Nearly Christmas

We did our last bit of shopping before Christmas yesterday. We had hoped to buy some sprouts to have with our venison puddings on Boxing Day but the supermarket shelf was bare. We had first tried to do the shopping mid-afternoon but the car park was so full, &, looking through the windows, the queues at the tills so long, that we had decided to go to the Pub & try later. By 5ish it was quieter, but there were distinct bare patches on the shelves. Staff was hastily trying to refill the shelves after the descent of the locusts. Nonetheless, there was no fresh fish, no sprouts, no cheese crackers. But there was the milk which was the essential part of our shopping. We got some other bits as well. We'll just have to have a different veg on Saturday. We've got plenty of others - carrots, green beans, broccoli, peas, mushrooms, sweetcorn etc - to chose from.

It never ceases to amaze me how mad people go over shopping at this time of year. Easter is the other bad time. At the end of the day you can only eat so much food. Even allowing for extra visitors & so mouths to feed, surely those numbers should be balanced by the numbers who are away doing that visiting & feeding out. A sort of panic seems to set into some people just because the shops are going to be closed for a couple of days.

I suppose it was worse yesterday because of the snow the previous day. I suspect we weren't the only ones who put off going out on Tuesday to avoid the icy roads & pavements.

Last night it snowed once more. There's not as much this time. Mr Blackbird was sitting by the back door waiting for some food to be thrown out. Needless to say, my heart melted & some bread was duly found him. One thing we did yesterday was to stock up on bird food. As the snow melts a bit, I'll be out, making sure the bird feeders & table are well stocked up. They desperately need feeding in this cold.

There remains just the one thing to say:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS