Monday
For a short while Monday morning felt like an ordinary morning, the kind of mornings we had pre Virus, pre Lockdown. The car came out of the garage. We called at the local Co-op for milk and a newspaper, I took a book back to the library and we visited a local garden centre. Of course it wasn't the same at all but the list of things done sounds normal.
Some libraries here in the city have opened again but under strict regulations. I was able to take the book I'd had at home since mid March to the returns bin outside the library door. If I want any books I have to order them on line or by telephone and then make a pre timed visit to collect them as they have to be picked off the shelves by the staff. No browsing allowed, you have to know what you want in advance. It seems like a good system for now although I have books on my Kindle to finish reading so I'll leave the library for a while. It's good to know it is back though.
We chose to go to a local family run garden centre as we needed bird food, compost and tomato feed. We were there around 10a.m. and only one other person was inside, there was a one way system ouside for compost, chippings and etc and loads of floor markings for distancing inside. Purchases were made and staff were protected by perspex screens and masks. The coffee shop was open with social distancing in place but we didn't linger today and came home for morning coffee. It felt okay for a first venture into what is termed 'the new normal'.
At the start of this year both washing machine and oven were beginning to have problems which we knew we would have to deal with, most probably by buying new. In April the washing machine began to leak and make a terrible noise, it was time for a new one which we ordered on line and had delivered with no problems.
Tuesday
The oven had been overheating and sometimes burning the tops of things like loaves and cakes. We'd been compensating for this by setting the temperature lower than the recipe required and the timings were often shorter. Late last week, however, the oven tripped the fuse box three times whilst we were cooking tea so it had to go. We ordered a new one to be delivered today.
Yesterday a man from a well known electrical and computer company rang to check all our details, name, address and what we had ordered and said the delivery driver would ring us before he came to the house. This morning the driver rang at about 10.50a.m and said he would be five minutes. We watched from the window. A couple of minutes later a van pulled up halfway down the opposite side of the Crescent (the even side) and we watched him deliver a parcel which was suspiciously oven shaped but as the van wasn't marked and he was way down the road we thought it couldn't possibly be our delivery. Oh, how wrong we were. When the delivery still hadn't arrived we began to realise what couldn't possibly have happened had happened. It took an hour and thirty five minutes to finally get through to a number and holding on in a line for just under an hour to find out that yes, the parcel had been delivered but that nothing could be done about it until the van driver reported back to the depot and unlocked the computer of his daily round of deliveries. They could collect tomorrow and redeliver the next day. Not likely, our oven was just down the road! So we wrote a note and posted it through the door where the parcel sat in the porch and we had to wait until late afternoon when they came home from work. Using the wheelbarrow the oven was collected and it has now been fittted but not tried out yet.
It looks okay though dosn't it? Very clean and shiny.
Cheese scones tomorrow?
So glad you finally got your cooker problem sorted out - what a pain about the delivery being delayed :( Must admit we desperately need a new cooker too - in fact I really need a new kitchen as well as its 40 years old (we installed it when we bought the house). Have put off tackling it in case we decided to move but now, of course, not so easy to have it done as I wouldn't want workmen in the house which would mean OH would have to do it all which would take for ever and a day even though he would do a good job!
ReplyDeleteGlad you managed to get out and found places like the garden centre so well organised. I must admit when we went to get petrol last week I was amazed at how "normal" everywhere seemed.
Could I ask you about Val McDermid books please as I notice you have read a few. I've got the Distant Echo (a supermarket budget buy months and months ago) and wondered what you thought of the series. Just a bit concerned it may be a bit "gruesome"?? Thanks so much.
