Monday, January 28, 2019

Bits And Pieces

My oldest friend whom I met in the 6th grade, which means we've known each other since Christ pooped his diaper, called me this morning. It was awesome. We caught up with family and stuff and as always, there is a sense of the continuation of the fifty-something year conversation we've been having since Girl Scouts and slumber parties where we all watched The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and tried different Slicker lipsticks.


Just the sight of that case makes me swoon. I think that if I could smell a Slicker lipstick it would kill me with the overwhelming nostalgia it would produce. 

Anyway, yeah, we've known each other a long time and we had some laughs and we ended our very, very long conversation with "I love you's!" and they were heartfelt. 

And then. 
AND THEN...
It was time to venture out of Lloyd for the first time in well over a week. I did go to the Hilltop yesterday but that's only about four miles away. 
Mr. Moon's been great about stopping at Publix to pick up what we needed while I was sick but he's not the grocery buyer in the family, I am, and as such it's hard to simply write out a list without the need for many explanations and so forth and so I've just been asking him for the basics and it was time to replenish the pantry. 
Not that I have a pantry but you know what I mean. 

So I went to Publix. MY Publix. Anyone who lives in a town with multiple Publixes finds themselves at different ones sometimes but we almost all have what we consider to be our own Publixes where we know the employees and can find everything on the shelves blind-folded. MY Publix is the Publix where Lily works so I also have the benefit, when I shop there, of employees being extra friendly to me, knowing that I am Lily's mama. Which I like. 
The first thing that happened was that I was standing by the BOGO bins contemplating buying some Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. There was a big guy standing across from me, doing the same thing. He was somewhat hairy and wore a ball cap and as I said, he was largish. Being my friendly self I said something like, "If I buy these for my husband he will love me so much but he'll also fuss at me because he doesn't think he should eat them."
The guy looked at me and said, "Yeah, but you'll be the heroine if you do! Plus- buy one get one free!"
"I know," I sighed, and got two bags and put them in the cart. 
And then, something happened. I do not know how it happened but somehow between the BOGO's and the imported cheeses, which is a distance of about fifteen feet, he decided that he should probably tell me how he makes his own bacon from pork butts. 
Okay. 
And then he did. Which took at least ten minutes and of course I'll never remember what he told me as it involved many ingredients for a rub and X-amount of time for curing and for smoking and on and on. Pictures from his phone were involved. He was so enthusiastic that I just couldn't be rude to him. After he told me all about the bacon, he gave me a lagniappe on how he makes his venison jerky and oh, something else which involved London broil. 
"My, you certainly do love to cook!" I said. I did not add "meat" but that appeared to be his main interest.
"I don't look like this because I'm just a spectator!" he said with not a small amount of pride. 

And so there was that and I finally got away to shop only to discover that in the time I've been gone from real life they have completely rearranged the placement of almost every damn thing in the store. The first aisle, where there used to be canned vegetables and spaghetti sauces and pasta and rice and beans was now the BREAKFAST aisle. 
WHAT THE FUCK!?
It wasn't the end of the world or anything but it was disconcerting. 
And by the time I got out of the store I'd been there an hour. 

After that I rushed home and put everything away and ate my lunch and did some ironing, got the clothes off the line, gathered the eggs, picked a few greens from the garden and unloaded the dishwasher. 

And now, I am tired. I'm not back to full-speed yet by any means although I feel SO much better.  

I am going to cook with a recipe tonight. I have thawed an entire lovely red snapper and am going to attempt this. 


It's a New York Times recipe for whole fish with soy and citrus. I bought myself a subscription to their cooking newsletter and recipes and I am enjoying that so much. As I have said before, the hardest part of cooking for me is always figuring out what to cook and this helps. 

And that's the news from Lloyd today where it was another gorgeous day although I see it's going to rain tomorrow and get down into the twenties tomorrow night. 
Whoa!
Well, it is winter, after all and when I read about the temperatures they're experiencing in the midwest I have to wonder how anyone there survives. I couldn't. 

And now I believe I've talked enough. Let me know if you have anything to say. I'd love that. 

