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?
