Fbg 6.6
I went on adventure yesterday, or at least I thought it would be an adventure. I googled Farm Shops near me.
There came up quite a few. I knew where some of them where, but they are a bit of a distance away. But times open and dates open have all changed since Covid and Lockdowns and stuff. One, an organic shop which was almost on my doorstep, I haven't been able to find as I drove down the leafy lane, the sign had gone. I now find it has relocated 20 miles away to an industrial estate. It has a website to say it is there but no more details than that. You can use the telephone to enquire and order, but I cannot hear on the telephone. Presumably you ask over the phone if they have this that and the other (which is what I saw happening in their old premises) and after 15 mins of talking to the person at the other end, the shop person had written down an order list for the customer, and it was all in because it was an immediate conversation.
This I cannot do, use the phone for this because I am deaf. Another of my favourite farm shops before Covid struck, is a distance away also, now with more restricted opening times and days of the week (only 3 days, it was everyday before Covid). They also have a website to say they exist, but no actual details of any of their products. So, obviously there is no email ordering system, but the telephone again. You can telephone with this one, at any time almost, order your stuff (because you can hear on the phone), and pick it up any day of the week, even if the shop isn't open. Sounds a good system, but I cannot use it.
Anyway, I chose two which were possibles.
The first had a cafe, and a garden centre if you could call it that, and a farm shop. I went for the breakfast first. I was looking forward to it. A disappointment. Half of it was not edible. You know that large beef tomato they show to the grill to get a bit of warmth but is cold inside and hard as rock, and the large mushroom that takes up half the plate and has had a similar treatment...I would say 4/10 for this breakfast. I go in the garden centre which is very small and virtually empty of plants. There was an old guy taking the dead bits off plants and repotting them. I asked where the plants were. It is end of season he said, so we are just selling off what we have...2/10 for the garden centre. Next was the farm shop. I went to the chiller cabinets, and put my hand inside, and I realised the chiller cabinet was dripping all over my hand and arm, and the goods inside were beginning to peel off their labels because of the dripping water.and it is in a pool of water. And to top that, the shop assistant was putting new stock on those shelves. I award 0/10 for that.
I left.
I went to my new destination which I wished I had researched before I went.
A SHOCK.
I had read of these springing up during Covid lockdowns. There were a few farm shops who did this.
They had gone over totally to vending machines. You had to take your own container for the milk, and put it under this vending machine, press a button and out comes your milk. Loose, so to speak. Then the meat is prepackaged and in the vending machines. And a woman prospective customer said to me. They're out of date at the front. I looked and they were. You didn't even have the pleasure of foraging at the back of the shelf to find a more in date product as you would in a shop. Eggs from the vending machines also. So, you put your money in (credit card actually), and the eggs come to the front and drop down...presumably ready scrambled for you...Could I give this 1/10 for enterprise?
I left.
I went home disillusioned, went to bed, went to sleep.
Can I wake up in a different world?
And I checked my local Tesco Express on the way home for some sausages. Alas no, the chiller and freezer cabinets are still dripping and broken with the heat, and the engineer was still trying to repair them. 0/10 for my local Tesco Express...
Creative this morning, a kaleidoscope in Laboscope. My tomatoes. I had some with my morning cuppa.
Noah's Ark is definitely needed here.
Tell yourself it is a beautiful day. I am going to have another nap...
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