Hello, Trolley!

I shopped for Mrs M for the first time last week and so looked forward to saying hello to again to find out how her week had been as we'd been able to have a good (socially distanced) chat when I delivered her shopping. She'd also set me an interesting list last time out from her local Tesco, so I did wonder on my bike ride over what would be in store for this particular morning...best of all though, Mrs M had a trolley!

Mrs M was well prepared - list and cash in a plastic bag and the trusty trolley ready to rumble down the hill. We had a brief catch up on how she and her husband both were - it was clear it had been another challenging week for her - then set off to find once again her comfortably populated local supermarket.

The list this week was shorter and largely fresh fruit based, and apart from a couple of enforced substitutions on some bread items, I managed a full house on the scorecard - including the much wanted turmeric - Mrs M also came in below budget too. No mistakes on the packing either this week - bulky and heavier items well placed first into the trolley - bread, blueberries and celery at the top.

A pleasant walk in the morning sunshine back up the surprisingly quiet hill, faithful trolley in tow, and another really nice chat with Mrs M at her front door, where she thanked me profusely once again for my efforts. It was clear she needed some "me time" and a bit of a rest, so I implored her to put her feet up at some point over the coming few days - she'd certainly earned it. After we said our goodbyes, and as I walked down the stairwell, it brought home to me once again the scale of the challenges affecting the likes of Mrs M all over the city at the moment.