This Week I……

Hey, how’s things? Looking forward to coming out of lockdown into, er, a different sort of lockdown.

We here in Norfolk are in Tier 2, which means that all the pubs in our area have magically become restaurants. My family are in Tier 3, the no pints at all tier, and as they had a responsibly socially distanced trip to visit us planned for December that’s obviously had to be added to the pile of things I was looking forward to that have been cancelled in 2020. Ho hum.

Still, December is on its way and I’m looking forward to binge watching Christmas movies by the fire.

I would like to tell you I have plans for today that DON’T involve watching TV under a blanket, but that wouldn’t be true.

So, first, this week I…..

Got a New Cooker

I know that I’m officially a grown up now because this is the second cooker I’ve bought in my life.

When I lived in rented houses other people were in charge of the ovens. This meant we had some crap ovens in our time. When we bought this house we had to buy a cooker, I felt terribly grown up choosing my own cooker.

8 years later the oven part of that cooker has decided to stop cooking properly. This means it took me 30 minutes to cook an 8 minute pizza last week and we keep having pies that are burned on top and raw on the bottom.

So, it was time to do some research and buy a new one. I opted for one with a plug, so we didn’t have to pay for an electrician, and now I am able to cook pizzas in 10 minutes.

I’m not sure if I feel more grown up, or just old, that I’m now old enough to have had to buy 2 ovens. How many will I buy in my life I wonder?

Anyway, I’m not actually grown up enough to have installed it properly yet and a week later the cable is still fed up through the slot for the hob, which is propped up on bits of wood.

It’s on the list…..

Ate Cake

Because it was the Bake Off final on Tuesday.

Really I should have baked cake, but I don’t do baking, so instead I went to the shop and bought a cake and some mini flapjacks.

It was much nicer than anything I would have baked.

Did Not Buy Flowers

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this rant on my stories.

When I went to the Co-Op to purchase the aforementioned cake I spotted a lovely bunch of flowers, reduced from £6 to £1.50. I thought how lovely they’d be to cheer up the house, so I popped them in my basket.

When I got to the till the barcode wouldn’t scan. The manager came around, had a look, and told me I couldn’t buy them because their sell-by date was the 23rd and today was the 24th and they wouldn’t go through the till.

I asked if he was going to throw them in the bin. He said yes. So I asked if I could just take them for free.

He said no, and went behind the counter and threw them in the bin. They were so pretty and it made me very sad.

I later discovered Co-Op have form on this, and have, in the past, sacked members of staff for giving away free out of date flowers.

I wrote an email complaint and got a disappointing standard reply.

Boo Co-Op.

Made a Yoof Ride His Bike Into a Fence

It’s probably wrong to be proud of this. But I am.

On the way back to my house is a very narrow path between some houses and a car park. It’s about 2 foot wide, with a tall wooden fence on one side and a tall chain link fence on the other.

It’s not very long, and it’s easy to see as you approach if someone else is on it. Normally, if they are, it’s polite to wait the few seconds it will take that person to get off the path, especially in the middle of a pandemic.

Whilst on my way home from work carrying a very heavy rucksack and a yoga mat, I was about halfway down this path when a Yoof on a bike approached. He saw me, and then rode onto the path anyway.

Still on his bike he continued riding towards me, I can only assume he thought I would mush my whole body and face into a chain link fence in an attempt to give him space to pass.

But instead I decided it was time to play chicken. Pandemic or no pandemic irritating entitled blokes who don’t make space for other people should be taught a lesson. So I kept walking. In a straight line. At the very last second he jerked his handlebars to the side and I quietly grinned as I heard the thunk and scrape of pedals and handlebars scraping along the wooden fence.

I won, and I’m not in the slightest bit sorry.

Had Coffee in a Den

To finish off this most exciting of weeks we went out for a short walk on Saturday afternoon to enjoy some nature and fresh air.

We took a wander through some woods, and stopped to drink coffee in a cute little den someone had built.

Mr LLL cleared some leaves away to uncover some bugs and we watched a robin have a feast, then we continued on our way.

And that was another week in the thrilling year that has been 2020.

How was your week?