Well, Daughters, that ol' birthday will be rolling around again soon...

And this way, I can get at least seven hits on this post. So here's a partial list. I'm not greedy, I just like to give you lots of variety to choose from.

The exquisite Nordic Ware "Heritage" Bundt pan. Available here. 

Le Cuistot Vieille 8L Oval Dutch Oven (Red).
Available AND ON SALE RIGHT NOW! (no pressure) here. 

Cuisinart 3 Qt Dutch Oven (blue)
Available here. 

Cool plant stand from IKEA. Available…where else?

The Moody Blues' best album.
 Amazon (or elsewhere if you can find it cheaper. Or at all.)

Yeah, that's really what it costs.
(But hey, it's come down. It was $47 when I put it on my Wish List.)

Available pretty much everywhere.
(Should I publicly admit that I haven't read this book yet? )

Yep.

All my life I've longed for one of these…
Amazon again.  (Some cheese knives would be nice too.)








And so would some cheese! You know that I like everything, especially Brie.





Wine and chocolate are also perfectly acceptable birthday gifts.


 


And then there's... 

Because my capacity for self-delusion KNOWS NO BOUNDS
(If I'd lost a pound for every dollar I've spent on fitness clothing, equipment, and DVDs… )
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Who designed Amazon's search engine?

Possibly one of the Coen brothers. I entered "1930s dress" because I like vintage fashions. Like these:

This was one of the search results.

Yep, the weather knows it's Friday the 13th.

I woke up to a yard covered in frost. And yesterday it was snowing. Which wouldn't be quite so surreal if it hadn't been +30 C (86 F) a week ago. Last week, I mowed the lawn; now I have to wait for it to thaw out. Climate change indeed. 

 My hot pink Geranium is pushing out more blooms. 

I'll have to take solace in that until things start blooming outside. 

Clever marketing or FALSE ADVERTISING?

I say the latter. It's moderately disappointing to grab the jar from the fridge thinking you're going to get real mayo on your sandwich, only to find that you accidentally bought knock-off Miracle Whip. And LIGHT on top of it all (which means it's half water)! 

I say it's devious labelling. My daughters say, "Mom, when you're shopping for groceries, WEAR YOUR READING GLASSES."

Did the floral dictionary have an entry for Black Calla Lily?

If so, its meaning was probably on the morbid side. "Armed with floral dictionaries" LOL. Those Victorians… you gotta love em. (It really doesn't take a genius PhD in Gender Studies to see that 'repressed sexuality' and floral dictionaries were far more romantic [and sexy] than Miley Cyrus swinging naked on a wrecking ball… but I digress. We need a lot more repression these days, that's all I know.) 

As for the flowers, they are sublime. Received them from my daughters for Mother's Day. Thanks, girls. They are exquisite. The camera-phone cannot do them justice. I hope I don't kill them. I also received a gift certificate from the Paderno store. I killed that quickly enough. Details to follow. 

Let me fix that subtext for you...

So now Walmart is charging for bags. Because you know, it's not enough that they have TAKEN OVER THE EARTH (at least, all the parts where commerce and trade happen); now they want to save it too! Rah, rah, sis boom bah. 

Fixed: "Together we can reduce continue to use plastic bags waste to keep but YOU'LL have to pay for them; we really couldn't care less about our planet healthier!"
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I've got my share of goofy postal stories

And this one rates an honourable mention. My daughter sent a package from Germany which was air-mailed March 1. "Air" mailed, as in, it flew in an airplane (not "air", as in what was principally occupying the cranium of the German postal worker who handled it). It took an entire month to reach us. And no wonder. It flew to Indonesia first. Cuz, you know: JAKARTA.... SASKATCHEWAN. Anyone could make that mistake. They both have a K and some A's in the middle. 

It doesn't pay to taunt

The daughters insisted on having Sticky Cinnamon Buns for Easter Sunday this year, so (as usual) I spent a good chunk of Holy Saturday baking. My eldest and her hubby couldn't come home for Easter, so I decided to rub it in and send her a pic of the buns before they went into the oven. (Yes, Virginia, that pan on the left is a turkey roaster.) 

Unfortunately, I didn't do a very good job of distributing the gooey sauce between the pans, which is what makes them come out when you flip over the pans. The roaster released the buns well enough.

The other two pans, not so much.  I had to scratch and claw them out. Not pretty, but they were still edible.

Passive Aggression 101

How to complain about schoolwork, without really complaining about school work. Note sentences 2 and 6. 

Our town was so poor...

We couldn't afford a third 'N'. 

Dictionaries: they weren't that hard to come by, not even in 1967. Now of course, there is how-do-you-spell.com.
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Blogging in bed

It can be done. Trying to post using my smartphone. This might revolutionize my life. And while I'm at it, I might as well get some virtual decluttering done. Blurn, do you want this mug? If yes I'll save it for when you move back to Canada. If not, I'll give it to one of our assorted Chris-nephews. Either way, I'm gonna free it from Mom's overcrowded china cabinet. It's time.

Why I quit blogging

Happiness is a hot pink Geranium

Well, I DIDN'T! APRIL FOOLS. Which is a funny thing to say in May. But what can be said about Procrastination? I don't know... I'll think about it, and let you know in a few days. I have many excuses for having taken a break. They include: life, Lent, homeschooling and family stuff, international crises, laziness, procrastination, health issues, ageing parents, and (perhaps most crucially, for logistical reasons) a computer that won't work properly (for months, I couldn't access the "New Post" page, which is kind of important when trying to write New Posts). Issues are still pending on that score--my Mac needs some work. Mr. P bought a new desktop PC on which I can blog, but I really don't like the thing. The keyboard feels foreign and awkward, and the screen is so big, I feel small, naked and lost in front of it. And if there's one thing you should avoid at all costs when blogging, it's nudity.

But I felt I owed my faithful readers an explanation for the long absence, so now you both know what's been going on. Sort of. Happy spring.
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