blogging, Philosophy

Are You Ready Yet? How We Shop

Forestwood

“Are you ready yet?”

My other half, aka the ‘Moth,’ called out – anxious to leave for another shopping expedition. Meanwhile, I tapped away on the keyboard writing yet another blog post.

“I won’t be long,” I distractedly shouted back down the hall.

But time then slowed for me; I was engrossed in getting my thoughts down from the jumble of words that regularly spin about in my head.

I dislike shopping for food or groceries as it is such a mind-numbingly, repetitive, ‘rinse-repeat-rinse,’ kind of task that my other half likes to do, almost weekly. For him, it’s like a contemporary equivalent of an old religious ritual. And each time we do it, I have to grit my teeth.

Before the move to the Home by the Sea, the prelude to a shopping trip would be a visit to a delightful Italian cafe or Pasticceria and, in this way, I’d come to believe shopping could be enjoyable especially when it comes with a cup of hot chocolate as well!

The Pasticceria Cafe was run by an Italian man from Venice, with a rich and deep baritone voice, named Aladdino, who made the very best Italian hot chocolate! If you imagine a cup of blancmange-like, soupy thick, steaming dark chocolate milk, that you almost have to spoon into your mouth, you’d have the general idea.

Aladdino could often be quite intimidating, or so I found one day when I reminded him I liked the hot chocolate made really thick and soupy.

“You Australians,” he bellowed at me in a tone that would impress Pavarotti. “It’s not a pudding, you know!“

“It is a pudding for me,” I quip back. And my bribery comfort food, I think to myself; as it is some consolation for the ‘battle’ ahead.

Grocery shopping can be a suburban battlefield.

The stainless steel shopping trolleys are our ‘cavalry steeds’ and the supermarket aisles, a place where a cavalry-style charge might occur, if only during a red light special!

Not me, or the MotH! But a photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Each week, I notice the faces of shoppers at the supermarket. Stereotypes are always well represented.

There’s the elderly gentleman trying in vain to find Bi-Carb Soda, the fatigued mothers with crying babies insitu or children wanting popcorn, the bogan with a shirt-busting beer gut in a rush to get to the pub, the well-heeled Hampton fan searching for gourmet cheese and others who try to emulate TV reality show Chefs in an effort to tantalize their family’s tastebuds, while still balancing the budget.

The battlefield is exhausting!

shopping centre with consumers

The Rise of Generic and Convenience Food

Food prices continue to spiral upwards, coercing us to buy more of the less expensive generically branded items. Many seem to be quality degraded items from dubious overseas manufacturers, where one imagines working conditions to be almost medieval. I am lucky enough to pass them by if I can. The appearance of more and more convenience/ready-made meals is also worrisome.

Convenience food options seem to multiply each week taking up more and more shelf space.

I nearly lost the plot and caused a public scene last month, when I found they were selling shredded iceberg lettuce and grated carrot, in a bag!

So, now the working family has no time at all to grate a carrot, or perhaps the problem is they don’t own a grater? Will children grow up not knowing how to grate a carrot for a humble salad sandwich?

This leads my runaway mind to think of a future where only the elderly remember what a virgin vegetable actually looks like prior to peeling, slicing, dicing and wrapped in plastic bags lined with preservatives!

But we all have to eat, or face a riot on the home front, particularly if there are any remaining adolescent children lurking in the bedrooms!

“How much longer are you going to be?”

The disembodied voice filters down the hallway suddenly dragging me back to reality. It has happened again:  I have become engrossed in another blog post.

female writing

Has your supermarket changed?

Do you enjoy convenience food options?

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Published by Forestwood

A philosophic Aussie writes here at StPA, one who will readily admit to loving Scandinavia. I'm interested in global politics and what drives us to be who we are. Scratch the surface and you'll find a practical Environmentalist with an egalitarian bent, trying to unleash a little creativity via the written word. Scandinavian culture, literature and traditions are close to my heart, even though I'm Australian. Travel and courteous discussions greatly broaden the mind, so I travel if I can and am always up for a vigorous, respectful discussion. I'm an avid reader, a writer and I enjoy photography and crafts, particularly traditional art forms. I hope you'll find 'Something to Ponder About,' in my WordPress Community.