Ms. Moon




30 comments:

  1. I feel you must tire of me......but I never tire of you or your life! Connecting with your friend and the nostagia of the slicker lipstick had me smiling....... the scent of it would just almost kill you, I fear. Scents are like that. And your publix experience....... lordy, every other time at market here for me is similar....one just never knows what or whom you will encounter....and it is always an interesting addition to ones day. Your snapper dinner? Looks like Cozumel to me.....I think that is what you are shooting for? May it be divine
    Susan M

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    1. Turns out after reading my comments that every grocery store in the world changes their shelves regularly. This is so we have to go searching and in doing so, we see different things which hey! Maybe we'll buy!
      Ah, the fish I had in Cozumel was different and I have to say, superior to this fish. Oh well.
      And I NEVER tire of anyone's comments! Trust me! I love them and the people who leave them, you very much included, Susan.

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  2. oh how i hate it when the grocery store rearranges the aisles. I feel like they do it just to mess me up, and mess me up it does!

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    1. I was saying today that for someone with memory issues these changes could be really, really hard and for the rest of us it's just sort of inconvenient. But they do it for a reason. THEIR reason.

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  3. I looked at the photo of lipsticks here and I swear every teen age babysitter I had as a little kid had those things...the management of stores change things around to make you stay there longer and buy more. I'm one of those asshole customers who goes in with a list and buys only what is on it and I always try to get out in under 30 minutes...I was born without a shopping gene.

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    1. I go in with a list too but I admit I get a lot more than what's on it because I generally get inspired by different things to make meals with. I don't have much of a shopping gene but I do have one.

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  4. That lipstick case took me back to the time I spent in Sharrow's Drug Store in Columbus WI contemplating which frosted shade of pink I would buy. Loved it. And, being in WI, we are expecting wind chills up to -65 tomorrow night and I'm hoping that all the furnaces work and the animals and birds find a warm spot and homeless people find a warm shelter. Schools are closed through Wednesday. It's going to be a gobsmacking couple of days. I'm so glad I don't have to go to work anymore.

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    1. Oh my god. That's just not something I can even imagine. How in the world could any heating system keep your house warm in such temperatures? Please stay safe.
      Glad you remembered the Slicker!

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  5. Well, I don't make bacon from pork butts, and I sure don't do as much in an afternoon as you do. I do like reading about it, though. When I was a young 'un, for a nickle or a dime we could buy a tiny tube of lipstick at the five and dime. They were in a brass colored case and I think (in old age retrospect) they were samples that an enterprising shopkeeper was turning into cash. Geeze they were tiny; the length of the last joint of a finger, and half the diameter.
    As for the weather, I'm glad it's not there.



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    1. The last house we lived in before this one came with a few things that the woman of the house just had not thrown away. Included in that were a few of those old tiny samples! I'm sort of sorry I threw them out. I hung on to them for awhile but then tossed them, knowing I'd never do anything with them.

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  6. Slicker lipstick and Heaven Scent cologne ~ ahhhhhh, youth!

    I laughed at “MY” Publix ~ we say the same thing here in St. Augustine...and when you said you know where everything is on the shelves I thought, “Yeah, that’s all fine and good ‘til the day you go in and they’ve moved everything around.” Then I read on. Oops!

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    1. Heaven Scent. Or Windsong. Remember that one?
      Lily informs me that they change up the aisles every five years and every ten years they do a major change-up. So now you know.

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    2. Well, because I love Publix, I reckon I can deal with that!

