I’m now into my fourth week of working at the supermarket. I’d been told by several people that if I can make it past 3 weeks, then I’m okay. Apart from confusion over my hours - fuelled by a colleague rather than management, power plays between the till supervisor and everyone else – she keeps ‘stealing’ staff to help with the queues, and having to continually apologise over lack of stock, it’s been okay. Some good days when I’ve been on the PC training, some bad days where I go home and collapse into the armchair and can barely move for half an hour or more due to backache. My ‘shoes’ had broken some time back and I never got around to replacing them which hasn’t helped. We must wear black shoes, and I needed new ones, but all the shoe shops are closed here. Using the internet, I’ve managed to get a new pair, almost the same as my old ones which are black trainers but leather, and a little shiny, so they look like shoes. They aren’t quite as comfortable as my old pair but that’s always the way and I’ll walk them in before wearing them for a shift at work.

Tidying shelves is a great way to familiarise oneself with the stock, and it means you also get to look at stuff you maybe don’t see whilst doing a quick shop for groceries. My favourite part of shelf tidying, and I’m being sincere here, is crushing the cardboard afterwards, and we ‘fight’ over this lol. There’s a machine that looks like a small skip with a contraption on top of it. You fill the skip, slide the heavy top over the right side of the skip and press the button, and the machine crushes the cardboard; very satisfying. One day, there were 3 of us dealing with a backlog of cardboard, and the crusher was making ominous noises, and without a word, all three of us took a big step backwards LMAO. We have a laugh now and again and I do like getting out, talking to people, and feeling useful.

On the home front my son had his final student loan payment and he paid me rent money for the rest of the term. Nice! It meant I could clear my credit card easily, put money aside for the next shopping bill, and I even topped up my savings. I’m hoping, if we’re careful, that my wages can further top up my savings, and my son is talking of looking for similar work once his course finishes to tide him over until he gets a job in his chosen field; if his ‘old’ Mum can do it he reasons, then so can he. He likes to save money, unlike his Dad, and he’s well aware of how expensive a house move is, and how much he’ll need to set-up his first rental.

The title: looking at stock, and cooking programs, and shopping around to get what we need, I’ve been trying the occasional new product such as replacing olive oil with good quality rapeseed oil. The rapeseed is half the price and I really like it. Good job too as I’ve been reading about a ‘blight’ that threatens to decimate the olive trees to the point that they’re no longer allowing into the UK olive trees, nor lavender plants or rosemary plants which apparently can suffer the same blight. If you need them, buy them now. I also bought some raw cane sugar for my coffee and bought a brioche loaf when I couldn’t get hold of bread. This morning I had 2 slices of brioche loaf, soaked in egg, then gently fried in butter until crispy. I had Jersey milk in my coffee, along with half a teaspoon of raw cane sugar – decadence itself!

Not being able to buy our usual products has been a pain some days, and flour and yeast are rare as rocking horse sh*t, but as above, we’ve been trying different products and so far, haven’t been disappointed. Gone though are the days, for now, of simply popping to the shops for just a couple of items. Sunday, I had to visit 2 supermarkets to get what I needed including, finally, some hand wash and antiseptic wipes, and my prescriptions. The weekly shop, including travel time and queuing, took me almost 2 hours; it was exhausting! Still, many are having it far worse and we all do what we can.

Take care and be safe.