It has been very much a typical wet winter’s day here. We started off with grey lowering clouds that
turned into rain around lunchtime and a torrential downpour about an hour
later.
With one eye on the weather forecast, I went our early to do
my supermarket shopping. I am glad I went when I did.
One advantage of city living is that there are several
different shopping centres within easy reach of home. I visit around five different supermarkets to
buy groceries, usually choosing a different one each week. It keeps things interesting!
Most supermarkets seem to have similar layouts – you enter
through the fruit and vegetable department before progressing to the meat and
fish department.
Only then are you allowed to escape into the heart of the
shop to hunt for all those glorious bargains of cans and packets that call themselves
food. (Sorry, I am being a bit sarcastic
here)
One of the last aisles will be full of crates of bread. I like a thickly sliced MacKenzie Country
mixed grain loaf, but they can be difficult to find.
Finally, on the far wall of the supermarket, can be found
all the dairy produce. I always find it
a clever stroke of marketing genius that when you enter such a place for a
solitary bottle of milk, you must weave your way across the whole store before
you find it.
I remember my mother placing her weekly grocery order with
the small country store several miles from us, and they would then deliver it
to the house. She soon became a fan of
the self-help supermarkets when they appeared, and would load our car up with
bread once a month and take it home for the freezer (we had a great big chest
freezer with very thick walls and a lock on the handle).
I shopped at supermarkets, either weekly or monthly, all my
married life and I still do. They are
convenient, but I also like the greater choice they provide and their (usually)
cheaper prices.
It is now almost 5pm and the day is drawing in. We have lit the fire and pulled the curtains,
so it is time to feed the cats and think about dinner – and maybe, just maybe,
a little tipple to warm up with J
Margaret.
Whenever I travel I always love going round local supermarkets. They are always a little different to ours here and it always takes me ages to find essentials like milk. Love the thought of you cosying down on a winters evening as we sit outside sipping drinks in the evening sunshine. Hope the sun comes out for you today. B x
ReplyDeleteI have a choice of two supermarkets, but there is not much difference between them, apart from the fact that only one has the Lewis Road Creamery milk that I like and in the size that I prefer.
ReplyDeleteI am out babysitting grandies again, so no snuggling down for me yet
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine
We pretty much confine ourselves to the perimeter of the store and seldom venture into the minefield of cans, boxes and soft drinks. The local farmers market recently reopened so I have been shopping there recently, but of course there are still items that must be had from a bricks and mortar store. In general, I think that supermarkets are awful places.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteHubby and I usually do the food shop once a week. We have 2 maybe 3 food stores that are our favorite. The stores know where to put the things you need the most, they lure you around other items hoping you buy more. We try sticking to our shopping list. Enjoy your day, have a great week ahead.
Oh boy I wish I could shop at your supermarket. Look at those shelves, so many choices, breads, wines. Those shelves are incredibly well stocked
ReplyDeleteI like our bigg-ish market because it's a one stop shop but our smaller grocers are very friendly and also have good prices.
I always notice that about having to through stores to get to milk and eggs!
ReplyDeleteMilk products here are on the perimeter of the store, just past the meat section at the back. Bread is past the veg down from the entrance of the store. Perimeter shopping is my usual routine.
ReplyDeleteHow I miss the Supermarket Margaret! This is such a delight for me, thank you so much for taking us! I would spend half of my whole grocery tie on that sauce and condiments aisle for sure! I love condiments so much (which is not much of a good thing right? Sodiummm) Oh and that wine section looks very nice too! Hope the weather gets better out there. A very weirdly strong rain with scary winds visited us this afternoon and more in the evening. It had a 3 hour calm just before sunset so I was able to lounge at my rooftop garden :)
ReplyDeleteThe thing that hit me in the eye in your photos (and it's not unique to your photos, it's the state of supermarket shopping the world over) is all the packaging. I've never really considered it before because going to a supermarket in person you are looking through different eyes - trying to find the peanut butter or where they have hidden the canned peaches this week (well that is the experience in UK). However just looking at the shelves as 'pictures', suddenly I couldn't look past the packaging.
ReplyDeleteIt's not something I can put my finger on but there is quite a difference between shopping in a supermarket in New Zealand and Scotland (or the UK as a whole for that matter). Please don't ask me to explain it though. Whilst I was living by Napier we had a large new New World built at Newmeadows. It was almost a joy to shop there (and the coffee was good too). However for certain things one had to visit Countdown or Pak n' Save. I haven't been in a shop since lockdown in March. Others do my shopping for me when they do theirs. As yet I have no desire to go back.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't miss about country living is not having supermarkets nearby, at least here we have a countdown and a new world. The other half likes the first and I like the second.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, you've reminded me of when I visited Graham (Eagleton Notes) in Napier and we visited a brand new, just recently opened supermarket, I think it was in Taradale. I'd never seen such grandeur and was busy taking photos of the flash presentations when the manager approached and asked me to leave the store, inferring I could be an industrial spy of some kind. I thought it was hilarious. Didn't think I'd ever be thrown out of a supermarket and I've never taken a camera into one again. Great photos, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI never really paid attention but you're right. Most supermarkets have the same lay-out.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy grocery shopping. I make sure to go early in the day when it's not crowded. I look at the flyers that are on-line these days and make a list based loosely on what's on sale. Usually I go to 2 different stores to buy the best deals.
Glad you got the shop done before the nasty weather arrived.
ReplyDeleteThat is the neatest cleanest grocery store I have ever seen. See, I still want to move to New Zealand.
ReplyDelete