A review of the last six weeks…

Now that 9YO has provided her summary of our Lent challenge, I really ought to provide my own.  So here goes: First of all, the money.  Did we spend more or less by avoiding supermarkets?  I'm not very good at keeping track of my finances at the best of times, but thankfully Husband is a …

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An overall summary by a guest blogger

When Mum decided she was going to give up supermarket shopping, I thought she was only joking. And when she actually did give it up, I thought she was going mad and needed to see a doctor. But now I guess it is much easier than I thought it was going to be as specially …

Yum

Finally got round to trying the local farmers market (http://headingleyfarmersmarket.com/) today, and this is what we bought: 2 loaves of fresh bread, some very strong cheese, apples, carrots, parsnips, onions, strawberries, mushrooms, apple juice and - best of all - EASTER CHOCOLATES!!  Tempting as all the £1 Easter Egg offers in the supermarkets may be, …

A town like Reepham

One of my favourite books when I was younger was Nevil Shute's "A Town Like Alice".  Almost none of the story is set in the eponymous Alice Springs in Australia, but to the central characters it represents the ideal small but prosperous town with good amenities and a strong community spirit.  Growing up in a sprawling suburb on the …

A Mother’s Day Cuppa

I'm not a fan of Mother's Day.  Too commercial, too contrived.  I always wished my Mum happy Mother's Day and would usually try and remember to put a card in the post, but I think some years it probably arrived on the Monday.  And even when my own kids came along, I have to say …

Mid-term blues

I've not blogged for a while.  Everything upside down here as we're getting various jobs done on the house.  Having reached the conclusion that we're not going to be moving any time soon, we decided it was worth making the kind of improvements which won't add any value to the place but will make living …

A brave new world of shopping

Until the start of Lent, our shopping routine was utterly predictable.  I went to the supermarket once a week and bought pretty much everything.  Did a token visit to the butchers and also got a small delivery of organic veg every Thursday.  We have our favourite brands which we never deviate from, eat the same …

A supermarket free Lent: the first few days…

So Lent started on Wednesday, and I'm proud to report the family haven't set foot inside a supermarket for over a week.  Given that we have a well stocked freezer, and I only do one weekly supermarket shop, this hasn't been too difficult so far.  I phoned our organic veg box people on Monday morning, …

Off my trolley: a supermarket-free Lent

Following last week's musings, I've decided to take on a challenge set by another blogger, and give up supermarket shopping for Lent.  Husband has calculated that we spent £400 in Sainsburys in February, so that's a lot of shopping we'll need to do elsewhere. So why give up supermarkets for Lent?  My Catholic upbringing hasn't …

On shopping

A while back I found myself debating the decline of the high street with a friend of a friend on Facebook.  Friend of Friend argued that the "traditional" high street had actually been wiped out years ago by chain-stores, and if these were in turn being replaced by online shopping, this was no bad thing.  I found …