What are you all up to
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A wet day here today and looks like a few warmer days then it go a lot cooler and so far looks dry and cold for xmas day much better than wet and cold.
Had to 1 of our friends yesterday and she said that some of folk in her village not happy as 1 couple have come down from Belgium for the festive period and as Belgium have high rates of Corvid at present and they have been told not to travel far, where have we heard that before.
Take care and stay safe folks.
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I don't think we have been in the Aldi in Mold, but we did use the Lidl store a few times on the way to visit our friends. Good that the residents of these smaller towns are now getting more choice in the retail sector. Must ask our friends if they have tried the new Aldi, they are rather conservative in their shopping habits, so quite possible that they have not been to it.
We heard from relatives in Norway that Norway is the only country in Europe where Lidl have failed to be successful. When asked why, it seems that Norwegians thought that Lidl was "too cheap" and "too German", and they did not like that they could not do their whole weekly shop there, but had to go elsewhere for certain "branded items".
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TG wrote: "Then she tells me her SIL and family have been up in Aviemore a tier one area, they came from Glasgow tier three they were staying in a timeshare resort for a week. As I understand it they should not have left Glasgow and the resort should not have allowed them to stay.
Why won't folk do as they are asked, by law they are not allowed to travel yet they still do."
That's why we are going to have a body count north of 70,000 by Christmas Day.
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We heard from relatives in Norway that Norway is the only country in Europe where Lidl have failed to be successful. When asked why, it seems that Norwegians thought that Lidl was "too cheap" and "too German", and they did not like that they could not do their whole weekly shop there, but had to go elsewhere for certain "branded items".
I am with the Norwegians on that
Even when I am in Germany I would always look for an Edaka or REWE through choice rather than Aldi or Lidl. I have only ever been in one supermarket in Norway so I don't really have the experience to judge what is available.David
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Interesting> as we have in fact two Norwegion households in this area one in next road (Rosa likes them as they had a collie and if either see her she gets a treat
) and as they say Lidl and Aldi seems in this country is the shop of choice ,as is their relatives in Norway now since coming to stay on visits over here,as they save so much 
,They admit , at first they thought less expensive and not so posh looking stores would mean lower quality
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Many years ago when Aldi and Lidl were unknown in the the uk our german friend used to send us Christmas food parcels from them, they were prized for their smoked meats etc and chocolates and we thought they were wonderful. We visited his local shop and it was very basic but very popular, full of smoked pork and ham! When the first shops opened here they still had the "continental" feel and I think a lot of people who'd come over here from the EU must have been glad to find treats from home. Now they've become very anglicised and although they're very good value I don't get the same enjoyment of seeing interesting food as I used to previously. I presume they now change their produce according to each country.
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Must admit we didn't use the Aldi store very much when it first opened even though we were used to shopping in it in Germany and Spain. I find that the quality of basic products has improved quite a bit but we still couldn't do a full shop. We still have too many items that we can't find in it. Favourite crackers, Gluten Free bread on a consistent basis, favoured Soya Milk etc. We are quite lucky here in that within a 3 mile radius we can access 9 supermarkets or their small equivalent plus a couple like B&M that sell the odd bit of packeted food such as Rice that we'll buy from there. However in this Virus environment we are paying more than normal to just use 2, namely Tesco and Aldi. We used to pop into Lidl when passing for 3 or 4 items but won't at the moment as Mold's Aldi shoppers are using it as well as Lidl's and the place is too crowded for us.
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A fine morning here so we went for a good stroll. You can tell it's a proper lockdown as the traffic was very light.
Relieved to find the library allowed me access to collect my ordered books. No browsing, just pick them up and out.
Poor old MiL. Has her New Years Eve hairdressing appointment cancelled but creeps in on Christmas Eve instead and now loses that one as well. We've wrapped a hair band up in Christmas Paper for her. Sure she'll appreciate the gesture. We might get a gesture back.
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At home we shop a lot in Lidl and now also Aldi since we got a local one last year, but also we shop in M&S, Waitrose, Tesco , Asda and Morrisons as they are all local to us and OH likes to vary her shopping routine now and again.
Could not afford to shop only in Waitrose or M&S, despite the shops being very nice and the food very good, but we are selective in what we buy from Lidl and Aldi, though we are trying more and more of their "own brands".