90 thoughts on “Are You Ready Yet? How We Shop”

  1. Australian supermarkets are very largely responsible for the appalling amount of wasted edible food, imnsho. If they would STOP packaging amounts of vegies or combining them we wouldn’t throw away half the stuff we do. I suppose I must admit that the single person in a dwelling is the most culpable: but we don’t WANT to throw stuff away – we want to be able to buy ONE parsnip, ONE beetroot, etc. And all the while the ‘markets are packaging half a kilo because they know there’ll be waste and we’ll be back buying more ..
    It’s one of my primary whinges, this.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I so agree with you, M-R. It is a pet hate of mine to see apples wrapped in plastic. This means the product is not fresh, but could be weeks old. I seek out the smaller vege shops where you can pick out your fruit one by one. I refuse to buy veges with the odd exception from Coles or Woollies. I never buy those pre packed things that line the bags with preservatives! So much plastic waste is completely irresponsible.

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  2. We grow a lot of our own fruit & veges & freeze & bottle them and have chickens. We try to shop weekly only for fill in supplies (I try not to supermarket shop at all because my partner enjoys it and I hate it). I prefer market style places to buy because then I can get the amount I want, not the amount someone else has prepared for me.

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    1. We sound very similar in a few ways, Jane with partners that love the shopping that we hate. I love to grow my own fruit and vege and freeze lots of stuff, have a worm farm and compost bin to regenerate the soil. I feel this is a fundamental sensibility but many don’t seem to have it. Convenience food is so regular for them, they don’t realize how easy and cheaper and more nutritious it is to slice up a fresh lettuce that you have pulled from your garden. The taste is SO much better. Chickens are great at producing eggs and gobbling up scraps. Win Win! Do you love eggs too?

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      1. Sure do love eggs. We need to as we get 8 a day in peak season 🙂 I agree about improving the land being a fundamental thing but I think a lot of people are now sadly dissociated from the land. Our chicken eggs taste so much better than store bought ones too.

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      2. Oh your farm eggs would definitely taste better and have bright orange yolks, not the pale light yellow ones. I use an app to help determine the hen ratios at farms – as some claim they are free range when they are still overstocking.
        Yes I think many city dwellers are completely dissociated from the land. They have no idea. I would love to see some kind of program where school camps visit farms instead of some of the recreational activities they repeat each year.

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  3. I hate going, but it can be entertaining. You can hear something going on in the distance, you know you are safe from what ever it is, but you get to enjoy the expressions of the people you pass as they listen and debate on finishing what they came for, or leave it for another time.

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    1. Eavesdropping on conversations at the supermarket can be interesting, Rebecca and entertaining. People watching could become a sport during Covid! As well as trolley surfind perhaps? Lol.

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  4. I actually do like grocery shopping although I go armed with a list, know what times to go and what times to avoid and try to limit my time. As such, like to do only 1 shop a week and buy everything from as close to 1 place as possible. I wish we had more variety in the major chains though. I’m turning it into a sport and trying to do door to door within 1 hr.

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    1. I just mentioned in a previous comment jokingly about it becoming a sport and then read your comment. It could be that on a personal level. I When I had young children at home or in the shops with me, I so made it this. A rush to get in and out – so lists were imperative. Lists always stop me from dilly-dallying and buying too much extra comfort foods. It is a more economical way to shop. Have you tried online shopping?

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      1. Lists also stop me from doing the same! I haven’t but I like picking my fruit and veg. Perhaps I could just order the non-perishables but then I think it’s just easier if I go whenever I want.

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      2. I did like the ability to click a few buttons to complete an oline shop around Christmas time when the shops were manic. I would like to support independent shops though in the online forum.

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  5. I didn’t like grocery shopping before the pandemic and I don’t like it now. We go to one local store early AM (to avoid crowds) for the produce and we get regular things curbside from another. Although I look forward to a time when I can go shopping AFTER my morning coffee, I may still do curbside now and then, it’s very convenient.

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    1. I am so with you Janis on not liking shopping for groceries. When you say curbside, do you mean online shopping? I used to do online shopping when my daughter was young, but the small company was forced out of business by the Coles/Woolworths monopoly here, so refused to order online with them on principle. And I do like to hand pick my products – when it comes to perishables.

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  6. Amusing post Amanda. Love your description of Aladdino’s hot chocolate … should I believe that is his real name? 🙂

    OK so here’s the thing – I am on the other side of the fence from you. I love going food shopping. I like seeing all the fresh vegetables, seeing them all bright and colorful. I love going down the ‘international aisle’ to find the mysterious spices & ingredients which I’ll one day figure out how to use. My favorite grocery has a store brand which they chose to make as good & better than the brand brands. For quality, I’d say they’re equivalent to the Costco’s Highland brands or Marks&Spencer type M&S products. When I buy them, I never feel cheated.

