It’s another cold and wet day today. The following snippet of the weather forecast will give you an idea of it.

Met Office forecast

It took an effort to make up our minds to go out and do the weekly shopping. By the time we did, it was near enough noon when we could feel justified in going for lunch first.

Baron Street

We made our way along Baron Street, narrowly managing to avoid being swamped when a bus ran through a large puddle, spraying the pavement.

Cafe Sizzle

We went to Cafe Sizzle which we found moderately crowded. At the door were what have become standard equipment for restaurants and cafes: a bottle of hand gel with a notice instructing customers to gel their hands and a printed form and pen with a notice asking customers to leave their name and contact details. For the more technically up-to-date, each table has a QR code which you can use with your mobile to access a website and leave your details there instead.

Farmers’ Market in Chapel Market

Outside Sizzle and along this end of the street was the Farmer’s Market. This takes place only on Sundays, and not every Sunday at that. Whether the stalls are really run by people who can plausibly be called “farmers” I do not know though I am somewhat dubious.

Chapel Market

The stalls of the ordinary Chapel Market were all grouped at the other end of the street, leaving a long space between it and the farmers, like a no-man’s land between opposing armies. This was mainly because there were relatively few stalls operating, far fewer than on a good Sunday when the market can be very busy. I suspect the weather put many stallholders off from attending.

Because it was later than when we usually go to Sainsbury’s, we found it busy. The usual notices requested us to maintain two metres separation from one another but when the shop is as crowded as it was, such an injunction is impossible to obey.

The shopping done, we headed home. That will be it for today. We have no urge to confront the weather and will spend the rest of the day at home.