Monday, November 28, 2022

Back Out Into The World


 

I woke up this morning feeling absolutely fine. Whatever little bug that had come to visit didn't stay long for which I am very grateful. So I decided to go get my shopping done. I've been out of Rinse Aid for a week! God knows that is practically an emergency. No one wants spotty dishes, right? 
Oh, there were other things on the list, including eggs. All right. Not to be crass here but for over thirteen years I've only had to buy a few dozen eggs and we always joked that the eggs the hens provided for "free" were actually more expensive than the store bought ones when you added up their feed and the hay we put in the hen house and all of that and now here I am without yard-egg one and eggs at the grocery store are at an all-time high! And out of solidarity for hens, I am buying the organic "free range" ones and those things are more expensive than cocaine! 
Haha. I have no idea how much cocaine costs. Probably far less than eggs but you get my drift. 

When I was at Costco (along with the entire population of a small nation, it appeared) I walked past the bakery area and had a sincere moment of grief for the fact that they're not making fruitcakes anymore. I did love those Costco fruitcakes. But it didn't even cross my mind to consider making one of my own this year. I have no idea why. I have made many fruitcakes. I believe I made some last year. 
But then in Publix I saw an endcap with all the fruitcake stuff on it and I thought, Huh. Well, why not?
So I got some of those horribly vilified candied fruits and they are now up on the shelf, waiting for me to get out the Mrs. Harvey's White Fruit Cake recipe. 
I'm a little excited. 
It is mostly May and I who love the fruitcake. Everyone else thinks we're crazy. A story I probably tell annually is about the year that May and I ate so much fruitcake that Lily freaked out and took it away from us. We're still laughing about that. 
So, making fruitcake is up on the big wheel of things to do, as Lis would say. 
Speaking of Lis, I may get to see her tomorrow. It's a convoluted situation as these things so often are but I hope it works out. I miss that girl so much. 


Do you see those beautiful baby things? They came in a package I got today from...Linda Sue!  They are for Dorothy Anne who definitely needs them as it about to get chilly. Also in the package were two cashmere sweaters with teeny tiny moth holes which I will take great joy in mending. My own pre-worn cashmere sweaters are in tatters. That is not hyperbole. So I am thrilled! As I said recently I haven't found a cashmere sweater in Goodwill in years. 
Linda Sue is the most amazing gift-giver/package-sender in the world. I swear. You can ask Magnolia June if you don't believe me.
Linda e-mailed me yesterday to ask if I'd gotten the package as she'd been notified that it had been delivered on November 22. I told her that no, I had not. The way it works in our post office here in Lloyd is that if there's a package too big to go into your box, you get a slip informing you that they have something in the back for you. 
I had not gotten a slip.
So this morning I asked the post-woman if perhaps there was something for me which somehow I had not been notified about? 
Now I have to tell you that this post-woman is new. I'd never seen her until about a week ago. And not to be judgmental here, but she does not look like a US Postal employee. For one thing, she has neck tattoos. I have nothing against neck tattoos. Just saying that I'm not used to seeing those on the people behind the counter at our post office. Also, today she was wearing a pair of stretchy shorts that may have been tie-dyed and looked like something you might buy in the sleepwear department. And a T-shirt with a completely different pattern on it. 
Anyway, she checks a list and says, "Nope. Nothing." But then she did go actually look and I heard her say, "Oh yes! Here's a package! It must have just come today!"
Sure. Right. OR MAYBE ON NOVEMBER 22ND!
Whatever. I got my package. 
I sure do miss the days when Miss Martha was behind the counter and would call you to tell you that your package had arrived and besides giving excellent postal service, she always had all the latest community news. 

I better go make our supper. I am going to go cook some very fresh grouper which is a beautiful and delicious fish and if bought in a store or fish market, costs more than EGGS! So of course it also costs more than cocaine. 
I did the math. 

Love...Ms. Moon




34 comments:

  1. That Linda Sue is a treasure, a treashuah! Great parcels, when they get there. I'm glad you're well again. I'm the only person I know around here who likes fruitcake and it's such a faff to make, also expensive, even the expensive cocaine runs it close. So I don't.
    I expect we'll get pictures of you and May chowing down.

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  2. Glad I thought about the parcel- not like you to keep it a secret so surely the post office has failed yet again. So relieved that it is in your possession now! There is nothing that works as well as cashmere for keeping the chill away. It is gold!!
    Are we assuming that your lost little hen has done gone?

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    1. fruitcake YES !! that is my favorite thing to eat , I ate so much last year that I got sores in my mouth...extreme!

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    2. Cashmere is so perfect for many of the winter days here. It is so lightweight and so warm at the same time. We don't generally need big thick coats but cashmere, alone or in a layer, makes for a cozy warmth.
      My little hen is gone. She is definitely gone.

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  3. Yep I think you did make a fruitcake last year. And as a huge fan girl of tradition I'm thrilled and looking forward to another fruitcake this year 😀

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    1. Haha! Jill, I think you know more about my history than I do.

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  4. I bought several brands of free-range eggs over a two year period to discover which ones I liked best and of course it is the most expensive ones that have the best taste, so I still eat eggs for dinner a few times a week, but I don't bake as much as I used to, because of the price. I will have to look up cashmere sweaters. The knitted things for Dorothy Ann are so very sweet. Linda Sue is "good people".