The selection on the shelves is now much less "German" than it was several years back, and they also stock a lot of branded goods these days, so you could shop there exclusively now.
When we go abroad, we know what products to look for in Lidl and Aldi, which is useful, but we do try some other shops too.
Supermarkets in Norway are very variable, they do have a couple of chains that are generally less expensive. We have found that often the quality and freshness of the fruit and veg is not what we are used to, especially further north, and the choice can be quite limited.
As JVB said, the perception was that cheaper food could not possibly be any good, and many people just were not willing to give it a go. They also used to have the same attitude with other consumer goods, but the proliferation of Swedish and Danish electrical, home furnishing and DIY stores has changed that in the last 10 years.
The strange thing is that when they travel abroad, Norwegians are only too happy to patronise Lidl, who have hundreds of stores in Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
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WN. Oh, yes I expect you will....
Well, we're on our own now, daughter and partner will be celebrating his 50th birthday in a remote part of Dartmoor, they retrieved a frozen chicken from our freezer and we waved them off! That's the third 50th birthday in our family this year spent alone!
Our friends who set off for S America yesterday are now back at home, a round trip to Heathrow was as far as they got.
Everyone has their own take on this it seems.
Anyway I've cleaned up the house, the food delivery comes tomorrow for ourselves and the neighbours. That's the biggest amount I've ever spent for Christmas fayre....I like Waitrose but they are very expensive compared to others though a life saver this year.
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I've clocked off work - no more farm admin before Christmas. I say that, but I know something will crop up.
I've just iced my Christmas cake. A word of advice - don't wear a black dress if you forget to put an apron on. It's now an misty shade of grey. So, it's time to wash up and then find an old harmless film to watch.
And, I've been calculating the thawing time for the turkey. It will go in the Aga bottom oven on Thursday night, so I think I should lift it out tonight and transfer to the pantry. It's getting closer!
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I think you are correct that the stock is a little different in each country, up here they make a big thing of the fact they buy in a lot of Scottish produce.
We are envious of the cheese shelves in Lidl when we go to Germany, Austria and France......much bigger selection than here!
You do still get the interesting continental meats, but mainly at Christmas or in their special weeks when they feature produce from a particular country.
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Frosty start to the day beautiful sunshine and blue skies.
Roofer arrived 2 minutes early, he said 8.30. He's already got a tick in the good box
they have been at it non stop, chimney now all taken down. Much bigger job than they thought, these houses were built to lastNew wood being cut as I type, all insulated then membrane and slates to go on,should all be done and watertight by end of day
I went shopping this morning, shops busy but no queuing so all good. Shouldn't need to go again until after Christmas.
Spent 2 hours in the front garden, to nice weather to waste. All looking good and tidy now. Back garden is still frozen so no chance of doing anything there.
We use both Lidl and Aldi, wish they were still selling all the german food they started out with. Its getting harder to find bratwurst, frikkies and I haven't seen any senf in either of them for years. Really need a trip to Germany for a restock.
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DD was out shopping this morning, not too bad in Aldi, but huge queue at both their nearby M&S shops.
We were treating everyone to their choice of M&S sandwiches for lunch, OH was getting them plus anything DD failed to find. Shelves were bare of lettuce in Aldi, but OH found plenty at our small Lidl, and no queue at the very small Simply Food near our house, so all organised now, just the Christmas order to pick up at Morrisons tomorrow.
Today DD had plasterers in to fit the custom made plaster cornice in the new bedroom, will now need a week to dry out before it can be painted. Looks very good with the high ceiling.
Hopefully I will get the oak laminate floor done in the next 2 days, off now to plan where to start and how the cuts will need to be done.
SIL has gone to his parents to erect their gazebo for them, DD is off fetching a budgie from the vet, and OH is entertaining Callum. We still have some presents to wrap, so that will keep us busy this evening.
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I haven't seen any senf
TG, I adore German mustard. We bring at least 4 tubes home with us, usually have one with Tarragon in it as well. We have a friend in the village whose family came from Germany. The friend is Welsh but she used to visit her Uncle in Halle once a year with her sister. Neither of those two speak word of German and the Uncle didn't speak any English but she says they had a great time every year.
We used to bring her 4 tubes of Senf as well and she would reciprocate.Must admit though I can live without the Currywürst.
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Christmas food shopping all done, admittedly by Mrs M since we're following our local Sainsburys advice not to shop as a couple!
