A Good Day

I baked a cinnamon streusel coffee cake early this afternoon.  Then, went to Costco for one or two things and came home with four or five.  (The eggs were $5.79, but that was for a dozen and a half; the Diamond Crystal salt was 37 cents a pound; the pint of Kirkland vanilla, as yet unaffected by the Trump tariffs, was $10; and the Kerry Gold butter and the Rao's marinara sauce both had sale prices that put them below those on supermarket shelves (less than $6 a pound for the former and less than $5 a quart jar for the latter).  

As mentioned above, the coffee cake was made with cinnamon, but our open container of Kirkland (again) cinnamon, although it contained enough for the cake, was at a low level that made it difficult to reach with a measuring spoon.  The answer was readily at hand, though.  

Both PG and I save glass jars just for occasions like this.  There's a shelf in the pantry that holds a dozen or more jelly jars, home canning jars, and other glass containers, and from the stack I picked out one that had held Bonne Maman preserves.  

Maybe a visitor would wonder, but maybe not, if they understood that's how both of us were raised.  Our mothers and fathers had to quit school in their early teens and were thereafter blocked from high-paying jobs, which is why they insisted that their children get as much education as possible.  My mother said again and again that when you had an education, nobody could take it away from you.  

I got there in a roundabout way, which I can attribute to being the first in the family to go to college, but the inexperience that led me to take the scenic route on the road to a diploma also resulted in lasting memories of interesting detours.  That was back when a young person and average student could pay for college with federal grants without signing up for student loan debt.  Any advice I might give now based on that era is as out of date as cookbooks from the 19th Century.

Supper was homemade pizza, washed down with Pepsi, which I've otherwise given up to keep my blood sugar score out of triple digits.  It tasted terrific.  I'll be craving it for days to come.  

Rather than buy Pepsi in bulk, which would be a mighty temptation, I got two cold 20-ounce bottles at Wawa.  The price was $2.59 each, or two 20's for $4.00.  (Don't want to forget that I saw a caramel Lindt bar at Wawa and picked one up for PG.)

That's enough detail about the past day.  Time to go upstairs.

Spring in name only

Wildflowers by a stream, Ringoes, New Jersey, April 4.  Lesser celandine, Google Images claims.  As is customary with most wildflowers I consider attractive, it is considered invasive and is unwelcome in many states.  

I'm grateful to see any sign of spring these days, which have been either gray, damp, and chilly, or bright, dry, windy and cold.

Still at it

Just nothing particularly noteworthy these days.  I'll know it when I see it, and then I'll write about it.

Everything all at once

Early in the week, I ordered some everyday household stuff from Amazon, and on impulse I added a paperback to it.  Then I took a good look at my everyday black shoes and realized it was time to get a new pair.  I'd be curious to know when I bought my first two pair of SAS Time Out.  Wouldn't be surprised to learn it's been 10 years between buys.

Yesterday, part of the order from Amazon arrived early on an Amazon truck, with the rest coming later via UPS.  After that, the SAS shoes were delivered by FedEx.  Neighbors with an inclination toward minding someone else's business got an eyeful of delivery drivers carrying boxes to our front door.  

Next week:  Naming Names paperback arrives via USPS.  That's pretty much all of them, except for DHL.

Neighbor cat

This young lady cat has been visiting us when the weather cooperates.  I'd like to believe that her owners keep her indoors on rainy/snowy days.  But today was warm and mostly sunny, so this morning she stopped by to ask politely for a snack, which we provided.

Once around the neighborhood

Tomorrow, it's supposed to feel springlike, but today was another late-winter day with cold wind throughout.  Not as cold as it has been, granted, but when I decided to go for a walk after finishing off the last of a pint of Graeter's Black Raspberry, I layered up and was glad I did.

Just before the last right turn into the home stretch, I looked across the street and saw two rabbits in the yard of the house on the northwest corner.  Encouraging, as was hearing robins at two separate times during the walk.  

Also heard a favorite song right after walking in to the Macungie Weis (aka the Nice Weis) this afternoon.  PG looked and sounded much better than she has in the weeks since she came down with a virus.  It was a good day, pardon the expression.

Costco Wardrobe

After losing weight, my XL clothes are overly loose.  I picked up long-sleeved Woolrich t-shirts at Costco in size L, which are heavier than the average and which fit well.  When I put them in the closet, I saw two pairs of casual pants and two sweatpants that I realized I'd also found on large flat display tables at the Costco down the street.  Functional good-quality clothing, that's what I'm after.  

Tell you the truth, that long winter underwear in one of those closet cubbies also came from there.