The Lockdown Gang - not setting foot outside!

Good morning everyone, I hope all is well in your lockdown worlds.

I've finally managed to get a slot when I tried first thing this morning, with Tesco for the beginning of June!
We do have a farm shop which did do click and collect and will now deliver, BradfordLass, but it seems we have run out of basics which they don't stock. But yes, the small local shops can keeping us all going!

What a lovely picture. Yes, she does look very young, very dainty and pretty.

Have the best day possible, everyone.

I read all the posts each day but then have no eye-energy left to comment indiviudally. Rest assured I'm laughing, or commiserating as appropriate

As so many have difficulty getting slots at supermarkets, are there small shops who'd deliver, even if you have to choose 3 or 4 rather than just get everything at one big place?

I'm a box o' birds today as I found a website (by sheer coincidence) which I spent hourse searching for last weekend! It's going to help a lot, as well as amuse.

Another birthday today: a dear Viet-namese sister, Van who is the same age as me and looks at least 20 years younger .

Many years ago, she and the Viet commuity put on a banquet for my birthday.
About 30 people attended and I was at the head of the table as an honoured guest.

I was asked to speak and did but as I sat down, the dining chair collapsed beneath me, I disappeared from view and when I was helped up, my bottom was stuck in the seat frame.

I'm laughing at the memory and I hope you are too but those dear people didn't even smile; they were mortified on my behalf.
It nearly broke my heart to leave them when I came back to New Zealand.

The picture is my beloved brother Au Kien Tri and his beautiful wife Dang Tuyet Van. chúc mừng sinh nhật

mamissimo , you certainly know how to live it up ? I love your to do list for this week. Let’s hope the cat enjoys it too.
So after having your nighttime cocoa you dress up as Wonder Woman and save the world ? let’s hope you are not called upon to do anything too dramatic tonight ?
callistemon Iceland open slots about 11am every day I think you could try again tomorrow. Hope you get something.
cherry quiet night for you I hope and pain free.
gramaretto hope your DH is ok and you manage to contact the GP tomorrow.
panache hope MrP’s tooth isn’t causing too much pain.
Sleep well both of you and help yourselves to goodies from the kitchen.
Night night all

Thank you CherryChezzy

I did say to DH that if we get a free food box, I will donate at least the equivalent to the food bank when this is over. We usually put a few things in each week and I did wonder if the supermarkets could have a box which you could click to add some money to your order for donations to the food banks. That is, if you can get an order.

I've tried on and off all day to get a slot but to no avail. However, I have done my grocery order with Tesco and hope it is saved, so if there is a slot I can just click and order.
They were the only ones who were helpful. And we always say thank you!!

Oh Mamissimo you make me laugh
I love your weekly project list.

There is quite a build up of "stuff" everywhere especially as no-one sees it besides us.

and cherry what an excellent explanation for Callistemon and all of us.

I have just enjoyed a hot choccie (and a G&T earlier) Supper tonight we had egg rice and salad. MrG hasn't much appetite and I really must get him to speak to a doctor tomorrow.

Goodnight all. Sleep well.

I’ve scratched another X on the wall for today as I’m loosing count of which Blurday it is. As we had roast beef for supper it must have been Sunday- or I’ve totally lost it!

My projects for this week are to clean the grout in the kitchen, worm the cat, plant out about 100 Cosmos, thin the spinach seedlings.....and to drink gin. Just days before lockdown the landscapers left us with new front and back gardens with absolutely no plants.

Everything is planted up but I’ve done annuals instead of real flowers because I want the joy of trolling around to choose the plants I really want. Veg garden is the star this year.....and having said that I reckon two thousand slugs will laugh their socks off and munch the lot tonight.

Having explored some of the other threads I think we are all pretty chilled out in here. What does Doodle put in the cocoa?