    However, I normally stay away from convenience & pre-made foods. Mostly because of the excessive sugars, salts and fats they add. And let’s not forget, the unecessary packaging! Things like pre-shredded carrots and lettuce are a travesty of plastic.

    Another thing about shopping for me … its a spear fishing activity. I go solo and with a list. I will browse the aforementioned aisle, but normally I go in, get my stuff and go.

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    1. Yes, Sandy. Aladdino is his real name, but he no longer works there. He left to go to Portugal to live with his sister. He had some health issues and left the cafe in a bad financial state….. so a bit of an Aladdin after all.
      I so agree with you on the plastic packaging. I hate it so much. As much as the pre made food. A travesty indeed.
      Lists are wonderful to keep shoppers on track, but I can totally see the point in selecting the items you want yourself and sometimes that it gives me inspiration to make something I don’t often make. Pears on special – what can I do with them, I might think.
      Good to hear that the generic brands are good quality where you are. I wish….

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  7. Going to the supermarket isn’t much fun. Wish it smelled like food. We have bought a CSA share from a local farmer. From now until December we will be getting fresh veggies every week. Yay!!!

    Liked by 3 people

      1. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We have paid money upfront, and every week we will get a delivery of awesome, fresh, organic vegetables from Farmer Kev, a local farmer. There are spring, summer, fall, and winter shares. We have signed up and paid for them all. Woo-hoo! Anything like this where you live?

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      2. There is some farmer co-operative that deliver vegetables and fruit to your door. In season veges. Straight from farm to you in 48 hours, which is better than the offerings found that are weeks old on the supermarket shelves. My dog even spat out a piece of apple from a supermarket recently. That says something doesn’t it?
        I love that your veges are organic and that they are delivered to you. So the produce changes with the seasons as well. Similar to the farmer co-op group we have?

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  8. I cook therefore I shop. I shop at more than one place. Don’t get fruit, veges or meat from supermarkets because of over packaging. The use of generic brands disappoints as the quality I used to buy isn’t available. This leads me to search out what I want from smaller shops. It may cost a bit more but I don’t care as the support, no matter how little, helps keep the doors open.
    I never follow the supermarkets layout which encourages impulse buys. I shop to the list and sometimes extras that I know I need but didn’t put on the list. Yes it’s a paper list from the pad in the kitchen where items get put down as they run out.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Old school lists definitely still have value and work for me, Brian, as long as I remember to bring the darn list!!
      Google has a shopping list app for phones but it is no good if reception is poor. I prefer the hard scribbled copy!
      It is probably a good idea not to follow the supermarket layout, so I just might try that. No doubt the ‘Moth,’ will resist this intervention to routine!
      I also like to support and shop at a local corner store with good quality brands. The service is way better and helps keep people in jobs as opposed to self-serve registers.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I never use self serve, I am not employed there to work at checkouts. The local butcher once known gives best cuts, the grocer is self serve and I take mesh bags when I need a bulk of veges or they need to be together like tomatoes. Others just are without bags. The fruit and vege shops also have a delicatessen section with great produce. It is these shops where you get to know the owners and people who work there especially in a town like mine.
        I feel for you having to take an, I am guessing, an elderly MOTH to a supermarket. Just turn left or right or straight ahead depending on you on what you usually do. Once at the other end of the aisle look at the list and say “look we need xx and point to the sign above the aisle and head there”
        Good luck 🙂

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      2. Great strategy for dealing with the Moth. He will no doubt wander the inbetween aisles. I might see how we go and let you know the success/failure of the intervention! Elderly? Sometimes he feels that way – I don’t think he is – Age is just a number right?

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  9. I love food hunting/gathering. There are so many ways to get around the annoyances. I ignore virtually all convenience food and mostly shop at farmer’s markets. There I can buy a single item or a kilo of it—and no packaging unless I decide to take a bag (luckily I have a set of mesh ones). I love taking advantage of the bounty in my own and others’ gardens. This week I picked all the green tomatoes at a friend’s place and made chutney (just finished bottling it). Obviously harder for those who don’t like to cook.

