Why hunting for flour and flowers is like an Xbox game – Helen Martin

Helen Martin is becoming adept at making deals for yeast and tracking down other sought-after goods.

Flour to bake bread is at a premium in the supermarkets

SUPERMARKET shopping has become a Covid adventure. For years I’ve made bread, usually with a bread-maker machine or traditional Irish wholemeal soda bread. For years I’ve also had a modest, but reasonable, supply of toilet rolls. You’re right – they don’t have a lot in common.

When it came to coronavirus the lack of a single bum roll on yards of empty supermarket shelves was a mystery to me. I regularly bought a little pack of four – and never ran out.

But strong bread flour, self-raising, yeast and wholemeal flour all became the equivalent of a treasure hunt. Although there was plenty of mass-produced bread, a supermarket guy told me everyone was learning to bake and their flour delivery only lasted for about ten minutes.

After searching six supermarkets in vain, there was a deal. A neighbour gave me yeast in return for a bag of compost. There were discoveries – the Chinese supermarket had self-raising flour and Polish shops often had what supermarkets were missing.

Our local supermarket usually has a queue of about 25 people when I drive past, two others nearby have a maximum of four. That’s a puzzle.

Finding summer basket and pot plants was impossible. Himself grabbed 12 just stocked in a local shop, meanwhile I ordered about two dozen online. Our little garden’s now heading for a miniature Chelsea flower show.

For folk still working, this is a nightmare. For bored retirees like me it’s about as exciting and challenging as an Xbox game.