Essential supplies

My third delivery of cheese from Neal's Yard Dairy turned up this morning. Heralded by an email yesterday and a text this morning. With the cheese itself turning up more or less in the middle of the advertised slot. Complete, on this occasion, with natty looking freezer bags to keep the soft cheese cool. While, on a morning brick shift, I had gone to the length of putting the new, portable front door bell from Robert Dyas in my pocket to make sure that I heard it arrive. Which failed, as I just happened to be out front when it arrived.

While BH got back from her weekly older person's shop at the Kiln Lane Sainsbury's to tell me that strong white flour had not yet reappeared on their shelves. The best they could do was flour to make pasta with, which we thought was not what we wanted at all. Maybe the flour millers are just not able to transfer their flour from their unsold 25kg bags usually used by bakers to the 1.5kg bags used by all these born-again home bakers fast enough. Maybe they do not have the necessary machines.

So off to Calbourne Water Mill (of reference 2), sold out. Amazon, sold out. Waitrose said they had the flour, but they had sold out of both delivery and collection. But ebay had plenty of the stuff - a lot of which looked to have been unearthed from people's cupboards, with the people concerned thinking to make a little extra. Water and wind mills I had never heard of. Catering suppliers. And last but not least, Wright's of Ponders End (of reference 3), whom I settled for. Furthermore, I vaguely remember now having once visited a public house on or near the River Lee at Ponders End, with some people who lived not that far away. Probably from our days in Palmers Green.

In the course of all of which I was once again reminded how bizarre seller names are apt to pop up in the course of ebay and PayPal transactions. In this case, for example, we had 'Nannas teapot'.

PS 1: it occurred to me this morning that the concept of 'essential supplies', certainly in so far as food is concerned, is as tricky a concept as cause of death. A problem that the benefits people at the DHSS (or whatever they are called today) have been grappling with for a long time - in the sense of what does a household really need in order to keep going? A refrigerator? A television? A games console? Or in the case of food, fifty seven varieties of tinned sauce to go with my pasta?

PS 2: I also remember once being told by an acquaintance whose parents had been Parisian bakers, that they just kept their flour loose, for easy access, in the flour room. No bags, 25kg or otherwise for them. Seems a bit improbable, but that is how I remember it.

PS 3: later: next thought was that Nanna's Teapot was a teashop which is presently shut and is sitting on more flour (for making currant buns and suchlike) than they are likely to need for a while. So shifting some of the stuff on ebay. But Bing says no, they are actually, mainly, a supplier of speciality teas. See reference 4.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/03/diy.html. Still not completed the touching up of paint work, over a month later, despite being more or less confined to house and garden.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/04/stocking-up.html.

Reference 3: https://www.wrightsflour.co.uk/.

Reference 4: https://www.nannasteapot.com/.