Stocking up

BH has charge of most of our shopping, but ingredients for bread and alcoholism were delegated to me years ago. So while she is managing pretty well on one visit a week to the Sainsbury's senior hour at Kiln Lane, including the flour noticed at reference 1, I have had to scramble around a bit.

As it has turned out, Majestic Wine and Amazon between them have done alcoholism and a place called Calbourne Water Mill has done some of what is needed for bread.

This being a water mill on the Isle of Wight, which last we have visited pretty much every year for more than fifteen years now, although the visit scheduled for this summer is presently under threat. And a water mill which we have visited several times over the years, on the last occasion spending quality time with some old carts which they were restoring. So I thought I would give them a go, and three bags of their bread flour have now turned up, delivered on the second attempt by Hermes. With the delivery charge being very modest, particularly when one thinks that a ferry was involved.

I thought I would try safe handling, using the rubber gloves visible bottom left in the snap above, but this proved a lot more awkward and difficult than I was expecting. Furthermore, how does one get the gloves off and what does one do with them when one has finally extracted the flour? I think my first attempt at safe handling can be deemed a failure. Mitigated by BH having wiped the unopened parcel over with something sanitising.

Presumably the water mill has some sort of sewing machine which can sew the filled bags up with the white strings visible at the top of the snap.

Supplies now good for well into May.

PS: the stream driving the mill eventually runs into the Solent at Newtown, a famous rotten borough which we also visit from time to time. While the other way, about a mile upstream, is a place called Winkle Street, sufficiently quaint that it ought to be the subject of many a jigsaw, although I don't think that I have ever owned one personally. Bing knows all about it.

Reference 1: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/03/flour-supply.html.

Reference 2: https://www.calbournewatermill.co.uk/.

Reference 3: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-rotten-borough.html. A visit to Newtown, mentioned above.