Sophie and I set off early this morning to go to Tesco to shop for our local food bank. Rather than do Secret Santa at her workplace this year, Sophie had suggested that people donate an amount of their choice so we could buy food for those in need this Christmas.
We had just over £90 to spend, and that didn't include some items that her manager had donated. On the way, we stopped at the new Costa by the A14 and had a Flat White and a pastry. The cafe was busy, and it was obvious that some people sitting in didn't belong to the same household. How good are these rules if they're not being enforced?
Things are taking quite an ominous turn now due to a new variant of the coronavirus, which is making it far easier to spread. London and the south-east are worst affected, and there is a strong rumour that Boris will create another tier - Tier 4 - just for this region of England.
We left Costa and drove to Tesco where we filled the trolley with essentials. It was amazing how much we could buy with our money! As we also had some shopping to do for ourselves, it all became a bit messy as we'd used the self-scan option, and we had to go through the normal checkouts with our purchases!
At the self-scan checkouts, I dug out the newspaper from the very bottom of the trolley as I didn't want to be caught with it, without paying for it. Can you imagine the embarrassment? We didn't bring any boxes with us and the amount we'd bought wouldn't fit in the bags we'd brought so we headed home to re-pack it all!
Once that was all done, we phoned the food bank and drove over to Kettering. The plan was to drop it off and then visit The Yards to look for Christmas presents. Taking it was a simple process, and we went and parked in the car park by the church and library. Ahead of us was a huge marquee and we discovered that it was a walk-in Covid testing site. We steered well clear of it!
Unfortunately, we received a shock when we arrived at The Yards. There was just one shop open as you went in, and the usual large area with different stalls was closed off. The entrance was in another part of The Yards, and the place looked run-down and neglected. Apart from a lampshade shop and another selling combat gear, there was just one area full of antiques and tat. We were so disappointed! We had been hoping to buy some presents here, and the usual area full of gifts, decorations, vintage clothing and American sweets was closed down completely.
We decided to leave and try our luck at the lovely beer shop that was opposite, but this had disappeared as well. What has happened to Kettering? Staring us in the face, starkly, was how much retail has been affected by the current situation.
We walked back to the car and it started to rain, putting both of us in a foul mood. Sophie was desperate to buy some presents for Mike so I suggested Castle Ashby which has a delicatessen selling lovely foods, beers and wines.
The rain stopped, and the sun came out, but it was a chilly day. At Castle Ashby, we parked in the overflow car park and walked to the courtyard area. By now we were hungry so we went to The Buttery in the hope of having some lunch. Several tables were occupied outside but neither of us felt like eating at a cold table, we wanted a cosy one inside! Our luck was out, and the woman serving said there'd be a 30-minute wait... We gave up and went straight to the delicatessen where a man was hovering by the beers and wines and taking an absolute age to choose anything. When he moved away we looked at the beers but Sophie didn't fancy paying £10 for a can despite its high alcohol content! £10!!
I suggested getting something for lunch and taking it home, but Sophie wasn't keen so we returned to the car empty-handed. The day was turning out to be a very disappointing one! We drove back the way we'd come and visited a Farm Shop near Earls Barton. They had a range of beers but they were on the weak side, and Sophie knew that none of them would appeal to Mike.
From there we tried a cafe and craft shop situated in a range of barns near Mears Ashby. When we entered the small shop, there was a very unsavoury smell permeating the place. It really put us off and smelt a bit like rancid lamb! They didn't have any tables, either, so in desperation, we went to McDonald's for a naughty treat, going through the drive-thru and eating in the car, watched by a very hungry seagull who kept screeching at us!
Back home we made a start on the preparations for dinner, which tonight was Thai Yellow Curry. We needed to make a curry paste, which Sophie prepared, while I cut up the chicken and two potatoes. After we'd done as much as we could Sophie made us both a cocktail using my Blood Orange Gin and the rest of the Vermouth. Delicious!
We sat down to listen to Boris at 4pm and received a bit of a shock. London, the south-east and our neighbouring counties of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire are all now in Tier 4, which means non-essential shops will close, gyms, hairdressers and beauty salons will not be able to open, and people will not be able to see anyone outside of their household bubble at Christmas. For the rest of us, the five-day relaxation will be reduced to just one day, Christmas Day. The virus is spreading much faster than anticipated, and the Government has decided to implement these changes in an attempt to slow it down.
Dinner this evening was delicious, although Sophie said it lacked something - could it have been the fish sauce that we left out? The bottle we had was best before March 2020 so we threw it away!
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