We had the incentive of 3000 nectar points (£15 worth) if the shopping was done yesterday or today, theoretically to try to help cut down on crowding tomorrow and Thursday, and then at the checkout she was given a 10x nectar points voucher which I popped in and redeemed this morning to gain an extra £10 worth of points. So the gin offer is looking very tempting - we'll walk that way with the dogs tonight and I'll pop in to buy a bottle - it would be rude not to really, wouldn't it?
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I'm not a lover of bockwurst and some of the other wurst's but I do like bratwurst, especially if its Thuringer.
The way I like currywurst is a bbq bratwurst with curry ketchup on top then sprinkled with curry powder yum yum, schmeckt gut mit bratkartoffeln .
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When we have been abroad we have often had no choice but to use Aldi and Lidl which is fine and you do sometimes find some interesting things. We do occasionally visit them in the UK, but not often. Mind you I do like their bread rolls which are a touch Continental but as good as they are not really worth a detour. However for weekly shopping in the UK we couldn't be bothered to shop from multiple shops, we like to do all our shopping in one place. I also like a supermarket with a fresh fish and meat counter although these seem to becoming rarer by the day. Apparently Waitrose have no plans to close their service counters. If we do use alternative supermarkets it's usually Morrisons and Tesco as we prefer a full range supermarket.
I noticed in the Guardian today that both Aldi and Lidl were running advertisements with ridiculously low prices on vegetables, 14p for a half kilo bag of sprouts!!! Perhaps the change of Christmas plans by many has resulted in an oversupply of seasonal veg?
David
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Just seen this on the BBC News website, so some better news.
An agreement has been reached with the French government over the UK border, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said, after it was closed amid concern over the new coronavirus variant.
French authorities said some journeys would resume on Wednesday.
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We were out for an hour around 7.30 this evening and our local town supermarkets were heaving.
In Dover, I'm wondering how "they" are going to look after lorry drivers who test positive for Covid, can't imagine what it will be like for some over the next few days, the same for all the drivers queuing France. I hope this all sorts out, what a mess.
Oh well I think we've got enough sprouts growing in the garden to last till the New Year, OH said we might need them!
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No doubt these low prices are "loss leaders", but they have had them every year recently. Also, every week they have 5 or 6 kinds of vegetables and fruit at very low prices. Tesco are doing it too now. And even M&S have similar deals, though at rather higher prices.
As JVB has commented, the problem of having to visit more than one shop has been quite neatly solved in many places by having contrasting food stores next to each other. We have Aldi and Waitrose in one retail park, near DD it is Aldi and M&S that are together.
We thought it a bit funny at first, but it is a clever move. These shops are not really in competition with each other, and all levels of spending are catered for. Plus, having saved on the basics at Aldi, we often then go on to treat ourselves at M&S or Waitrose.
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I'm sure the shops concerned are in competition KjellNN. I looked it up, there's a £40 difference between like for like shopping! Unfortunately I'm not taking part in visiting lots of shops at present. Too risky.
We were up with the proverbial Lark to see our Waitrose order in for ourselves and our neighbours. OH staggered round with their bags, so we're all well stocked now. Actually I should substitute the Robin for a Lark as the singing was very loud this morning! 🌥
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Not in competition in the same way as Tesco, and Morrisons and Asda are with each other, is what I meant.
I think shoppers can be roughly divided into those who will do all their shopping at Lidl/Aldi, those who would not seen dead in them, and those who buy what they like, and know what they like, from the various shops.
As you said, the price difference between say Aldi and Waitrose is so big that you could say "no competition", whereas between the other major supermarkets there is often little difference so they need to compete with each other if they are in the same area.
And of course Aldi and Lidl are competing with each other.
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We used to use Lidl over Aldi when they were both near each other in the town but now we have an Aldi and M&S on the way into town we tend to use that Aldi as its bigger and more orderly.
Always used Asda as well until recently, they don't seem to carry the stock they used to, so many things missing, so we have gone back to using Tesco for the things we can't get in Aldi. No Sainsbury or Waitrose in Perth but I probably wouldn't use them anyway. Have looked in M&S but again far to pricey for me. Morrisons are good but ours is not a big store, when we can go to Dundee (can't just now) they have a huge Morrisons so sometimes pop in there. We have no B&M either just now as it burnt down at the end of 2019. Due to covid its not yet been rebuilt.
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