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    1. You always have an excellent environmental conscience, Peggy. I like to take advantage of specials at the greengrocers in a similar way. Sweet potato on special: I buy loads, slice and roast them for dog treats or make a big batch of soup. Cucumbers can be pickled, and tomotoes made into sauce, or as you did, relish or chutney.
      I have mesh bags too but if I do get plastic bags they double as schnauzer poo bags!

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  10. I laughed that one of you enjoys food shopping and one doesn’t. I love it. To John it’s a race against time. I’ve seen him rush from one end of the store to another because he doesn’t have the list organized. I wish he enjoyed it more.

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  11. Moth should be nurtured 🙂 One set of grandchildren, all adult now, were amazed years ago, when they saw me shelling peas, which they had never seen in pods. The interesting point about this was that their parents cooked meals properly and encouraged all three of their offspring to do the same.

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  12. I adore going shopping but not food shopping so we have a weekly on-line home delivery which works well for us and with everyone’s help it can all be stored away in around 15 minutes. I realise that this wouldn’t work for people lacking storage space but with a large pantry etc. it’s ideal for us each Thursday evening. I do still pop into our local M & S Food hall and independent bakers and butchers for bits and pieces too. Hope you have a good weekend Amanda. Marion

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    1. It sounds like the independent bakers and butchers are still alive and kicking in your area, Marion. I don’t want them to vanish entirely leaving us at the behest of the behemoth monopolies!
      The supermarkets do try to compete in ALL deparments, but the smaller shops do have it over them in certain areas. It is great to have the ability to do a one stop shop but not if you can support family owned business and can get a better product easily.

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  13. Do you not have small local stores nearby? I use these in preference to supermarkets which I only use for heavy goods I can’t get in my local. I prefer to chat to someone who knows me, knows my name and what I like. I have to go to the next town for my fruit and veg, to another town for fish and meat, but all other things I can pick up locally. And I never buy stuff wrapped in plastic – who knows what under that tightly wrapped skin?

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    1. I am with you on the plastic wrap. I try my best to avoid it and those polystyrene trays!
      We do have some local stores nearby, Mari. Plenty of bakeries from which we do source our bakery products. I like to shop at the independent fruit and vege Grocer but they are getting harder to find so I might have to revert to an online service, from farm to plate in 48 hours. More expensive but better quality product.
      It sounds like you don’t mind travelling for quality. How far do you have to travel to the nearby towns.

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  14. Amanda, too funny and too real. I love the reference to “virgin vegetables.” I guess these are not yet ripe either? One of the problems in our stores, is the discounted berries (buy one get one free) which are there because they are past their prime, like me – I can’t remember that virgin thing anymore. So, if you get the two cartons, you better eat them fast, as they will grow bad quite soon. The same thing goes for other “two-fer” products, that are sold that way as the use by date is approaching. What many don’t tell you, for non perishables, the use by date is more a suggestion that a bewitching hour. I do like the pre-washed mixed greens, as making salad is ever so easy, especially if you only need one bowl. Keith

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    1. Thanks Keith. I like that I gave you a chuckle. Virgin veges not quite ripe – yes! I agree that the two for one marketing strategy sucks in a good many consumers and tbh it irritates me. Sometimes every special in the supermarket is a two for one. You do end up buying more and wasting more. For one thing it is a problem to store two of everything and you are pressured to make it and eat it because it is about to go off. I do realise that some of the use by dates are really conservative and have been known to stretch them out a little – but shhh don’t tell the Moth that! The smell test is usually a pretty estimation of whether a product is edible or not.

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  15. I know what you mean about convenience foods taking up more and more of the shelf space in markets. I usually buy my oatmeal in the bulk section of our food co-op, but I needed to run to the regular grocery store which is much closer to grab a box. I was appalled to find shelf after shelf of boxed pre-packaged (read over packaged), instant, individual servings sweetened with all kinds of sugars. So many unhealthy options, and down on the very bottom shelf was a lonely little round box of Quaker old fashioned oats. If you calculate the price of these instant pouches, it makes oatmeal a pretty expensive breakfast, and with all the added sugars, any nutritional value is pretty much lost.

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    1. I so hear you, Dorothy. I despise those individual pouches too. They add all sorts of stuff to them. I am also finding it hard to source unadulterated oats for making good old fashioned porridge which can be made easily in a few minutes with induction or gas cooktops. The other thing that is most annoying is the Cake mixes – the shopper is just buying flour and sugar in a box with a label. You still have to add the eggs, butter and milk! Crazy!

