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Errands* & Yard Work – Bummer

Remember: A garden is a thing of beauty and a JOB forever.

* a short trip taken to attend to some business often for another

This morning Paul did not walk…after a glass of champagne with beautiful Sue Paul headed for the hardware store, wine store, shoe repair and the market. OK, the hardware store was Paul’s add-on…it’s like shopping for fun!

But first things first…we got a surprise two days ago.  Someone charged out credit card with $1600 in Amway products. So, we changed card numbers and the bank cancelled the charge…no biggie.  We were liable for only $50 max anyway.  But yesterday, while watching NCIS in the afternoon, we got a delivery.  Paul looked at it and it was two large boxes of vitamin supplements…yes, from Amway!

Is someone trying to tell me something?

The charges were reversed but Paul did not want Amway to be out the money either so he called them and explained the situation.  She was GREAT, called me her superhero for saving the vitimens,  and emailed my return instructions which I printed off.  Setting the two boxes by the mail box, the postman picked them up and returned them to the proper owner.

Amway (short for the American Way) is saved by Paul

Lowe’s was stop number one where some goodies made it into the shopping cart.  I mean, who can be without too many 7 1/4″ diameter saw blades?  Oh, someone how a rubber mallet made its escape from the hardware store in Paul’s shopping bag. And, most importantly, Paul got some “lumber”… 1″x2″ and 2″x2” for some jobs he had lined up! Paul also passed the candle department and came close to bringing home two new fragrances…which he would us only in the garage!

Very hard to resist!

Paul drove down the shopping center parking lot about six stores to go to Total Wine and get two cases of our special non-alcoholic wine.  The brand is St. Regis and it is pretty darned good.

St. Regis wines are not what you would call “non-alcoholic”, but rather wines that have been dealcoholized. They are basically regular wines, from which the alcohol has been extracted without removing the aromas, colour and other qualities that make them unique and provide consumers with an interesting drinking experience. The alcohol is removed from the original product through a state-of-the-art vacuum distillation process. This involves the evaporation of alcohol before bottling the product, resulting in wines with alcohol content that is lower than 0.5%.

Good wine…Healthy wine!

Next stop…shoe store.  Sue loves her shoes and these two pairs have been around for many many years.  The little man who runs the repair shop laughed and said “Your wife must really like these shoes, this is the third time I have replaced the heals”.  He does a wonderful job.

The shoes return to life after his amazing repairs

Finally to the market to get some birthday cards, ice cream and sherbet, and some other little goodies. Yes, the sherbet is for Paul…easier on the calorie count!

Did You Know? The word sherbet enters Italian as sorbetto which later becomes sorbet in French. The first Western mention of sherbet is an Italian reference to something that Turks drink. In the 17th-century, England began importing “sherbet powders” from Ottoman Empire made from dried fruit and flowers mixed with sugar.

By 1662, a coffeehouse in London advertised the availability of “sherbets made in Turkie of Lemons, Roses and Violets perfumed”.

In 1670, Café Procope opened in Paris and began selling sorbet.  (In the modern era sherbet powder is still popular in the UK.)

When Europeans figured out how to freeze sherbet they began making sorbetto by adding fruit juices and flavorings to a frozen simple syrup base. In the US sherbet generally meant an ice milk, but recipes from early soda fountain manuals include ingredients like gelatin, beaten egg whites, cream, or milk.

Now comes the best part of the adventure, coming home to lunch a la’ Sue.  What that lady can do with asparagus and cheese sauce is to die for!  It was amazingly good!

To the yard and specifically the grapefruit tree…love that tree but it is always sop loaded with fruit it droops down and Paul end up walking into the fruit or throwing out his back attempting to avoid the fruit.  1″x2″ to the rescue.  He chopped off the stick at the appropriate length and pushed up the entire branch about 8 inches making room to walk under the tree sans-bopp!  To gussy it up, Paul primed it with white spray paint followed by green paint. 

Easy fix and we can use it again next year!

Time for a movie and some NCIS…we are getting to season eleven so some of the episodes are coming back but not enough to stop watching. Oh, tookies you ask…of course, tookies at 11!

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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