Sleep tight and sane dreams For everyone tonight please....(.last night I had to save Market Dereham or somewhere in Norfolk from a Tsunami with only the help of the weird woman from Benidorm who was sleeping on a lilo on the floor round by DH’s side of the bed.. )

I read your post up thread Callistemon where you say that you have declined the Council's offer of a food box so that it can go to someone else who needs it. I know you mean from a financial perspective but if you are having difficulty getting food in, regardless of financial position, you need it. I have declined the box from my LA so far, thinking exactly the same way as you, but now I've got to the point that if I was having the difficulties you are having atm then I would accept it, even if it was just the once.
If after accepting and arrival,you then do manage to get a delivery slot and still have food from the parcel remaining is there a food bank in your area that are collecting? If so, you could donate the rest of the food box to them if you wished. That's what I would do. There is one food bank volunteer in our area that coordinates collections from people's homes ( left on the doorstep) and has done since the lockdown started.
Don't forget Callistemon, the LAs have this set-up for those of us shielding precisely because we may run into difficulty obtaining essentials and it has nothing to do with individual finances.
Please look after yourself.

Grabbing a lovely hot chocolate now Doodle.
Take care all of you. ?

Callistemon You must phone for some help tomorrow.
Call the Council or your doctor.
We can't be told to stay at home for months without the access to essentials.
Does your original shielding letter give you options?
In an emergency, call the police. 101.

I just saw four slots for tomorrow (not for those who are shielded) and clicked on one.
Then it disappeared, someone must have been a millisecond before me. No slots available again. Try another day, perhaps try October 2023.

I had success too with Iceland. Another gransnetter alerted me to the fact that slots often appear about lunchtime. I kept trying from about noon.
I'm not greedy, that was before I was registered with Tesco. It wasn't happening automatically in Scotland, you had to phone them.
Sainsbury's were useless, said I wasn't on their Govt database!

Thank you*doodle*, I may try Iceland.

Yes, clicking on the priority slots. None available up until 6th June and the message is 'try another date'. However, there is no other date. Nor Click and collect.

Our kind neighbour has just offered to fetch us milk and bread.

gramaretto sorry to hear your DH isn’t feeling too good. Hope he improves soon. We have had good weather today and more sun due during the week. I will try and send some your way.
callistemon we are lucky we get a Sainsbury’s slot every week. It’s not so much the meat that’s a problem it’s the fresh fruit and veg. A delivery a week is fine. One a fortnight would be more difficult to manage. Have you tried Iceland? We don’t normally shop there but looked at them online last week and got a slot within 24 hours. They do much more than frozen stuff.
dragonfly nice to hear from you again. Glad Dexter is doing ok. Hope you enjoy your dinner. Lamb is one of my favourites ?
missedout you are more than welcome to join us for hot chocolate any night. You can be part of our gang we are a mixed bunch. DH and I are quite fit (apart from the recent weight gain due to lockdown ?) . It makes it difficult to stay in when we are champing at the bit to go for our daily walks.
Your exploits on the bike remind me of my own when I tried riding a bike years ago. DH is quite proficient but I never mastered the knack. Good luck with yours. Hope you can get out and about soon.
marydoll glad you are continuing to get deliveries. Is that where you get our ? from every day ?
cherry glad you’re having a lazy day too. We haven’t had another letter yet either (well DH not me). We too are longing to get out for our walks.
Hope you all sleep well. Hot chocolate and all manner of goodies and yummy things in the kitchen for you tonight.

Callistemon, I was a naive as you! . It was DD, who realised how it works. You are allowed one delivery a week, so that seems to affect what shows.

If I click on book a delivery, two options come up.
The one with set times slots and another, which says, Priority slots.
If I choose the timed one, nothing is ever available, but if I tick priority, slots start appearing.
Not trying to teach my granny to suck eggs, but is that what you have tried?

Marydoll thank you, that is probably what I should have done instead of naively thinking that they would release slots for the 'shielded' each week, as they only seemed to show a week in advance at first.

We will manage. I have threatened DH with some gf bread as I have gluten-free bread flour. He said he's not that desperate!

I am sure our neighbour will being us some milk. It's odd, though, as everyone round here seems to know just how to get slots even though some are still going out to work and play.
They are all kind and would be willing to help although we really want to be independent. They have families to feed too.

Hiya inmates. I've had a very relaxed day today, if I relax anymore I'll be asleep. I think my lazy button has been pushed and now it's got stuck ?