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    1. Of course the more natural, organic, free-ranged the eggs, the better they are! With the prices to match. I'm with you. I'd rather eat less of higher quality than more of poorer quality.
      If you can find cashmere in thrift stores, you have found a treasure indeed!
      Linda Sue is a treasure in and of herself.

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  5. Forgot to say I'm the only person in my entire extended family that likes fruit cake, so each year at Christmas I buy just a small box of pre-cut slices for myself.

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  6. jan jones Yeppoon AustraliaNovember 28, 2022 at 10:41 PM

    In Yorkshire, which is where I am from originally, we put a slice of tasty cheese on our piece of fruit cake. Delicious! I have converted many an Aussie sceptic ! Give it a go I dare you. :)

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    1. Yes, slice of wensleydale, slice of Christmas cake, glass of good cheer for every visitor in North Yorkshire

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    2. What sort of a cheese is Wensleydale? Is there one sold here that is similar? I can look this up. I believe you, Jan.

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  7. Hmm. I might have a go at baking a fruit cake. How hard can it be?
    Linda Sue is amazing. She also has your address which must be hard to come by.
    Husband reckons that our home grown veges are the most expensive in the world considering how much money was outlaid to purchase the fancy schmancy containers (our soil is terrible and our ground gets sodden when it rains). I don't care. They still taste the best. As do home grown eggs.

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    1. Baking a fruit cake is not hard at all. I promise you. And if you google
      "Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake recipe," I am sure you can find the recipe I basically use.
      We've often said that our vegetables are the most expensive. And I'm sure they are. But dang it- they're worth it!

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  8. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't quite know or missed why you don't have chickens anymore? And, we get strangely dressed postal delivery folks here as well -- is their uniform not mandatory? I do not know.

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    1. Oh, Elizabeth- between a fox and raccoons and possums, all of my chickens have been eaten. This has been ridiculously hard for us.
      And no, I guess the PO doesn't require uniforms anymore. Or perhaps the people who work in Lloyd just figure no one's going to care.

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  9. The post office employee might have been a new hire for the Christmas rush. My ex's cousin was employed one time as a mail carrier for November/December. Said she lost 10 lbs in weight with all the walking she had to do! And Linda Sue surely is a beautiful gift giver. That looks like something my mom would have knitted! I hope Dorothy Anne is appreciative!

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    1. This postal employee doesn't have to do very much at all. Sit at the desk and look at her phone after she's filled the boxes, basically.

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  10. We have young friends with a toddler girl and another on the way. We love buying presents for Dulcie - guess it reminds us of ours as little ones too.

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    1. Yes. Buying presents for little ones is a joy.

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  11. Did Miss Martha recently retire? Why do you have a new post office person? I agree, that package has been hanging around in the back and hopefully Ms. Tie-Dye will take this as a learning experience.

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    1. Miss Martha has been gone for yonks. She still lives down the street but I rarely see her. She must be suffering from the lack of gossip that comes her way.
      I do not have great hopes for Ms. Tie-Dye.

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  12. So the last chicken went missing I guess. My yoga class is on hiatus until after New Years and I've been getting my eggs from one of the women in the class...$2 a doz! So now I'm wondering how I'm going to get eggs. I'll have to make a special trip out there I guess.

    It's amazing how common and accepted tattoos have become. Except for Buckee's (highway pit stop), no visible tattoos or piercings allowed for their employees.

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    1. I see tattoos on many employees at lots of places but I'm pretty sure I'd never seen a neck tattoo on a postal employee.
      It'll probably be worth it to make a special trip to buy eggs. Get two dozen at a time. They'll last.

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  13. You are in top form, doing math and all!
    My mum loved fruit cake and near the end of her life, I made the fruitcake. I always fed it with rum and mum loved it, nothing to do with the rum I'm sure:)
    I also missed what happened to the last chicken, death I'm assuming, poor thing, poor Ms. Moon. Sending hugs.

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    1. Yes! My math skills are impressive, aren't they?
      I use rum on the wrappings of my fruitcakes but that is truly not my favorite part. Don't get me wrong- I do love rum- but mostly in a glass.
      Yes. Our last hen died last week. It's a sadness.

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  14. No fruitcake for me thank you but that's good because then there is more for you! I have to start my Christmas lists and start shopping soon as the weeks will fly by!
    Glad you are feeling better - it was your yummy soup that cured you! :)

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    1. I think it was my soup that cured me. I sure did get better fast.
      And yes, thank you. I will eat all your fruitcake.

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  15. I'm making fruitcake again this year too. Using my great grandma's recipe. (Which as it turns out, is the fruitcake recipe she found on a jar of nonesuch mincemeat.)

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    1. A fruitcake recipe on a jar of mincemeat? How odd! And guess what? I adore mincemeat pie, too. Haven't had one in years.

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  16. oh, that Linda Sue! Yes, lovely gifts she sends....... all gorgeous made and collected from loving hands. Your grouper dinner sounds divine. Fruitcake also, and seems you are prepared. It's hard to find good candied citron, etc nowadays........but you are ready! Think I've mentioned this before....but when my dear long departed friend Bette died....... without ever divulging (prior to, or after her death by rummaging through her recipes) her fruitcake recipe that was the best I ever ate EVER, I still both mourn her loss.......and the loss of that darned recipe that seemed only to be in her own brain... Darn that dear Bette!
    Susan M

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    1. Well, I am sorry that Bette went to the grave with her recipe. Look up "Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake" to see if that sounds like it could be it. It is a hugely popular homemade fruitcake recipe.
      Linda Sue is amazing.

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