Swings and roundabouts

[shewhomust]

Major success of the last few days:

I have defrosted the fridge. This ought to be routine, not a major anything, but by the time I do it, it's invariably long overdue. and involves wrangling sheets of ice.

Major failure of the last few days:

I have failed to secure a slot for a supermarket delivery. I thought I had cracked the Ocado system, which required you to pounce at 9.00 pm when new slots were opened up, and then wait in the queue for an hour or so: you end up shopping later at night than is ideal, but that's a price I'm prepared to pay. Now Ocado have moved the goalposts, and instead of publishing the time at which new slots becime available, their FAQs just say 'check back regularly'. Which I have been doing for several days, to no avail.

This is not the end of the world. I placed an order with the greengrocer, which was delivered this afternoon (asparagus risotto for dinner! strawberries!) Other market traders will also deliver, and tomorrow I should get to work on that. Meanwhile, I have walked up to the small Sainsbury's at the Pot and Glass, and bought emergency supplies. But things are being used up, and will need to be replaced, and if I can't do it online, we'll have to work out how to hit an out-of-town supermarket. durham_rambler suggested using the 'click & collect' option to order online and then collect, but that too seems to be fully booked for the doreseeable future. Oh, well, if we must we must; and if we can't get deliveries because we are not sufficiently vulnerable to qualify, then I shall assume that with a sensible level of caution I'm OK to shop.

I was just beginning to write this post last night when durham_rambler charged through my study to look out of the window, and then called me to come and look.



It's not a very good picture: the inner rainbow is clear enough, and if you click through to the full size, you can make out the outer, fainter bow. But you have to know where to look for the Cathedral to be able to spot it trying to hide behind the chimney on the right. But rainbows are very much of the moment, so I wouldn't want to leave it out.

Comments

[helenraven]

It may be very regional but... I have been having decent luck with Waitrose. The Friday before last I secured a slot for the following Sunday (I visited the site at 4.30 pm), and yesterday at 9.30 am I secured a slot for Thursday evening. The minimum order is £60, but for a household of 2, that might be easy enough to reach.

[shewhomust]

I had previously been ordering every other month or so from Waitrose, at which interval the minimum spend was not a problem - in fact, they would send me coupons wqhich rewarded an even higher total, which I sometimes reached (and in an emergency, I could always make up the total with a bottle of their Slovenian white wine' which I recommend).

Oddly enough, I haven't heard from them since Easter. I've been checking back regularly, and will keep trying, but no luck so far.

Thanks for the data point, anyway. I'll post here if I get anything, if only so that I have a record of how often I am ordering from which source: one day being so like another, I find it hard to keep track!

[helenraven]

Thanks for the recommendation of the Slovenian white. I have added it to my order for Thursday.

Good luck!

[shewhomust]

Thanks! And I hope you enjoy the wine!

[helenraven]

I opened the wine last night, and it is lovely. I had it with Delia's Tomato and Goats' Cheese Galettes, which is a favourite light supper. Made with store-bought frozen pastry, because life's too short for grating a ridiculous amount of frozen butter into flour.