Ginger .

When we need to shop we stay out of the town and go to  big supermarket set alone and with a big car park . Seems sensible , just us in out little metal box ( car ) keeping a good distance from all . We pick a time when it's likely to be quiet and all is well .
Especially well when , driving out of town , I spy my first cowslip of the year . Little proud numbers . Hope from root to lemony bloom .

The supermarket , well that changes each time you go .
I began by going with a shopping list and , like us all , quickly wised up .
I don't do a shopping list anymore . I do a wish list .
If that turns out to be a trip to fantasy island I , then , think what I could make from what's there - like we all do .
 How lovely though when you can get a versatile basic staple .
 It's getting better each time you go .
Even so , the Saxophonist went shopplng the other day . He came back and produced something from his shopping bag . It was a pound of mince .
I nearly wet my knickers !!

I'm enjoying adverts at the moment . You can't get any of it so it's become a sort of porn I s'pose . In reality I don't really need or want these things but that doesn't matter .
I can go theoretical shopping without limits - just go wild .
This week , for instance , I have bought five cars and I don't even drive .
I'm also in for five bottles of scent . As they are all theoretical I can put them all on at once and not worry that I shall be followed by a posse of half crazed household pets . I could gargle with the blessed stuff .
Of course theoretical purchase has it's limits . I have eyed up that nice looking black guy on the furniture advert . I mean , fair enough , but where would I put him and he might want to work his way through the ginger cake I've just made .
No better to leave him bouncing on his sofa .

Got an e mail to say Jamie Oliver has rushed through a TV series that's currently airing early evening on channel four . It's for helping non cooks make something to eat and for the rest of us a few ideas about workable alternatives and variations when our " wish lists " come up short .
I stoically watch what Boris has to say every night but the Jamie Oliver has moved me to tears every night . He says " come on , we can do this ". I believe him to be sincere .
He says  " we are all in this together ". We are .
In my heart of hearts I believe we shall get through this and with some unexpected gains , finding ourselves to be much more resilient and self sufficient than we imagined .

I have no soap box here but if you are sitting on your own reading this , close your eyes and have a slice of fiery ginger cake and a good strong mug of tea with me .

Water is immortal .

Went miles out today , to a seascape .

I looked at the water and thought " you have seen everything . Choppy or becalmed  , you have been witness to loss and gain , defeat and victory over and over again .

I thought we would be all but alone out there but we weren't .

Woolly hatted and carrying a thermos ,  people came . People of all ages , classes and types . One group had fold up chairs and a wind break on the shingle .

I looked at the sea again and , beautiful as it was today , I thought  "you aren't the only one . Whether it's oxtail or Nescafe in the Thermos , metaphorically speaking , it's clear that the human spirit is immortal , it carries us forward , tenacious , alive to beauty , alert to common sense ."

Neither the Telegraph nor the Guardian with  all their stats , commentators and editorials can fathom how powerful , and moving , it was , in spite of all , to see somebody hammer in a windbreak on the shingle today.