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Monday 13 February 2017

Then versus Now

Shopping is what I am on about. In my childhood a list was made, dropped off at the village shop and the next day a box was delivered. We did sometimes go to the shop, sugar being sliced off a massive loaf was a sight to see. Most things were sold loose and weighed into blue or white paper bags, the smaller ones were cone shaped.
Bread flour came straight from the mill in large sacks and was stored in a huge drum shaped tin, soft flour for baking came in smaller sacks.
Butter was churned by hand on baking day and the butter milk made light as air scones and cakes.

Yesterday I did my shopping, I bought very little but went to 3 different shops to get everything. I knew that this would happen and had planned accordingly. 
In one shop I stocked up on crackers and tissues, the prices are better than any other shop and I bought a months worth.
In the next it was dairy and eggs for price and fruit for quality. I buy my flour here as it is very good and very well priced.
Then onto the last and biggest for the rest, Tesco in Pontardawe is small but fairly well stocked. I have been into a few of their super duper stores, the ones where you really need a compass and Bear Grylls to guide you round, and still can not get everything that I need at the price and quality that I am looking for.
My grandmother had by far the best deal, probably because there just wasn't the choice. I remember seeing tins of fruit, just one brand taking up a single shelf in the village shop, in modern supermarkets the choice is huge, whole,halved, sliced or diced. Juice, light syrup, full syrup and so on.
By far the greater time waster for me is finding what I am looking for. I know that it is a marketing strategy to constantly move things about, I do not buy what I see only what is on my list. 
Sometimes I just go without because I lose patience, why is cornflour not next to the other flours, and why does coconut oil live far away from the other oils.
I have tried shopping online but prefer to chose my own fruit and veg.
 I know that I am not alone, every time that I shop I hear grumbles and mumbles and have seen more than a few trolleys abandoned.

Any how it is done now and for a few weeks I will only need perishables.

Now that my moaning is over I will get on with the sewing room overhaul. Everything has been pulled out, the vacuum has reached parts that have been hidden for months and things have been rearranged. I now have more floor space and have removed a good stack of things no longer needed.

I still have a small hill of stuff to go through and put back before I can settle down with my knitting. There is also the matter of 2 quilt tops to be layered and pinned, they may have to wait until tomorrow though.

I am itching to pull a few stems of rhubarb but will wait a while, I don't want to shock the plants into stopping growth.

                      TTFN                                                Pam

5 comments:

  1. I remember the old days too Pam. When I was a child in Yorkshire our weekly box came on a Wednesday from the corner shop, with the blue bags holding sugar and dried fruit and the uncut bread wrapped in tissue paper. When we were first married and living in Northampton we shopped at a small 'supermarket' called Bishops which later became Budgens. On the market square in Northampton there was a small Tesco store where I sometimes bought things in my lunch hour. Other than that there was a largish Co-op store in the centre of Northampton. Nothing else I can remember. How times have changed.

    Joan (Wales)

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  2. I agree about the grocery shopping. I have started doing some shopping online, particularly heavy stuff that can be delivered to our door and we don't have to carry up the stairs.

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  3. Pam....I just long for shops to be how they used to be. I lived in a medium sized village and grocery shopping was done at Parricks which was an absolute wonderland smelling of bacon and parafin or the Co-op. We had two butchers and various other small shops run by people who actually lived in the community.
    Supermarkets might be modern and bright but I can't imagne anyone waxing lyrical about them when they get to our age can you? -x-

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  4. You brought back many lovely memories of shopping years ago. As a child I used to love going and choosing sweets that were stored in big glass jars and sold by the ounce.

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  5. I agree with it al, everything you said.
    It is the same way here in the markets.
    I have a choice of two, unless I count the variety stores with shelves of convenience foods. I think it is all just a psh to get your money, any way they can think of to do it.
    How nice it is if you can just go in, avoid their hype and get what you need and go on home. Blessings!

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