Unbought Delicacies: Doing the shopping...........

Saturday, 11 May 2013

Doing the shopping...........

Due to a variety of ccircumstances at present, I have decided to try out internet shopping for the weekly shopto see how it goes. Am not a fan of supermarkets, although I do admit they have their place; so I have gone with Abel & Cole. They have come a long way from supplying just veg boxes,and it's possible to do most of a weekly shop with them - organic/local/Fairtrade/ biodynamic, etc -right up my street, and the sort of things I was seeking out in the supermarkets and other shops.Deliveredto the door once a wek for 99p. I'm looking forward to seeing howit goes;I'll sale back the fruit/veg maybe as the garden eventually gets going, but nay continue the rest of the stuff for a while anyway. Nice to have something to look forward to - will report back next Wednesday, delivery day :)

http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/

ps -am still in hospital, but aiming for home on Monday - been 8 weeks now! Hope all are well, looking forward to blogging about home and garden again soon.Watch this space :)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: why are you doing food shopping when your staying in hospital?????; 11 May 2013 at 21:42
MrsL said...: Husband and son are at home; I'm hopefully going home tomorrow (Monday), and will be able to get back into cooking. Abel & Cole will deliver on Wednesday. I have my laptop here with me, so oredered online. Will save my husband a lot ofwork untilI'm wellenough to go out shopping again.
I'm really looking forward to cooking again :) - I hear there's a good cropof rhubarb awaiting me:)

x; 12 May 2013 at 10:33
Simone said...: I think it will be a lovely treat to have all those organic goodies to look forward to! x; 12 May 2013 at 15:26
Anonymous said...: just seen your last fb update. Not really on to make fun of fellow patients you know. Just sayin...; 12 May 2013 at 16:09
MrsL said...: Well, 'anonymous'- stop reading my
fb updates then. Simple. Why didn't you comment on FB to that effect, instead of coming here as 'anonymous'. Am not making fun of them, am telling it how it is for me sat here.
Justsayin...; 12 May 2013 at 20:56
MrsL said...: I've no more to add,,by the way, I refuse to be drawn into anymore argy bargy on the net after recent events where I was not listened to, talked over and completely misinterpreted.
Justsayin...; 12 May 2013 at 20:58

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Saturday, 11 May 2013

Doing the shopping...........

6 comments: