Last night, I ordered our groceries online for the third week in a row.
I shouted, “What do we need?” My daughter Imogen looked in the pantry and fridge and told me what things were running low. Then I clicked a whole lot of stuff into my cart. I chose a delivery time. Shopping done. Easy.
This morning, I didn’t have to drive into town to buy our weekly groceries. So I said, “Gemma-Rose, would you like to walk to the village with me? I’ll buy you a hot chocolate.”
Half an hour later, as we were sitting in the village cafe, I asked, “Isn’t this a good way to spend Saturday morning?” Gemma-Rose nodded. Sipping hot drinks, sharing a cake and chatting are a lot more fun than grocery shopping.
I needed some one-on-one time with my youngest daughter. She hasn’t been well. For almost three weeks she’s been battling a cold. Today, I wanted to do something enjoyable with her, find out how she’s feeling, touch base with her.
“I saved $26 when I ordered the groceries, ” I told Gemma-Rose, (That’s what I was told when I confirmed my order.) “So I bought a book. It just so happened to cost $26.” (Am I getting a free book?)
The book is called Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces by Jane Davenport.
Now it’s not the sort of book I usually buy. You see, I’m hopeless at art. (Unlike my sister Vicky. Did you see her drawing in my last It’s Not a Periscope?) But does that mean I can’t experiment? I don’t need to produce anything fantastic. I could just have fun playing around with lines and colour.
Gemma-Rose likes drawing even though she says she isn’t very good at it. “I can’t draw faces properly,” she told me.
“Last night, I watched this video…” I began. I told Gemma-Rose how Dina Wakley had shown me exactly how to draw a recognisable face. She even told me how to paint it using shadows and highlights. You know, I might actually try and follow Dina’s instructions while I wait for my book to arrive.
My friend Karla draws faces. Every day I see a new one in my social media feeds. I love her drawings. Looking at them, I think, “I wish I could draw faces.” And maybe I can. With Dina’s help and Jane Davenport’s book which I bought because I saved $26.
I wonder if I really save money buying my groceries online. I save petrol because we live ‘out of town’, and all those trips to and from the shops add up. And I save money because I don’t impulse shop. Do you ever go shopping for 4 items and come home with 20? I do that all the time. But if I did go to town, I could hop from one shop to another, buying a few things here and a few there, depending on who is selling what at a cheaper price. But I hate doing that. It makes my feet sore. And it takes up a lot of time. Is it worth it? Some things are more important than saving a few extra dollars.
Like having time to drink hot chocolate with a daughter on a Saturday morning. I look at Gemma-Rose’s beautiful face and wonder, “Perhaps I can draw a face.”
I’m going to try. Sometimes it’s fun to experiment with new things. Have a go. And not worry about the outcome.
Shopping online, freeing up time to do more important things, pursuing new interests, not worrying about whether I can or I can’t…
These are some of the things I’ve been thinking about today…
