A shopping bonanza from Peter

How many of you remember  Peter , who introduced me to street art (among other things) in Trastevere? Trastevere mural

A while back, he sent me an email with shopping lists from his mother, and commented: 

“I mentioned your blog to my Mother and she saved the attached shopping lists which she thought you might like to see.“

As you can see below, it was a triple treat for me. And now, thanks to Peter’s mother, let’s see what is on her lists.

Here are all three together, then the individual lists that I cropped from the original image.

There’s a lot to look at, eh? (Or as Peter would say “No?’)

For those of you who don’t understand British or Australian English, did you know that chewey is chewing gum? And, it seems that M and S have different needs as far as this treat is concerned.

It took me a while to realise that it was sugar listed under T. bags. And does the 3 after the tea bags indicate 3 different types of tea are needed?

What else interests you about this first list?

Now I’m really lost. I hope Peter will explain about (Sav) and (Ice), and W, Tes and B/C. I did find out that Neutradol is a room freshener, and Vosene might be a hair conditioner. What type of bars are those listed above Fry’s bars? And, along with the 2 types of digestive biscuits, do we have a sweet tooth in the family? Who ever did this shopping does the ‘tick-off’ as each item is found and plonked in the shopping basket. Does the handwriting look different from that in the first and 3rd lists to you? Or maybe not, caps are used in both, and the letters look similar. Peter will no doubt enlighten us about that.

And now, some precision shopping, with quantities spelled out in some cases. I think the shopper knows exactly what they mean by “3 grapes”. Who can tell me what the item below sweet corn is? 

That was fun! It’s so good when people find a list (or 3) and share them with us.

Thank you, Peter’s mother from Lancashire (I think).

 

Advertisements

You can put money on it

This item will never be found on my shopping lists. Does it appeal to you?

Another list with an international flavour

I had a most pleasant surprise a while back, when I received an email from Caroline, who lives in Venice. She and her husband, Phil, were on their way to the airport, and stopped at a Lidl supermarket in Campalto. It was there that her sharp eyes fell upon an abandoned shopping list. She did the right thing, she sent a photo of it for us to puzzle over. 

Here is a map that shows where Campalto is, in relation to Venice. It’s on the highway that leads to Marco Polo airport. If you squint, you should be able to spot it!

Here is the shopping list which has thankfully been deciphered by Caroline. You probably know quite a few of these Italian words, but I have added a translation of the items, so you can verify your conclusions. 

 

latte   milk

caffè   coffee

wurstel   frankfurter

formaggio   cheese

olio   oil

piadine   wraps

uova 6   eggs 6

fette  – (but of what? cold meats? not sure about this)  slices

don’t know   Nor can I make that out. Does anyone know what it can be?

succhi   juices

bustine  bags, for garbage?

candeggino  this one I had to look up: bleach. I’ve never bought that in Italy.

surgelati – but surgelati what?  surgelati indicates frozen goods. I guess she/he knew what was needed

don’t know – it looks quite like yoghurt, but I’m not sure and anyway Italians don’t spell it with a ‘y’  We discussed this and agreed that yoghurt is generally spelled without the “h” in Italy. And, Caroline verified that with a look at the yoghurt in her fridge.

carne   meat

acqua   water. Italians are big drinkers of bottled water.

Thank you, Caroline. It was exciting to get this exotic list! 

A list from a Connecticut Yankee

Do you all remember Dear Barb , my friend from the USA, who joined me for a week in Trastevere? She found this list and knew just what she had to do with it. Thanks, Barb!

And here it is, with Barb’s interpretations following the image. Feel free to chip in with your ideas … as though I could stop you gabby lot! I have my own ideas about some items, but will generously let you folks have first go.

It may not count as an entire grocery list because after looking at it several times I figured out that the notation right after English muffins is not something in the store, it’s another store!  Walmart!

I’ve decided it’s an older lady (twice she noted hair coloring) who eats very simply (tea, sugar, creamer, half and half …not sure why she needs creamer plus half and half, maybe she’s married… and English muffins), and she may be too old to take her dog outside a lot (puppy pads).   She’s very clean because of the Dial Body wash.  Also, her misspellings are probably because of her age.

It dawned on me that I sometimes use the word Yankee, and wondered if I was using it correctly. Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Google has reassured me that I do. Thank goodness for that! If you have your doubts about this (not you M’Lord, you think you’re always right), read about it here:  Yankee

 

A capital list

This was kindly donated by Lou, who lives in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of  Victoria.

I had to ask who or what San P. was. I had the idea it was an abbreviation for some Saint! Lou set me straight. Let’s see how many of you immediately know what this shopper needed.

And, look Susie … wine! 🙂

Thank you, Lou, for keeping your eyes open on our behalf.

5 boys in the household

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered Coles Supermarket, was a trolley at the checkout counter. It was heaped high with groceries. The second thing that attracted my attention was the young woman who was pushing that trolley. The third thing that really got me excited was that she had a shopping list held between her lips!

You all know how backward I am, in coming forward, so it wasn’t long before that list was in my possession. Not only was it a list, but it was double-sided. Rebecca informed me that this was indeed her shopping, and that she has FIVE boys at home. I was very impressed by that fact, and how she writes such a complete shopping list to refill her larder. And, refill those boys, no doubt. In my excitement, I failed to ask the age range of the boys (she looked very young), and how often she has to shop. And, why didn’t I ask for a photo of her shopping trolley? What a failure.

Here’s the flip side of her well organised list.

I make no further comments, except to say I’d need a much larger fridge, freezer and pantry if I had to shop from Rebecca’s list! 

Thank you, Rebecca, for sharing this with us.

 

From the Northern Hemisphere

This contribution came to me from a Canadian reader who is on vacation in Mexico. She got it from a friend in London, England. So, it has travelled a good distance to land on my blog. Thanks D, for sending this to me.

The person who sent it to me wrote this:  “The originator commented that her mother was fed up with her handwriting and said it was a good thing she (the originator) had a computer.“

I’ll leave you to judge if the mother has been harsh, or not. I’ve seen far worse handwriting, and am thankful that doctors these days use their computer to generate prescriptions and reports!

So, were you able to decipher all of the items? 

And, this was just shared to me on Facebook. Thanks, Lou, it was too good not to use.