Never Pays to Look Too Close



As a photographer I can be attracted to the light through a window bouncing off a glass on a silver plate and spend several frames recording it only to get home and discover the glass was dirty or there was a fly on the plate, etc. In digital photography there is always something you can do to remedy most flaws but life isn't like that.

 A Canadian friend posted a photograph of what she could purchase for the $21 Canadian per week for groceries. The photo was still in my mind when I went grocery shopping yesterday.  Forget that where my friend and I live in the rural parts of our countries that going to get the $21 of groceries probably takes that much is gas or petrol. The closest store to my abode charges such high prices I would not even be able to get half of what was in her photo. So it is over the mountain, 50 miles round trip, to shop.

 I used to go weekly but being able to buy dry and canned goods from Amazon Prime has cut that to about once a mouth for fresh goods when I go to pick up my prescription. No pharmacy on my side of the mountain any more. Speaking of the prescription, the health issue that necessitates it also demands I change my shopping habits. Are you aware of how much more it costs to eat healthy; to cut out just one common ingredient like sodium? Thankfully I am not gluten or lactose intolerant. But where I can I choose organic. But thankfully I have cut beef largely out of my diet. God, the prices per pound on just what used to be a cheap cut of meat like a chuck roast.

 I like my mushrooms Portabello and my green beans those thin French ones and my peas snow like in Chinese restaurants. If I am going to be largely vegetarian it is going to be good stir fry. Deleting the $15 spend on good dark chocolate which was on sale my bill came to $92. Divided by four I am $2 over the weekly allowance my Canadian friend mentioned in her blog. However, the sodium free canned diced tomatoes I already bought from Amazon Prime. I did not need to buy coconut oil this trip or sea salt or several other condiments (also gotten from Amazon Prime). This was just the eggs, vegetables, sour cream, and pasta. So I failed.

 And I noticed all the bugs and streaks and fingerprints on the image. I noticed how high prices had become in just the last year. And that markets are marking even the mushrooms gluten free. But the US did not give us retirees a bump in our Social Security because there was no inflation they said. Admitted gas is temporarily down but heating costs are up. I cannot wait for warm weather and my garden.

I think this summer I will deposit that $92 monthly into a jar to spend after gardening season is over. It obviously is not just a hobby any more. And I find myself looking at my passive solar studio to see where I can install planters to raise lettuce and Swiss Chard and snow peas and fresh herbs all winter. 

Comments

  1. shadows of nightfallMarch 6, 2016 at 6:24 PM

    You take great photos. I always get a little laugh when I discover something i a pic I had taken.
    Speaking of inflation, yes they said there was none but yet the price of food has still been going up, along with other things. The only thing that came down was gasoline. And that's how they based the "no inflation." Very flawed....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ien in the KootenaysMarch 13, 2016 at 10:57 AM

    If I had to spend $21 a week I might make other choices. This was a magazine article. Also, as you noticed we are rural. In my village the featured products might cost more. I do not buy much in cans so I do not know. You are so right, the gardens are becoming much more than a hobby!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Blog of BeeMarch 13, 2016 at 8:27 PM

    I envy you. Food prices here are astronomical and we won't even talk about medication. I have to wonder how some people manage as the basic wage here is the equivalent of USD2.00 per hour. A loaf of bread costs that. My weekly grocery bill is in the region of US$130 per week and that does not include
    luxuries.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more