Under construction

The new entrance to the Merrywalks centre is being worked on. I think it'll look interesting once completed, but it's early days. The mall will be renamed the Five Valleys shopping centre when finished.


I went to town for a pleasant stroll, so I thought. But Steve had asked me to buy more painkilling drugs. As one can only buy two packets of paracetamol and two of ibuprofen in any one store, I had to go to several. I now know the price of paracetamol in every shop in Stroud, including the frozen food store. I also feel like a minor criminal.

I almost beat the storm home, but got rained on at the last minute. I'd bought some flour and other ingredients so I could batch test some recipes for next week at the holiday club...

First up were the raspberry scones.
Steve's verdict was : "they look like vomit".
He had a point. They tasted better than sick, though.

Next: empire biscuits/imperial biscuits.
My verdict: looked ok, though rather as if they'd been made by a clumsy giant. Not as good-tasting as the ones at Bossard's in Oban. (We don't have imperial biscuits in England, where I live).

Finally: chocolate biscuit balls/truffles.
Verdict: looked good, easy to make with children who have disabilities. Tasted good. Steve ate two in a row (Good sign).

Then the next week boss texted me and said that the holiday club kitchen would be closed for a couple of days next week, as we won't have many staff! Understandable, but oh dear...

Still, what else was I going to do but bake during a violent storm? At least our lights and cooker stayed on. Apparently the National Grid suffered a fault, and half of England went out. One million or more homes or businesses were affected. Perhaps it's a preparation for Doomsday. A secret Brexit rehearsal, ho ho.

We're ok. We have paracetamol and pills galore, more home baking and jigsaws than we can shake a stick at. All shall we be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.