Baffled R Us

Shopping today has been a successful trip, but the experience a little bemusing.
To clarify the title of this post, I’ll start at the end of our shopping triathlon as this was where it occurred.
I was sitting in the car waiting for Hubby to do his bit as we needed milk and it’s a little too heavy for me to lift myself with my back the way it is.
People watching today was better than any soap on TV, couples. elderly mothers with daughters, screaming brats, harassed parents, a very large ‘Billy Bunter’ type pushing his full trolley with his belly resting on and over the handles, porky puddings and burnt visitors taking baby steps because the skin has cooked and is no longer flexible (been there, and OUCH!!! doesn’t quite cover it) and a host of other horrendous, amusing and bewildering sights. I have to admit that most were wearing masks and quite a few full face visors.
The traffic light system is well in force here and it works an absolute treat, so ……………..
The subjects of my title came from behind our car with an empty trolley, and waited to give room to someone coming out of the shop………. or so I thought.
They actually went IN the out and proceeded along the line of checkouts towards the toilets pushing their trolley. They then took said trolley into said toilets and came out a few minutes later without it, walked towards the exit, then out into the car park and back to their car. How bizarre is that? They didn’t shop or buy anything, the trolley was empty before they went inside the loo, so what was the point? Baffled, pointless, and intriguing!

Anyway, the list today was long and contained some bulky purchases and stock items.
Usually we take it in turns to go into various shops to ‘do our share’ and split the spend accordingly.
We were a little later than we’d like so traffic going in was beginning to back up, but luckily we know the back roads and could avoid the main road leading up to the roundabout to get where we wanted to go.
I went into the first supermarket as I know the layout and exactly what I wanted, so I was actually done and dusted in about quarter of an hour. There were quite a few people inside, but plenty of space as it was just 10 am so hadn’t got really busy yet.
I spent £16, so was well pleased as I got everything intended, including fresh fruit.
The next shop is usually Hubby’s but he had words with a fellow shopper last time and as he was doing the milk run, I got the job today. Nobody really checking numbers going in, but everyone I saw, including staff, were wearing masks and I felt reassured. I got the desiccated coconut I wanted, and some specific yogurts to use up my vouchers which Lidl would not exchange for me, even though they were in lieu of yogurt purchased from them! I trotted down to the cleaning section for some Calgon gel which we have started to use in our washing machine to protect it from limescale buildup and stop that horrible musty damp smell. It works and I bought some on special offer for £4 to try a fortnight ago, but haven’t seen it anywhere since.
They only had the tablets, but knowing some supermarkets tend to shove stuff out of the way to promote something more pricey, I ferreted around on the shelves and found exactly what I wanted at the back on the very bottom! Six quid a time though but I got 2 bottles as I know around here they are like hens teeth.
Progressing towards the dog food on the off chance, I was thrilled to see they had Maggie’s meaty chunks in stock, so even though they’ve gone up to £6.50 a bag, I bought 2 and will mix it with the beef she’s having at the moment because it’s proving to be too rich for her.
I also got steak pies for dinner which we had with mash and baked beans, topped up my mobile and got some cash back, so the bill was in excess of sixty quid. Ouch, but then I did get paid on Friday.
With Hubby’s spend of £30, we’ve stocked up our freezer and all of the cupboards for just under £80 and should not have to do any bulk shopping now until the end of the month.

Coming home was a nightmare.
We have not seen so much traffic, and it was all going the way we wanted to get on the main road and home. Again, local knowledge is key, and we knew a back way, sort of, so with the help of the GPS, we were able to avoid all of that and were home just after midday.
Surprisingly, our road is empty of vehicles other than those belonging to residents. Maybe they all went to the same town we did this morning and are still there stuck in a traffic jam!

I am totally drained, and the last time I felt like this was any time I visited Bournemouth  as it seemed to sap my strength. I became convinced that as everyone was said to move there to retire, the oldies were draining the youth from the younger generations!

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