Crisp.

Despite the yellow weather warning we've had just a little rain and no snow though the air is icily cold. The snow on the mountains is receding at least for the moment.

My ribs weren't good enough for me to head into town to do the shopping today so instead I got the sewing machine out and finished off the latest face mask. Larger it certainly is fitting well under my chin and the triple layers kept my face nice and warm when I went down to buy some milk from the shop. Not that I wore it walking down the road though I do keep my face mask on when I'm in town but by the time I'd had a stroll along the beach my face was pretty numb. My foray to the shop also gave me the chance to try out my new sheepskin insoles and a new shopping bag I'd bought on-line. The insoles made my wellies worryingly tight when I first put them on but walking on them seems to have squashed them down making a bit more room. I hope they work out because my fingers and toes tend to turn to blocks of ice and in years gone by having sheepskin insoles in my gardening wellies kept my toes warm and cosy. It took a bit of searching to find real sheepskin insoles but I don't think the 'fleece' insoles would do the job. 

I felt a bit guilty buying the shopping bag in that I could sew my own but apart from all my fabric being inaccessible I wanted something waterproof that would fold up small to keep in my pocket when a beach walk takes in the shop on the way back. I've been using a bag-for-life but it's very creased and battered  and I don't think I could get a replacement from our Co-Op. So I splashed out a few quid on a nylon bag which while it doesn't fold up as small as some of the fancy versions fits easily in my coat pocket. There were lots of colours to chose from and even a few designs with stars but in the end I got plain purple to match my jacket. I had checked the size of the bag in the description and it's just right for me but I feel sorry for anyone taken in by the photoshopped photo where the model has the bag over her shoulder and the bag goes down to her knees. It looks as if you could fit a trolley load of shopping in it.

Yesterday's soup was so tasty that I've bulked up the left-overs with more parsnips and potatoes and there's some cauliflower to go in later.

Today's number of covid deaths is the highest ever, London has declared an emergency state and they're saying across the whole country one in fifty people is infected. That is so scary, stay safe out there.