We are back in Cardiff and the Met Office predictions have finally kicked in - the weather is blazing. We had the official move yesterday - I felt sorry for the moving guys as they must have been cooking. Today has been the usual slow and steady moving and emptying of boxes, and gradually plugging in things - the Ipod dock, the dishwasher and the washing machine. This afternoon the computer was turned on and we had Sky and phones yesterday. So normal service is pretty near resumed.

As it has been so hot today, we took the dogs out early over to Tredegar House. It was Murgatroyd's first visit and she thoroughly enjoyed it, especially as the grounds were swarming with rabbits. The dogs couldn't believe their eyes - even better than squirrels!

In preparation for the move, we had run down our food stocks to the minimum and of course emptied fridge and freezer. So this afternoon we went over to Tesco for a stock-up. I bought a couple of pretty tops while I was there - a nice stripy green T shirt and a floaty, wafty top to wear over trousers, perfect for an evening out.

I also want to say that I am not going to take having access to supermarkets for granted in future. They get so much stick and I have to now say that after seven months of living in an area without a superstore I am heartily grateful for Terry Leahy and his empire. While in Powys, we had a small high street with excellent butchers ( a real bright spot, and one I will miss) but for other stuff, forget it. The fishmonger visited once a week, on a Friday morning. If you were ill, busy or just wanted fish on another day, forget it. Even with his excellent produce, the choice was necessarily limited. Other grocery shopping was provided by a Spar and a Co-operative in the town, both very small, expensive and with limited stock. In Llandrindod Wells there is a Somerfield (even more expensive) and an Aldi. Now, Aldi are fabulous at what they do - no question about it. But part of their model is that they carry a very basic range of groceries - for example, they don't carry packet yeast or strong flour of any sort for breadmaking.

What I found is that instead of being able to do one weekly shop, and be done with it, I had constantly be having to break it down into its constituent parts and wonder what (if any) shop would carry it. We sorted out pet food by using the excellent home delivery service from Pets at Home, but much of the other stuff was spread across several different outlets and with variable guarantees as to availability. Things like fresh herbs (especially things like coriander or lemongrass)simply have not been available. Menu planning was essential - forget spontaneity - and I always had the nagging feeling of never having quite completed the weekly shop. I could go to Aldi and get some basics, but would then have to remember to go to the Co-op for free range chicken, call in the butcher for some meat and brave somewhere else for things like mirin or good coffee or poppadoms. The worst was the variable quality of fresh fruit and veg. There was a small and tired selection in the Co-op, and a fruit/veg stall visited Builth on Mondays and Fridays. This sold basics - great if you wanted parsnips in industrial quantities, but we had several warnings about the quality and these were justified. Too often, we would get stuff home and find that fruit was bruised and rotten. There was a similar stall at Llandrindod on Fridays with a better selection - but again, you had to make sure you caught it on that day, and as for things like big bunches of herbs, ranges of mushrooms, even chillies and garlic were hard to come by.

Anyway, off to Tesco we went this afternoon, and it was a cornuocopia of inviting fruit and veg. Plenty of organic choices, masses of berries, lots of pineapples, melons, masses of different tomatoes, fantastic. Most excitingly, big bunches of herbs. Andrew and I practically leapt in excitement at seeing an enormous bunch of parsley - what a sight. Got home and had pasta with chillies, parsley and scallops - groovy. Our wine stocks are rebuilding, and a bottle of Pimms is chilling in the fridge.

There is a great deal of food snobbery about supermarkets - I am constantly reading about how we should all be shopping at farmers markets and little local shops. Well, the reality is that is this is a completely impossible dream. Even the most chichi of houses still needs to clean their loo, wash their clothes, their dishes, their hair and their windows. And if you are a foodie you want good quality things like tea, coffee, marmalade, mirin, flour, and so on. Little local shops in general simply cannot compete with supermarkets on price or range - so how about quality and service? Well, the butchers in Builth are a fantastic example of how this works positively in practice - both shops have expert staff, who are friendly, polite, remember preferences and carry superb local meat, game and produce - they literally had people queuing out the door and long may they continue to do so. But man does not live by steak alone (unfortunately). My favourite example of how not to do service is the Post Office - on Monday we were packing, and Andrew sent me to get some more parcel tape for the boxes. Now, I think it is reasonable that my first port of call was the PO for this - after all, where else do you go with a parcel? Yes, you've guessed it, no parcel tape. They sent me up the road to the excellent local newsagents, Conti's, where they had copious quantitities, served with a smile. Aaargh. Anyway, rant over. I do really hope that Tesco take over parts of the PO - it would be great if you could post or pick up parcels at supermarkets. At least they would be open reasonable hours, for a start. So, I'll finish here, before I start ranting on anything else.