Enjoy your lovely new oven and cheese scones :)
One slip of the finger on the company computer and the oven was sent to one number higher than ours but of course it was on the other side of the road as the innder Crescent is smaller than the outer Crescent and we are on the odd number side. When they rang us the day before and asked for our details they didn't notice the discrepancy. All our e-mails and paper work had the correct number. We fitted our kitchen ourselves in 2003 so the oven was seventeen years old, the hob we had at the same time is fine. Some of Val McDermid books can be a bit gruesome in places especially her earlier Carol Jordan and Tony Hill ones, like Wire in the Blood. She wrote some earlier ones with female detective and also some stand alone novels. Her latest ones are the DI Karen Pirie of Cold Cases ones and I think Distant Echo is one of those. She is such a good writer on a par with Ruth Rendell and P D James although the latter two are less gory I think. I keep meaning to read her modern take on Northanger Abbey in the Austen Project books where well known writers update the stories. I've read Joanna Trollope's Sense and Sensibility and Alexander McCAll Smith's Emma. Cheese scones made and we will have them for lunch:)
DeleteUnbelievable how easy a mistake can be made - you would think they would double check the details they had! We fitted our oringal kitchen too but over 40 years ago :( The cooker we did replace about 10 years ago but I've never been very happy with it - coatings on rings, oven shelves etc soon wore off :( Wouldn't have that make again! Thanks so much for the book info. Yes I think Distant Echo is the first of the DI Karen Pirie books - I will give it a whirl :) I'ved read a few Jane Austen inspired novels e.g. Pemberton?? from memory - follow on from Pride and Prejudice and there was another follow up novel too by a different author although I read it ages ago and can't remember the name. I hadn't heard of the update stories though so thank you and will check those out. I envy you your cheese scones - my favourite. Sometimes I make them to go with home made tomato soup instead of rolls :)
DeleteOh my - the oven saga is almost funny, and will likely be so given enough time. Our libraries are slowly opening, with the same restrictions as yours. No browsing, just pick up. Things are feeling more normal here, although normal is a shifting target, it seems. Enjoy those cheese scones!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is funny today and we can smile especially at the wheelbarrow bit. I will wait until I have a particular book I want to read by one or two of my favourite authors who have new books out later this year and then get them from the library, normal is indeed a concept tht changes daily. Cheese scones made and look good but yet to be tasted:)
DeleteSo glad that your story had a happy ending. Your old oven sounds rather like our old one. I’m sure you’ll love having your new one. B x
ReplyDeleteHave just used the oven to make cheese scones which are cooling at the moment, we will eat them for lunch. It will take time to get used to the new oven's way of working:)
DeletePut me down for a cheese scone please, maybe make it two! Oh dear what a palaver, luckily you were able to get your oven home safely in the wheelbarrow. When you look back over the years when your new oven is old, you'll certainly remember when you bought it and its arrival story. 😊
ReplyDeleteOne large or two small? Or two large?:) It was all very irritating yesterday but today we can see the funny side especially the wheelbarrow. It amused the neghbours anyway:)
DeleteOh two large, I think, it's been a long Lockdown, I've some catching up to do! Yum! 😃
DeleteGlad you managed to sort out the cooker issue! Hope those scones turned out nicely in the new oven!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to be able to bake things again, the scones were delicious:)
DeleteWhat a lovely shiny new oven.I am envious.I need to get mine cleaned professionally.It was a funny story.Bureaucracy gone mad.
ReplyDeleteJust a simple inputting error by the company caused all that worry, still all was well in the end and we can smile about it now:)
DeleteMaybe they'll make a mistake on the bill and charge you less for your new oven - or maybe not!
ReplyDeleteHa Ha, woudn't that be good if they at least waived the delivery charge? I very much doubt it:)
DeleteWe live in a crescent, but it goes around a corner so if the same thing happened with a delivery we wouldn't know an item had been mistakenly left at another house. Thankfully you realised and were able to get your oven home. Life still seems quiet in our situation but I can imagine that a lot is going on in the wider world of the high street. I shall find out more when I go for my hospital appointment on Friday although I'm not planning to stay any longer than necessary. I would like the libraries to open here, but would have to think what to order if our system is the same as yours. It doesn't look as if there are any plans for re-opening yet. Enjoy your new cooker!
ReplyDeleteLuckily the deilvery we saw was on out side of the crescent or we wouldn't have known what might have happened. When we finally got through to speak to a real person they cofirmed that the driver had delivered to that house but could do nothing about it until the next day so we took matters into our own hands. It's the browsing in libraries for boks you don't know about that I will miss. I know some of my favourite authors have books coming out in a few months time so will request those and try out the system and if it feels safe. I can count on the fingers of one hand the places I have been since lockdown eased, just the clinic and the garden centre, I know things are opening up in the city, neighbours went up there recently and were horrified by the lack of distancing and no masks, they needed the bank but didn't join the queue and came straight home again:)
Delete