Since I posted yesterday from our niche in Tier 4, we – all of England, at least – have been confined once more in lockdown.

It can hardly have come as a surprise. For many days, the media have been predicting that lockdown was imminent. Anyone who has daily checked the continually accelerating increase in numbers of infections, hospitalisations and deaths must have realised that it was only a question of “how soon?” In some ways, it’s a relief now that it’s settled.

Let’s hope that people will now obey the rules so that we can stabilise the situation and give the vaccination campaign a chance to make its all important difference.

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Today is again a typical British winter day: cold, yes of course, and also spitting with rain.

Cold and spitting with rain
Photo by Tigger

Despite the less than pleasant conditions (“feels like 1°C”, said the Met Office), we went out. We had a task to perform. Yesterday, I mentioned that we had called in at the dry cleaner’s in Amwell Street and that I would explain the reason on the morrow, that is, today.

You may recall that, rather than do our laundry ourselves in a crowded launderette with the obvious risk that this implies, we have been having it done as a service wash by a local launderette. This seemed an ideal, if lazy, way to do the job. However, it wasn’t long before a problem arose.

After one wash, we discovered that several items had not been returned. We contacted the launderette’s manager who apologised and compensated us for the missing pieces. We were happy to consider the matter closed but it happened again: several items were missing from the next wash and at least one from the wash after that.

On these later occasions, however, the management was less forthcoming about the matter, expressing doubt that different loads could be confused – something we proved was possible by producing a sock that was not ours but had been included in our last load.

Having reached this point, we felt we could no longer use that launderette.

The dry cleaner’s in Amwell Street

The dry cleaner’s in Amwell Street has a notice in the window advertising laundry service washes. Yesterday, we popped in to discuss the matter and so today took a load of laundry to them. We will collect it on Thursday. Let’s hope all goes well this time.

Coffee in view!

Myddelton’s deli is just a few paces down on the other side of the street. Coffee in hand, we made our way home.

Perhaps the weather will kinder tomorrow and we can enjoy a “proper” walk.