Covid lockdown: Restaurants and pubs are back! So where are all the customers? – Hayley Matthews

With most places opening up this week, I decided to call one of our locals and take the kids out for dinner.

I have to be honest, I thought that I'd have to go on a big waiting list as this place is normally very popular. However, I think everyone's forgotten about it. We got a table no problem on Monday and when we turned up it was fairly quiet inside.

What's going on? Isn't everyone desperate to get out and have fish and chips in your local, or is it just me that's champing?

Outside was fairly busy with a few groups of people having a beer in the rain. Mr Hayley said to me how ironic! We've had sunshine for weeks now and on the day the pubs open up in Scotland the temperature drops to single digits and the skies open up!

But nonetheless, I was still excited to go because after months of doing the dishes every night (well, I say doing the dishes but I actually mean loading the dishwasher and scraping beans off the floor), I thought it would be less stressful for us all to go for a pub tea.

However, with a two-year-old who won't sit still and a fidgety nine-year-old, things were a bit challenging with the restrictions inside.

Lots of fall-outs, tears, in and out to the outside eating area – I realised it wasn't going to be a relaxing dinner for everyone.

So to say I was delighted when a friend told me she'd booked us the Ivy for brunch at the end of the week... I was jumping for joy!

Doesn't everyone want to go out for a meal now that it's allowed, wonders Hayley Matthews (Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

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