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  7. In my closet I have a basket full of mementos from my youth. It includes a tube of, mostly used, Yardley Slicker lipstick. It's a soft, frosted pink, I believe the color was "Good Morning" but the name is long since rubbed off. I take it out every year or so and take a deep sniff. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, slams me back to my early teens like that smell! The nostalgia is overwhelming. I swear, if I heard Tommy James and the Shondells' Crimson and Clover while smelling it, I would somehow be magically transported back to 1969. Transcendent, I tell ya!
    I was at Whole Foods recently and 2 biker guys were in the produce section discussing a recipe of some sort and buying large amounts of horseradish root, turmeric root, ginger root, onions, garlic. I was intrigued and had to ask what they were making. I got a tutorial on the making and benefits of "Fire Cider". I had never heard of it, so it was interesting to hear but they did go on for quite a while. Swore that it keeps them healthy. Maybe I should check it out.
    I'm beginning to hear the first drops of rain outside and soon it will change to snow and continue to do that until morning. 3 to 5 inches. High today was in the 60's, high tomorrow 28 with a 15 mph north wind. This is the deep South, so NO! Your commenter, Dianne, makes me feel ashamed for complaining but as you know, we are not acclimated for this shit. Surely I will survive. One plus is I get to see the magic and wonder in my granddaughter's eyes at seeing her first snow.
    That fish sounds amazing, hope it was. Ok, ramble over...
    Eat soup. Stay warm. This too will pass.

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    1. You go ahead and complain. This shit is affecting everyone. But, maybe, just a tad, more here than there, it's quite depressing. I like your post, you can find me on FB as Dianne Mauth Daines. Let's talk.

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    2. No. No, no, NO! Too cold!
      When you mentioned Tommy James and the Shondells' Crimson and Clover I WAS immediately thrown back in time. Oh my god.
      Stay warm!

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  9. Supermarkets steal DAYS of our lives. Days and days. Mine is in the middle of a SIX WEEK refurb. The laundry stuff that makes my eyes itch and burn is currently beside the potatoes. Six weeks!

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    1. That seems ridiculous. Publix manages to do it in a week. Bad placement of potatoes, I must say.

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  10. Are supermarkets getting a tax write off or something because our neighborhood supermarket is also just finishing up a (four month!) renovation during which we never knew where anything was. It was a source of much conversation and consternation among neighbors! I rather love the tone of this post, the busy engagement with life, but my word woman, you are as industrious as a farmer. That slicker lipstick took me right back but the smell that really makes me swoon for my youth is coconut oil as we used to slather it on ourselves as a tanning aid at the beach. Turns out we were just cooking ourselves but the smell still makes the years fall away and I’m back there on MY beach, with all the people who made that time so exciting, all my crushes on slightly older boys and girls who were just too cool for school and let chubby awkward mostly silent me hang around. Whoa, didn’t know I would go there! That slicker lipstick did it.

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    1. Four months! Did they rebuild the place? How can that happen? And I'm sure it was a hot topic of conversation. It would be here.
      I would love to get my hands on some Sea'n'Ski suntan lotion or some Coppertone. I'm sure they would evoke exactly what you're talking about for me.

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  11. I didn't wear makeup for long, maybe 3 or 4 years, but I'm pretty sure I had that lipstick! it is good to get out and get things accomplished after you've been laid up. and yeah, what the fuck is it with grocery stores that they have to rearrange things all the time.

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    1. It's so that we'll have to hunt for what we need, thus noticing things we usually just skip over. It worked for me. I'm sure I bought a lot of stuff I didn't need.

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  12. That exact Slicker listick case stood on my dresser for ages! Oh, how I loved looking at it, and I actually only wore it twice when I snuck out to a party! I am also in Wisconsin and it’s damn cold here! There is ice forming on the inside of the doorframes and windows that face the wind. I can’t complain, cuz I love the view but this is nuts! Thank heavens for home heating devices that work! It is fun to have an excuse to cozy up with a quilt and hot tea and a good book, though! Lookin at the bright side!

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  13. Ooh, the snapper recipe looks good.

    In my town I have MY Kroger. And they recently rearranged it and got rid of the natural foods section to boot. Not pleased.

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  14. And this is why I never initiate conversations with strangers! LOL!

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  15. Well bless your heart Ms Moon - that will teach you to be friendly to strangers. But really, I bet he loved talking to you. I get your irritation about the store being rearranged. They remodeled and completely changed my Aldi a few months ago and I hate it and may never get over it. As I type this the temp is -27 and windchill is -47. It is unbelievable. Thankfully this is a once a generation thing.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.