We genuinely don't know how long this lock-down might last and I know so many small businesses are struggling, even with government help and some don't even qualify for that. I for one would like my favourite local businesses to still be there in a few months time when we will hopefully be able to visit them normally again so we're trying to do our bit to support them when we can.
Last week I took the twins for a walk down to Oast Farm in Buxted. We needed eggs and flour to make birthday brownies for Nik, neither of which were in stock at Tesco the night before.
I only go to the supermarket to try to get everything we need in one go, in the evening when Nik's home as I don't want to take the kids there. At Oast Farm, I was able to leave the kids outside picking dandelions in the sunshine away from the queue of people and they didn't have to come in the shop. Even though they can't do pick your own this year, they have plenty of fresh fruit & veg in the shop and you can still see some of the beautiful blossom on the driveway up past the fishing pond to the car park too :)
Yesterday we ordered takeaway from another favourite, The Hurstwood. They're offering some of their most popular dishes (and a few specials) for safe collection every day except Monday and Wednesday.
Nik chose the fish & chips which always goes down well and I was desperate to try the pork belly with kimchi ever since I saw it on the menu in February (we couldn't get a babysitter then for Valentine's Day). I decided to have it as a starter in case it was super spicy like the kimchi I had in South Korea back in 2013 but it wasn't too much and had a nice kick, I would actually get that as a main next time I think, so yummy!
This time I chose the goat tagine which was a bit risky for me as I don't always like fruit in savoury dishes but I was keen to try it and loved the previous Greek style goat dish they had on the menu last year. Turns out I'm just not a fan of tagine, I know it's been very popular as Lenka mentioned it's been flying out but I now know tagine is just not for me. If you do like tagine then you'd love it, it had loads of fruit and a good spicy kick with a deep rich cinnamon flavour served with the fresh tasting mint & pomegranate cous cous which I loved.
There are a few other places who are able to offer safe collection for takeaway too, a couple of weeks ago we had some delicious pizzas from Forno Antico and I was able to get one of my favourites, a kebab from Uckfield Fish & Grill recently too. As Nik and I are still working (luckily he's employed by the NHS in the hospital so clearly still busy but getting paid, I'm self-employed as an NHS dentist but as I'm triaging and prescribing in the practice, also still being paid by the NHS, phew!) we're trying to support as many local businesses as we can and also enjoying not having to cook on the days we're just exhausted from work and "home schooling" the twins.
Of course my work in photography is on hold but I'm glad I'm able to send the above photos for these places to use if they wish to help with their branding at this time too.