It's just my life!

Despite my best intentions and promises to blog every day, regular readers may have noticed that the posts have been drying up a bit of late.

It’s certainly not due to lack of enthusiasm for my challenge – quite the contrary. I’m loving my year without supermarkets so much that I can’t ever imagine going back to being a regular at Tesco. I’ve met so many lovely people and eaten so much wonderful food over the past eight-and-a-half months.

But I’m just running a bit short of things to say about it. I envisage myself, in a Big Brother Geordie voice, repeatedly monotoning: “DAY 212 IN THE WITHOUT SUPERMARKETS HOUSE…. STILL NOT BEEN TO TESCOS”

And actually perhaps this is a reflection of how well the challenge is going. I no longer have much to say about it because shopping without the supermarkets has simply become a way of life. I no longer find it at all difficult; I have shops that I regularly visit for everything I need, and it just doesn’t require much thought any more.

I still get asked how I’m getting on my friends and shopkeepers, and recently I’ve almost found myself reacting with surprise. It’s been a case of: “yes fine, great thanks, I barely even think about it anymore to be honest”.

But it certainly answers all those people who wondered how I’d cope, or how much effort I’d end up putting into avoiding the supermarkets.

I guess I could liken it a bit to becoming a vegetarian, which I did in a fit of stubborn self-righteousness aged 13. It was tough at first, as I figured out what my new list of food likes (Lynda McCartney pies) and dislikes (frozen veggie lasagne) would be. But once I got the hang of it…. Well, I never think about it anymore. It’s just my life.