BradfordLass, love the sketch of the heron. A twist on the early bird and worm too.
I, like you, do like research it's just that I haven't done any recently, excluding some I did to help the girl (woman) I've been trying to give some support to. That has, I have, found out this weekend, paid dividends ? ?
As for more academic research, that has been a while. Most of the research I have carried out in more recent years has been on UK (or Welsh, when it has differed) legislation and regulations.
Thanks for sharing your memories of times spent cuddling your granddaughter in the hanging wicker chair, it brought back memories of my fabulous, since departed, SiL with my niece1 and then of my niece1 and myself in the garden of my wonderful, since departed, brother's first house. Lovely memories ?

Dreamkeeper, I agree with Doodle, you say you don't have much to say and then post a very lovely long post.
Great image you have conjured up of the guy with the "snazzy scooter" trying out every bench. Sounds like he'd have been better off without the scooter ?
Alzheimer's disease, or any other dementia is my biggest fear. It is such a cruel illness. Maybe it would be for the best, for them both, if your friend's DH did move into a home permanently after the two weeks respite. Personally, I don't want to put my WP through a life struggling with me if I end up with dementia.

Thanks dragonfly ?. It is odd how one week in lockdown can feel so different from the others when daily life is so similar each day, I think it's the so-called little things in life that make a big difference atm.
I've still resisted resorting to the LA food boxes but between the occasional volunteer, occasional supermarket slots and tip offs from my niece1, my quiz group members and one or two neighbours we've managed so far ?
I'm so pleased you are feeling a lot better now Dexter is recovering well. Hope you enjoy your lamb ?

Sorry to hear your DH isn't feeling too well Grammaretto, I hope it's short lived ?

I really, really, really hope that us lot (and partners) who are shielding are not going to have it extended. I haven't received any letter notifying me of that but my first letter did arrive later than many peoples'. Apart from the obvious, missing family and friends in person, I'm missing going for a walk beyond my gate and if there's an extension I may have to dig a tunnel out of here ?

Callistemon, I have regularly been getting Tesco priority slots.
What I have discovered is that if I go on early the following morning, after the delivery, (not the same day) I can get a delivery slot for the following week.
I'm embarrassed to say, I have them booked for the next three Fridays. No specific time, but I'm going nowhere anyway.
I help my daughter and neighbours out by adding what they need too. In return, my neighbours pick up fresh bread and milk for me. It helps evryone stay safe.

The driver this week was telling me that Tesco are extending delivery times from 6am through to 11pm.

I had a call from the local council reminding me that, despite not needing a box, t if I needed a food box, just to call if I wanted to start receiving them. Every council in Scotland has a dedicated number to call, I don't know about the rest of the country.

I do hope you can get it sorted. if not phone Tesco and ask for help, that's what I did and 24 hrs laters, priority slots started appearing.

I should add I have a self cleaning oven.

I don't often contribute to the lockdown gang, but I usually follow your posts. I'm quite envious of the shared nightcaps. I have all the credentials to be in the gang, texts, letters and additional advice from medical ologists that I have collected. I also struggle with supermarket delivery slots.

Except that I feel diffident because I am physically fit (and so is my husband) and I understand some of my fellow lockdownees are frail.

After lazing about for a few weeks, (and, as ever, regarding housework as irrelevant and beneath consideration) I bought an exercise bike. Having the bike lead me to thinking about riding a real bike, something I've never managed in the past. So now I'm spending more time in the garden on a borrowed bicycle, some of the plants are suffering because I've landed on them a few times. My legs are covered with bruises. I'm still trying to steer 'around’ things.

I'm following online fitness classes (infrequently - my inner sloth is still with me) and pay for a weekly online Pilates class (note a certain 'careful' streak - I'm paying for this so will not miss any). But this level of activity in me equates to restlessness, I'm stir crazy. My husband is self isolating because of me. He's indulging his hobby and I'm taking advantage of that (if you know what I mean ). He seems happy enough although misses the family too.

I too feel that, at some time soon, I will have to take my chance and decide that I need to take responsibility for myself by leaving lockdown. I've spent several years weighing up the risks of going out and picking up infections. Nearly every time we visit our grandchildren, I catch something and can be confined to the house for weeks. But, so far, I have recovered. I have to hope that I can continue to do so and spend some precious time with family while I can.

