass of rhubarb ’n’ ginger gin as an aperitif and a glass of red wine to wash the paella down, we had a fairly jolly Friday.

PoD turned out to be the Bluebells. Sketch today was The View From Your Window. I chose the back window and was fairly pleased with the result. Viewable on Instagram and FB for those who are interested.

By the way, the masks work. They may not keep all the little coronavirus things at bay, but you can breathe in them and they give folk a laugh! We need a laugh these days.

Tomorrow’s dinner will probably be a chicken and pea tray bake if the stars align properly. Other than that, we have no plans.