Sugar

When I was little, back in the early seventies, there was a sugar shortage. As far as I can tell, a lot of the shortage happened because people thought that there was going to be a shortage and bought extra sugar 'just in case' which led to a serious sugar shortage.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon, on Unsplash

My late grandmother was an expert shopper and dedicated to her craft. She spent her life shopping. As she passed in 1987, it was before the age of internet shopping, but her normal week looked a little like this. Monday she called into Ellesmere Port, to visit her brother (and possibly pick up any shopping). Tuesday she went to Birkenhead. Wednesday she stayed in and did washing and baking. Thursday she went to Wrexham and Friday she was back at Ellesmere Port to catch up with her brother again. Saturday she visited Chester and on Sunday she went back to Chester to attend church. To those unfamiliar with the area, she covered three counties in two countries (Cheshire, Merseyside and Clwyd in England and Wales). She spent hours travelling for shopping, and worked hard for those bargains.

My late grandmother was also a communicator. She talked to everyone. If you sat next to her on the bus (and all this shopping was done through the bus), you would not be able to escape her conversation. She talked at bus stops and on corners and she always chatted to the shop staff. She knew all the gossip, all about their families and always asked about people. I should add that she wasn't a malicious gossip and even after my parent's vile divorce would not allow anyone to talk badly about father (her son-in-law) in front of me. She had a wonderfully generous heart and no doubt had passed on coupons and tips to half of the area. She did her best.

And her best included shopping. As the sugar shortage bit, shoppers were, if I remember, unofficially rationed to a bag a shopper. Most people only called into one grocers, so that had some effect. My grandmother, however, never limited herself to just one grocer. Between the various Kwik Saves, Co-ops and Safeways, my grandmother tottered from shop to shop, where she knew everyone, laden with illicit bags of sugar and the latest gossip about who said what to who when they met up at the wedding of the woman who lived at No 52.

We ended up with a sugar mountain. Box after drawer after cupboard was pressed into service. Grandmother, being out for all she could give, happily donated some of the foothills of the sugar mountain to friends and family, but it didn't make a serious dent despite her best efforts. I should point out that no-one in the family took sugar in their tea or coffee. I should also mention that while my grandmother was a wonderful woman in so many ways, she was not a gifted cook. Every Wednesday she made scones (which were sublime) and pies (which had great fillings and extremely grim pastry). She didn't use much sugar there. Fortunately they had a very large garden, a dozen gooseberry bushes, several plum trees and a swathe of blackberries, raspberries and blackcurrants. My grandmother made a lot of jam, kilos and kilos of the stuff. In fact, the jam mountain kept my grandfather and uncle in jam for a few years after she passed. And we were still using up the sugar mountain.

As I'm watching the news about the stockpiling and toilet paper and sanitiser issues, I'm reminded so much of my grandmother. She never knew bear, of course, which is sad, as she would have doted on him. She never even knew DH, which is also sad. She would have driven him half mad with incessant talking and knitted him a sweater (she was a constant knitter). There are times when I miss her so much. And when I remember how long the sugar mountain lasted, I can't help but wondering how many people will be surrounded by unexpected ramparts of piled toilet rolls long after this crisis has passed.

And also, I'm reminded that the bag of white granulated sugar I bought over a year ago has almost run out.

Hugs to all.