Thank you Grammaretto. We have a farm shop not far away and we could phone them with an order and they will come and put the order in your boot. However, although the food is good, fresh produce they dont really stock the basics.

I thought that once the lockdown eased, people who could would be rushing to do their own shopping!

Best wishes to all, dragonfly , Mr G, Mr P and anyone else who needs some tlc.

My oven probably needs a clean but I must go and dirty it even more.

Hallo everyone - thought I would pop in and see how everyone is bearing up.

Grammaretto I am sorry to hear your DH is not feeling well. I hope he feels better soon.

Pleased you have had a good week Cherry it is funny how some weeks are better than others even in lockdown.

Panache it is so good to hear from you. You were such a help to me when I was first diagnosed.

We had two of those government boxes by mistake and I gave them to the food bank in the end as we are well served with deliveries here. I was amazed though at how much was in them. I also got a second call from the council asking how I was coping. I feel well looked after!

I am feeling much better now that I know Dexter will fully recover. I am not sure when they will come and get him as they live in London and are frightened they may infect us. I will be sorry when he goes, however, as he gives us a certain amount of structure to the day.

Have a good evening everyone - the weather is glorious and I must put the lamb in the oven.

Stay safe.

Callistemon I would phone the council if you can and get back on their radar PDQ!
They should be able to help with a supermarket slot or a local person who can help you.

After all it won't look good if those of us locked in here are found starved.

We have a local store where they know us so I can phone and someone will bring rations round and put it on my bill.
It seems very old fashioned and at first I hated being so dependant but needs must. I also discovered takeaway for the first time in 40 years.
I would apply for a government box if necessary.

Good luck to you.

Liz46 it has worked up until now, after an initial struggle and complaints to four supermarkets Tesco were helpful. We've managed to get a slot about every 10 - 12 days so far but there are absolutely none to be had now.
I was offered a food box from the Council which I declined but we may have to phone and accept one. I'd rather pay though, so that someone else who needs it can get a free delivery.

I agree we will have to decide for ourselves now we know the main ways in which the virus carries. I am relieved to be in Scotland where we are all still in Lock-down so there is less confusion.

DH isn't feeling well today so that's a worry.

I didn't realise Bradfordlass that you had such a grownup DGD. Is she nearby?

The weather is awful here, cold, blowy and wet and not at all Springlike apart from the apple blossom.

gramaretto the quiz sounds fun. How lovely to see family even if only on screen.
cherry I think you’re right. We can’t all stay in forever. With a bit of common sense we can be allowed out.
We tend to have lazy weekends. Late breakfast and then potter about with hobbies until dinner. I leave housework till weekdays. Looks like being a nice day here so a drink on the balcony later before dinner would be nice?
bradfordlas I love the description of you sitting swinging with your DGD. Sounds as though you still have a close bond.
You are welcome to make your cocoa with anything you like all supplies in the prison kitchen ?
panache you say you have nothing to chat about and then write a long and interesting post yourself ? glad you are still getting your walks outside. I am sorry to hear of MrP’s tooth problem. It may well need treatment. I think we are all old enough to take responsibility for ourselves as all on the shielded list will need to take extra care. Going out again will feel strange but I wonder if all this inactivity for DH will be causing more harm. We usually walk a few miles every day and with his heart and BP problems I don’t think staying in is keeping him healthy.
I am so sorry about the sad news from your friend. It may be a blessing in disguise. Having watched my dear SIL go through the same with my brother I know how hard it is to look after someone with Alzheimer’s. It may well be your friends husband will need to be in care from now on. In the end, although my SIL was devastated to do it, it made life better for them both. The time they then spent together was more peaceful and enjoyable.
Take care of yourself and tell MrP I am so sorry for his toothache. Has he had some paracetamol? Hope it doesn’t cause him too much trouble.
lins you seem to be saying the same thing as me about walking. It is vital I think for the locked in to get some exercise. Hope your zoom goes well. We are not aquatinted with this piece of technology so best of luck ?
callistemon hope you are keeping well too. We have been lucky with deliveries so far. Hope you manage to go in a quiet time.
Have a good day all