I don't mind not going on holiday, but I do like to choose what I buy. During the first lockdown, I emailed orders to the greengrocer and deli every week, the fishmonger and whole food shop as and when, but it was so nice to actually buy just what I wanted (and to check use-by dates). Convenient as it is, I've not succumbed to internet grocery shopping from a supermarket yet, though if the nearest were 15 miles away, i suppose I would.

Down south, I'd have agreed with you Z, and I never thought I'd think online groceries were a good idea.

But, given that there aren't any fishmongers or greengrocers anywhere within 25 miles, it really doesn't make any difference these days, and it saves hours and hours of time, and there are no stresses, such as finding a parking space, ensuring you're not forced to park so close to someone that you come back to find a dent in your car, coping with screaming kids in supermarkets, obnoxious other shoppers, queues, and errant/absent cashiers. I hate self-service tills and more and more there aren't real people to serve you anyway.

If I buy fish it's frozen (I never buy fish in supermarkets other than frozen anyway as it's not fresh enough for my liking), and don't eat meat, so no problem there. This time of year we grow all but potatoes and onions, and I've always bought those from supermarkets anyway.

There has been the odd issue with short dates on fruit and veg, but I've complained each time and they've happily refunded me, and now they seem much better. Despite what I'm reading about shortages in supermarkets, we've had fewer substitutions and missing items in the past few weeks than ever before. Odd.

Even Costco are now offering delivered groceries!

Ha, until we moved down here I'd alwys been against food deliveries too but now wouldn't be without them.. Not choosing the fruit and veg is a bit of a pain though less issue with veg this time of year obviously. We have had major issues with stock shortages in the supermarkets down here though, luckily we keep a good stock of everything and do have a not bad independent supermarket not too far away.

£900,000 for a house at the end of the Central line....my brother has (or will have) a neighbour in London who has spent £3.5 million on buying a house that they have now stripped and are re-doing for their two university age kids to live in....he's really looking forward to having them as neighbours!

Suggest he gets a noise monitoring sheet from the local council's Environmental Health Department now, in readiness, NiC...

Heh yes....mind you since he lives in almost the centre of town I'm not sure he ever gets anything like silence. Indeed he's also above one of the tube lines out of Oxford Circus and when there's no other noise you get the occasional rumble from the trains beneath too.

When Mr BW was down at Coven Sud a couple of weeks ago, he had some people round to look at the bees. They live in the south of the county. "Isn't it quiet here?" they said.

No, it's not, it used to be, but now there are constatly planes overhead, a bypass droning in the background, barking dogs, neighbours swearing at their barking dogs, and umpteen people with umpteen noisy garden and workshop machines.

It's all relative.... up here I tell the sheep off if they baaaa too loudly.