Westminstenders: No pubs till Christmas?

[RedToothBrush]

Today the news has moved towards acknowledging covid-19 reality: Nicola Sturgeon has explicitly stated that some social distancing will carry on until the new year in all likelihood.

When Matt Hancock asked if this was true for England too, he refused to say yes but he said that Scotland was working from the same framework as England.

In case anyone does still need this spelling out, this means the outlook for the hospitality and leisure industries is bleak.

There are extremely unlikely to be many enjoying a holiday in the sun any time soon, whether it be in Devon or Spain.

We won't be celebrating birthdays in restaurants nor having a pint in the pub.

Conversations on the doorstep from a couple of metres away is as good as it gets.

That means if you can't adapt you may not survive.

To add into the mix changes to customs to those companies who are operating seems insanity. But that's a political not a scientific decision to be made.

Whether reality in this will kick in, in the next six weeks or so before EU budgetary decisions relating to an extension have to be made remains to be seen.

Until then, there is no news but covid-19.

So now "Exit Strategy" has joined Brexit and piccaninnies with watermelon smiles on the 10DS banned words list.

There will be an 'easing of restrictions.'

There will be an 'easing of restrictions.'
Elasticated waistbands for the whole country
excellent

Elasticated waistbands! Tell me about it. I sent off for some trousers, but thought they might be too big, because the waist measurement was an inch more than my normal size.

Perfect fit. Good.
Means I have put on weight - bad!

Peregrina Cut back on the baking ?
It'll make your supplies last longer, too

@QuestionMarkNow

www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/organic-buckwheat-flour-1kg-1.html

They have 25kg sacks - but quite spensey

more Anecdata (sorry) about the incompetence of the Govt:

the free school meals vouchers set up by Edenred is STILL not working, 4 weeks into the system.
Helpfully, it tells me that the best time to try to redeem my vouchers (which have to be redeemed within 4 weeks) is at 4am.
Do you think Boris and Co will tell me it is 'my fault' if I dont redeem them in time (helpfully, my awful rural internet is also very extra intermittent since the Covid Crisis too) Ds thinks they've turned the speed down to cope with all the extra demand from home workers.

Also quite a lot on eBay - but because flour is heavy it's delivery is expensive . Do you have any dove farm stockists around you - that's the brand my farm shop has it and I notice alit for sale on eBay.

Lewis Goodall@lewisgoodall (BBC Newsnight)

mobile.twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1254854938389172225

WHAT'S GOING ON IN RESIDENTIAL AND DOMICILIARY CARE

Er I don't bake but MIL and BIL have kept us supplied with cakes and pies.

One good thing - I went out for my constitutional - and heard the cuckoo. I haven't heard him for a few years now.

I heard a cuckoo on Sunday evening, Peregrina. First time in I think 4 years or more. Not far from you - S Worcs.

One mill by us has started supplying the farm shop with portions of flour in plastic bags - freezer bags, essentially. It ain't pretty but it's flour. They have a delivery in tomorrow so if no luck with supermarket delivery, I'll be up to the farm shop tomorrow.

That's what our local bakery is doing. They're a bugger to get into my storage jars without going everywhere

We've ordered a big bag of flour. Bread supply is currently our achilles heel for going to the shops. We know a couple of our friends have been going through it like there is no tomorrow.

I've lost weight. I can't snack as much if we only go to the shops once every 10 - 14 days...

Our cuckoo is driving us bonkers. Pitched up a month ago and never shuts up.
We saw The Panorama programme about PPE last night. Utterly damning but hadn't had much advance publicity apparently?
Did anyone else see it?

My DD has had vouchers since schools broke up as Dgd was on a bursary in 6 th form. Trouble is they are only for tescos £15 a week and tescos 3 miles from where she lives a hike on a bike on your only day off. But she's not knocking it!

Why is everyone homebaking so much? All the bakery shops ( bar one) are open here and plenty of bread in supermarkets and bakeries in them still working?

Going out shopping frequently isn't a great idea and bread doesn't stay fresh for two weeks. Home baking smells wonderful. You snack a lot more when you're working a few feet from your kitchen.

Home baking is relaxing and for us it increases the range of options available for DD2 to eat - it has to be gluten free in our house.

I do a big shop once a week, I have three teenagers to feed. GF flour is still in short supply though - can't bake as much as we'd like, and we're definitely having to be ingenious about sugar.

Gluten free stuff is in short supply, otherwise I would not be making my own crackers!

Our local bakeries have shut - or rather, have hurriedly transferred some of their business on-line. Hence the re packaged flour being available - and even that sells out quickly as they're not geared up for putting flour into wee plastic bags, so it takes time

Where it has been useful to me has been in demonstrating that my No Deal Brexit stash needs to have its flour stocks (all types) significantly increased.

I missed it missclimpson but I have it here & plan to watch later this morning

sos
Waitrose bread is universally dire year in year out.
Sainsburys - only the white sliced stuff is on the shelves
and with four adults in the house we like making different breads regularly

Same here re baking - we're trying to shop once a fortnight and so we're making bread every 2-3 days. We do have bakeries open (have had a delivery from one) but especially with everyone now eating lunch at home we need a fresh loaf available.

(I got strong flour from Sainsbury's this week)

Agree bread is the main thing to shop for - we also get through a lot of milk (both of us prefer it to water) so I have dedicated a small freezer to milk and breadstuffs. If I could get yeast I would be baking more I think. Luckily I have 3 small freezers (keep thinking how lucky some of us were in preparing for Brexit too!) which has helped and we've only needed to go out to shop twice in the 6.5 weeks we've been off.

That piece on the kids complications on COVID will be one to watch. No way will parents be as happy to "restart the economy" if that isn't looked into and risk assessed. I know it is a tiny %, but then look at how many parents won't vaccinate given that similar tiny %...Although that does seem to overlap into homeschooling figures.