With all the craziness in the shops at present, we have started to ration our supplies. Normally I’d make a batch of green lentil ‘bolognaise’ that would feed 4 so I can freeze half of it, but this time I stretched it to feed 5 and gave myself a smaller portion. I’m not being a martyr; I’m conscious that I do need to lose weight and packed out my portion with the addition of a green vegetable that my son doesn’t care for. It was very nice, and far nicer than the lamb version I’d made not so long ago. The dog is on rations as far as treats are concerned; he has 3 small bags and I’ve no idea when I’ll be able to get him some more, can’t get them online unless I spend x amount to get free delivery, so cutting down it is.

I managed to do a fairly good shop Thursday morning; I was at the supermarket doors just before 7am; it’s quieter, and I could almost guarantee being able to park in the street on my return at that time of day. No toilet rolls though we do have enough for now; I overheard an assistant telling someone that the shelves were full, and within 11 minutes of opening, they were all gone; it’s ridiculous! I did manage to buy a pack of the soap I use so at least I’ll smell nice LMAO. No dried pasta, no dry gnocchi, no tinned tomatoes, no passata, no free range chicken at all… I bought some fresh gnocchi, and some fresh tortellini; a bit dearer than the dried stuff which is probably why they still had some. I also bought a bag of green lentils, and some tofu. Vegetarian stuff is still available for now, and menu planning could start to get more creative.

I had thought they were going to limit purchases, though it seems to be only for certain products; the man in front of me at the tills had an 18-pack of toilet rolls, twice, and a 2-pint carton of milk, 6 times. What on earth does he need 12 pints of milk for! I bought a pint to keep me going; one pint.

In other news, my son had decided he wasn’t going to go back to university classes until after Easter, when he received an email telling students that the university had decided to close, that foreign students should go home, and that the July Graduation ceremony had been cancelled. I’ll get my £25 ticket cost refunded, apparently, though he’s now had to chase the ‘gowns’ people for his refund which is around £50. They hope to hold it in November though thus far, he thinks he won’t attend. It’s going to be held in the grounds of a very nice park that would be lovely in July but could be pretty grim in November, and they’ll hold the July graduation, and November graduating classes at the same time. It doesn’t sound good, and besides, we may not even be here then, said she hopefully. He’s lucky in that he’d been able to buy himself a really good PC, and the software he needs, some time ago, and he can happily work at home with some online guidance being offered if he needs it.

I’ve had to trundle my wheelie bin up the street, around the corner, and down the alley to my back garden – the joys of an area full of terraced properties. One day, I espied 3 people put their takeaway crap in my bin. Later, I put some rubbish in the bin only to find 2 large rubbish bags of party rubbish. Now, I know my memory is cr*p on times, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t have a party and forget about it. 10 days to bin collection, and my bin was already half-full, and barely any on it was ours. So, it’s now locked in the back garden where hopefully it won’t be accosted anymore; some people… Parking won’t be too much of an issue anyway, now that my son won’t require a lift to uni.

I hope you’re all keeping well, managing to stay away from others as much as possible, and keeping yourselves well-stocked. Take care.