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      1. Yes, the cake mixes! So silly, like pancake mix too! Doesn’t save you any time, and it is so much more expensive. We have oatmeal quite a few mornings a week and I put it on the stove and it cooks while I set the dishes out, silverware, and pour myself a cup of coffee. And it is so delicious!!!

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  16. The hot choc sounds delicious we make a rich thick hot choc here at home. As for food shop I agree. My son often has a blew with his boss over the 5 loaded trolleys full of food that gets thrown out more often than one would think. I cannot buy fruit & veg from major food chain stores, I actually gag if I have to go in, everything has a refrigerated stench & the meat is disgusting & usually goes off the day after I get it home & I’m sorry I have seen meat straight from the paddock & it ain’t pink & doesn’t sit in watery goo, at all. I shop on line for essentials & go to my local butcher, I have a friend who works at a butcher so I have an idea of what to steer clear of & the price difference usually balances out the butcher here is not much different to the supermarket. As for the pre cut pre ready when you are, ew, all in sweaty little plastic bags, aren’t we supposed to be going plastic free? I know of a couple of young people with severe arthritis that benefit from pre cut. But really, I here you, it would be interesting to see if the sale of these products have decreased since the pandemic as price per kilo the pre cut is crazy expensive. But the vegie patch has increased in popularity since the pandemic, maybe there’s hope? So glad you have a dose of tryptophan that gives you the serotonin to get you through.

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    1. I think I know the smell of which you speak, Linda. Cut meat has a short shelf life and transporting it around in a trolley within the supermarket while you shop and then placing in a hot car for the trip home, does make one question what state the meat is really in when you cook it several days later.
      Your point about disability and pre-cut products is valid. It would be great for the elderly but they are also the ones who need to be picky about nutrition. There are adaptive knives and utensils for folks without the hand skills to cut up food, so I would rather they invest in those than bags of limp shredded lettuce. But if you have to buy it, you have to. Just re-use the plastic bag or recycle it if you can.
      I do like that vege seedlings and seeds are harder to come by. More folks are growing their own. Yay to that!

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  17. I love your take on shopping, Amanda. It matches mine exactly, and it was like you were watching a cam recorder inside our house. When we lived in CA, I rarely did the shopping. Now it is less than 3 miles away (that’s super close) and Vince likes me to come along – with list in hand. We waste a lot less food here because we do eat at home most of the time. That is what got me. But we do have waste, and I hate that. I could put vegetable waste in the compost pile before, now it goes into the bin. Cute post, for sure.

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      4. That is a shame, Marsha. There sounds like a need for condo dwellers to have an allotment system – a small garden plot on the outskirsts of the city that you could go visit, such that they have in parts of Danish and European cities.

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  19. I just love how you go off on a tangent here. Totally relatable and familiar, especially when the mind is full of thoughts and ideas battling to be expressed on paper. Or screen.

    Even though I’m all but in favor of consumerism, I actually enjoy grocery shopping. (When I have time and it’s not too busy in the store.) I think this might have to do with the availability of items in Western stores after “making do” in third world countries or little-stocked areas for so many years.

    Here’s how to make shopping exciting: go to a new grocery store every week. Ideally in another province, state, or country. 🙂

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    1. Now there is an idea, Liesbet! Going to a different supermarket each week. Although it would take a lot longer to shop, as I would not be familiar with the layout! But its definitely a way to make a boring task interesting and possibly source some unique brands/ products. When you mentioned about the amount of choice we have, I feel that my complaints are nothing but first world issues, which are really only minor irritations. I can be grateful of that.
      How long were you living in third world areas?

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      1. Never really lived in third world areas, but traveled, sailed, and camped for over a decade in many of those regions with few grocery stores and a VERY selective choice of products. Many islands would have a supply ship that came once or twice a month with produce and other items, so we often had to do with only carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and onions for long periods of time.

