For the past eighteen months, all through the lockdown, we’ve been managing on a single supermarket shop per week. I can usually think ahead and stock up with everything with one notable exception - milk. Sometimes, we just use more than usual.

If we run short, it’s no problem because the farm shop on the way home from my swim is open early and I can stop by and pick up a couple of extra pints.

There’s just one problem. It’s such a great farm shop, that I can seldom leave with just the milk. It’s Jolly Nice by name, and absolutely jolly nice by nature. There’s bread from both of our favourite bakers Hobbs and Salt , fresh this morning.

I’m not really in the right frame of mind to pay much attention to the gin at that time of day and probably didn’t have my glasses on anyway, but now I look closely at the pictures, I think I need to investigate what that Tiptree English Strawberry drink is, don’t you? I did notice there were plentiful supplies of our favourite, very local Capreolus Garden Swift gin. Love it!

Not at all local, I have no idea how this finds its way to the shelves here, but I cannot pass it by without putting a bag into my basket, whatever the time of day. When I was a child in Hull, the only place to buy Wrights Brandy Snap was at Hull Fair during the second week of October each year. What luxury to find it in July, still in the same paper bag packaging as it was all those years ago, even if it’s sealed in an extra plastic bag as well.

Admiring the fabulous display of houseplants in the other yurt and thinking that I really should get going, since I only dropped in for a couple of pints of milk…

I popped a bar of soap from a great local soapmaker into my basket and went to pay.

Yes, in there amongst the bread, brandy snap and soap was a bottle of milk from a local farm. I’ll get the gin another day 😉

This is such a lovely way to shop.