In a world full of slogans like “Softness is our Strength” and “Soft Strong and Very Long” Lidl don’t bother with a slogan for their bottom of the range (pardon the pun) loo-roll.  If they did and they wanted to feture softness in it to match the big players  it would have to be something along the lines of “Well it’s cheap, what did you expect, softness?”.

It is undeniably cheap.  It is cheaper than the big supermarket’s “value” ranges.  However you very much get what you pay for.  It is rough (a step up from the greaseproof-paper-esque stuff you used to get in public loos and a similar standard to value loo-roll) and not very strong, often requiring more sheets than more expensive loo roll.

So, if you want to save a lot of money on loo roll, especially if you have lots of bottoms in the house, then this is the way to go (yes I know, another one).  Your bottom will not thank you, but your wallet will.  I leave you to choose, but if you visit our house you may want to bring your own toilet paper.

I planned to make some elderflower champagne so my main need (aside from the elderflowers) was for a receptacle large enough for about 10 litres of water.   A bucket was needed and where else would I go to buy a cheap large bucket but B&Q?

I had been advised that their trademark orange buckets were only £1 so I went in search of one.

I couldn’t find any so asked a “helpful” member of staff who told me there were a load by the front door.  I hadn’t noticed them but traipsed back to see if I had missed the garish orangeness.   There were none there so I approached a second staff member who also directed me to the door and then told me that perhaps they were sold out or maybe I could find one in the builders yard.  Surely B&Q couldn’t be out of buckets!   I had already looked in the builders yard but went again, still couldn’t find any and approached a 3rd staff member who was able to give me an exact location “at the back and round the corner, if we’ve got any left.” What could have been going on on the Isle of Wight causing the buckets to have been flying off the shelves I wondered.  Eventually around the corner I found 3 very dusty black builders buckets.

I bought one for the princely sum of £1 and took it home to fill with elderflowers and boiling water (after giving it a very very thorough clean).

So the price was great but the stock levels and staff knowledge left a little to be desired.  Oh, and it is a massive failure on the orangeness front.