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      3. Nope. You can make coleslaw, kimchi, Thai stir fry, Indian curry, Chinese stir fry, potato pancake, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, French fries in the oven, potato chips, potato salad, pasta salad with carrots and cabbage, carrot salad, fried carrots with butter and onion… You get the drift. 🙂

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  21. I’m sorry, I read this yesterday or, I don’t know when and read the comments, liked it and failed to leave one of my own. We call it the squirrel syndrome around here. Easily distracted. Long story. I don’t mind shopping but I hate crowds so I pick my time carefully. I want to pick out my own food as even the daughter picks out what she likes more often than what I like. I could not enjoy having a stranger pick out my food and deliver it to me as all the stores are offering this service these days. Late evening, just before closing seems the best time to shop these days.
    You are right, there is way too much waste and it drives me crazy. But our town has several outlets for unsold food stuff. A program called Gleaners gets the food from the markets, boxes up a variety and passes it on to families in need. In my neighborhood alone, probably 1/3 are families in need of assistance. We also have food pantries that collect and pass on so much. A neighbor here goes to restaurants markets and picks up packed breads and cakes and a variety of things and posts on FB when the neighbors can come help themselves. I’m fortunate to have plenty but know there are always people here to take what I may not want anymore. The community page is quite active with people passing things around. I know a lot of people that collect from the markets directly the stuff that can not be passed on for their chickens and pigs, etc. Everyone is trying to stop the waste that way. I only shop the edges of the market anyway and get a lot from our farmers market. I’ve been too hungry too much of my life to deal well with waste. I could be right behind you venting. 🙂 Great post, Amanda. It’s ridiculous that so many have nothing when so many have too much.

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    1. Well said, dear Marlene. As usual, we are on the same linear wavelength! Gleaners sounds like a fantastic initative and I think we have an equivalent or similar here, called Ozharvest. The founder had to jump over many hurdles especially legal ones to get it up and running here. Ridiculous, but she did it. I was going to write a post about it and maybe I will make it the theme for this week’s blog challenge that I co-host. Thanks Marlene! I was looking for some inspiration in choosing the theme.
      Having said all of that, I do think more of us could do more to prevent waste. The example you give in the folks on facebook shouting out that they have food excess from markets to give away is wonderful and so easily done. Co-ops might be born this way.
      When you mentioned being hungry at times in your life, I am reminded of someone I heard on the radio recently talking about being a child living in Berlin after the war concluded. Many starved and food drops in the western zones kept people alive. She talked about being so severely malnourished she ate soap just to get something organic into her belly! Shocking and it feels so recent in our history, yet millenials would have no understanding or comprehension of the desperation such a situation brings. I wouldn’t either and for that I am truly grateful.

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      1. We were a military family with too many (4) kids living on almost no money. Unless you are an officer, the military pay is minimal. Dad got paid once a month but the groceries inevitably ran out way before that. Mom and some of her friends would put what they had left together to feel all the families till payday. We were always hungry and seriously malnourished. I often fainted in school. There are so many walking around that look perfectly normal who have had little nourishment that day. Especially with the plethora of cheap junk food.

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      2. Well that is surprising. I thought there was little famine in the barracks. But then, officers must take the larger share of salaries. Great that the other families would pool together to feed everyone. It must have been difficult Marlene. Kids are so adaptable to circumstances, you probably never realised?

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  22. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post, Amanda – filled as always with chagrin, long-suffiering, good natured ribbing, humour and lots of laughter (from me).

    Loving Husband is the shopper, just like Moth. I could forego the exercise completely except I like to pick out my vegetables myself (don’t trust online shopping in this regard). And I feel bad making Loving Husband do all the groceries himself these days, so we both go do a superquick shop each week at a very quiet small-ish supermarket for essentials, splitting the list to expedite the outing. The rest we order online.

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    1. I like the idea of splitting the list. But then I would also have to trust the Moth to get it all. No doubt we would have loads of sweet treats to eat, ice cream and all the naughty stuff, but not the raw materials to make healthy needs. He would never know where to find pine nuts or quinoa for example!
      Thanks for the compliment on my post. I don’t feel like I am good at telling jokes, but I do like to inject some irony, tongue in cheek humour where I can. Good natural ribbing is what Aussies do best, I think.

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      1. I hear you Amanda! I think I’ve got Loving Husband very well-trained, but his favourite aisles remain alcohol, chips & ice cream.

        Actually, I must disagree with you & say you have very good timing and skills in telling stories. You are able to build suspense and hold it to the right place! I have been very entertained by several of yours!

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      2. Oh Ju-Lyn, that is so very kind of you to say that about my storytelling. I wish I could say I feel consistent in writing. Sometimes it flows with a bit of humour, othertimes not. It is so encouraging to hear that I was able to entertain you. Warms my heart and gives joy in writing. Thank you!

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  25. I’m with you all the way here, my hubby loves shopping in any shape or form, and tries to go daily. Its even worse clothes shopping where he can spend hours browsing shoes jeans and shirts. We have to have an agreed meeting place preferably where there is an armchair nearby for me

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