The First Sunday Musings For October

~ beetleypete

Back to normal at long last. Shopping on the usual day, things to watch on TV in the evenings, and Ollie’s routine firmly established again.

—————————————————————————————

Royal news was still around, but the channels kept it sensibly short. The public can now view the big engraved slab covering the Queen’s tomb, and new coins showing an image of King Charles will be released soon. Other than that, we got a break from Royalist intensity.

—————————————————————————————-

I managed to get my Covid-19 booster two months early, thanks to numerous no-shows at the vaccination centre. I received a phone call in the afternoon inviting me to attend, and less than 30 minutes later I was fully vacccinated.

—————————————————————————————-

The weather has been up and down. Very cold at the start of last week, then some bouts of heavy rain and near gale-force winds by Friday. Then on Saturday we had a sunny and warm day, seeing temperatures much higher than expected at 19C. (66F)

—————————————————————————————-

The cost of living increases (which are still being blamed on the war in Ukraine despite the huge profits of most major companies) are now more noticeable at the supermarket. Last Monday’s big-shop had increased by almost £14 on the previous week, buying much the same range of items. I can only expect it to get worse in the coming winter, when they can blame weather conditions in addition to the war.

—————————————————————————————–

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope you have a peaceful Sunday.

——————————————————————————————

55 thoughts on “The First Sunday Musings For October”

    1. Thanks, Olga. I went to the supermarket yesterday, and the bill for the weekly shop had gone up by £10 on last week. I cannot see the end of these price increases, and do not believe the reasons given for them.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  7. I’m still doing my shopping online (Tesco) with delivery since the car was at the garage, we quite like not having to go to the supermarket and so far there have not been any disasters. Like you we buy very much the same each week and I throw in a few staples for the cupboard or freezer, but stop at £100. My daughter shops in Lidl as she says it is much cheaper.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I have never had groceries delivered. Going to the shops in Dereham is one of the few times I get out of Beetley. I quite like going shopping! 🙂 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete. x

      Like

      Reply

      1. I used to, but covid changed all that and now with diesel the price it is it’s cheaper to pay for delivery. We still go out to the library and gardens, just not shopping 🛒 🛒🛒

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  9. (1) Luke Perry and Ashley Judd hope that “normal life” for you doesn’t involve robbing banks.
    (2) Coin: “CHARLES III • D • G • REX • F • D”
    Translation: “King Charles III, by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith ”
    The need to put Latin on a modern coin makes one pence-ive.
    (3) Did you hear about the American who walked into a British clinic by mistake and got a booster shot? He was called a vaccidental tourist.
    (4) Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” knows all about Gale-force winds.
    (5) Don’t blame the cost of living on Ukraine. Blame it on Rio.
    (6) David: “Let’s go hiking tomorrow. If you don’t know what that entails, I’ll be happy to walk you through it.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. When we discovered that tomatoes were selling for $1 apiece I started looking at other prices. I remember back in the ’70’s being horrified when car repairs were in the hundreds. Now everything is in thousands. I never understood economics but one thing I do know and that is that the rich get richer!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. I saw a meme recently that said “my gas bill looks like my grocery bill, my grocery bill looks like my Costco (a big box store) bill, and my Costco bill looks like my mortgage payment”. That about sum it up. It is been rather oil here, too. Autumn seems to be here.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. We have yet to see the forthcoming huge increases in mortgage payments after recent irresponsible government action created interest rate rises. Luckily, Julie and I are mortgage free, but it’s not looking good for young families here.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. Oh, it’s the same with us in Germany with the prices. Who knows where this all ends? That really scares me a bit.
    The weather was similar to yours this week.
    Hopefully we’ll get a few more nice mild and sunny autumn days.
    Have a nice sunday.
    We still have tomorrow off: Day of German Unity.
    Best wishes, Irene

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. Here it is about an increase of about $20 per visit….Ollie should e happy…..weather is cool here as well which is a break from the norm…..but warmer weather is on the horizon just enjoying cool temps for now. Have a great Sunday my friend chuq

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. When I visit my daughter 90 minutes away, I stop at Costco. It sells bulk supplies which helps the cause for paper products. It’s the most economical way to stock my pantry. Otherwise, I try to make everything by scratch. Lots of soups and sauces I can freeze and use during the work week.
    Stay warm and smile! xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. She is probably more like Maggie Thatcher, if you remember her years as Prime Minister, Beth. She thinks everyone should be able to get a job, and that rich people deserve to enjoy their untold millions and make even more.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. She really doesn’t understand the working class. How can a single parent up their hours when they have children to look after? Child care is so expensive. I was a single parent in Maggie Thatcher’s reign and she did no favours for women and in fact thought single parents were the scum of the earth. I loathe Truss.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  19. A trip to the grocery store here hasn’t been for much less than $200 lately and filling my VW Golf Sportwagen takes $40. I used to think $20 was a lot for the same amount of fuel. Glad I don’t drive one of those huge American pickups with two tanks for gasoline that can take $200 to fill up!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Doug, I have a diesel MPV that is 15 years old. To fill it up completely now costs me almost £100, which is currently $112. That is around the same as our grocery bill last week, for two of us, and a dog.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  21. I find our weekly shop at Morrisons has increased by about £20, although strangely last Friday’s bill came to only £10 more. We’ll be shopping on the IOW on Saturday, and so we’ll see how Tesco’s prices compare.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I still use the huge Tesco for being able to buy everything in one place. But if Julie does the shopping (rarely, only when I am ill) she visits Aldi and Morrison too, looking for bargains.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Morrisons have been good to NHS workers, giving them 10% off during Lockdown. Sam only does the shopping if I am ill, as he’ll take over 4 hours to meticulously tick everything off on my list or find an alternative, which isn’t always suitable. I prefer to zip around Morrisons on my own early on Friday mornings – nice and quiet.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  22. Thoughts with you guys Pete as we still get all the UK news same time as you. Apart from the royals , EPL, Ukraine, we see the queues & the sadness.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Gavin. It seems that Truss has decided to make her friends and supporters even richer, and to hell with the rest of us. She may live to regret that choice.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

    1. We have both a Lidl and Aldi in Dereham, (also Morrisons and Co-Op) but I usually use the huge Tesco for convenience. I am somewhat ‘Brand loyal’ too. I still think that Kellog’s Corn Flakes are never matched by the own brands in the cheap shops, or Yorkshire Tea. 🙂
      I may have to rethink my shopping habits soon though. I like Asda, but the nearest one is almost 20 miles away, in Norwich.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I still go to Asda for brand things when the alternatives are not as good. But basics like butter,cheese, bread fruit and veg and store cupboard things are much lower priced and just as good quality wise. Made a big diffeence for me anyhow. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

All comments welcome

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.