Confessions of a Grandma

 The things you forget when you live alone! And then someone moves in and life seems lovely, but then you start to remember. Little things pop up. Things you didn't have to deal with for a while. Okay, apparently I have a type and that type happens to be obsessive compulsive disorder. Don rearranged my spices!!! This of course started a huge discussion. Should spices be stored in alphabetical order (as God clearly intended) or should they be stored with like containers side by side? Relationships are all about compromise, aren't they? So I am going to put the like containers into alphabetical order.

 I emailed Dove on their customer care page and received a quick response. They are sending a postage-paid box so I can return the product.  I have always loved the original Dove bar soap. It reminds me of my grandmother's house! It made me happy that the company was responsive. And, yes, although I keep liquid soap around for the sake of my grandchildren, I still much prefer bars of soap for my own use. "OK, Boomer!" Maybe it's just my skin. During the COVID shutdown I was making my own body cream by melting shea butter and coconut oil, then whipping it up with my mixer. That was lovely, but time consuming -- but maybe worth setting aside some time. I have those two ingredients -- one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. Shea butter is wonderful for my feet, really keeps the calluses under control!

 I can't say that I am a particularly brand-loyal shopper. I try different brands depending on what is available or what has been heavily advertised (I hate to admit) or what's on sale. When it comes to body lotions, I have found that I like Gold Bond for effectiveness and Nivea for texture.  Recently, though, I grabbed Dove because it was right there on the end aisle at Walmart, and I was too lazy   busy to go looking for the other brands. Mistake! I really, really don't like it. I don't like the way it smells. I don't like the thick sticky feel. I don't like the way it coats my skin taking too long to absorb. This is what it looks like after rubbing and rubbing. It took a full minute to sink in and disappear -- then left my skin feeling like a wax injected cucumber! I wouldn't mind so much if my skin didn't feel dry and itchy within hours. Maybe I can use it for shaving lotion or maybe I can mix it with some oil? Maybe I will just go buy some trusty Go...

 I look out my kitchen window at a hibiscus bush in bloom. It's always had light, peachy colored blossoms,  but today I noticed a much darker blossom. I've never seen this darker color on that bush before. Should I suspect something going on with the neighborhood pollinators?

 Don is a Bruins hockey fan. He had season tickets to the University of Vermont hockey games before COVID, but he'd never had the opportunity to see a professional team play in person. When he saw that the Boston Bruins were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning during his Florida stay -- well, tickets were purchased. We drove to Tampa last Friday morning and spent some time in the Tampa Harley shop -- the tee shirt thing -- and the Orange County Choppers Museum next door, which is definitely not my kind of place, so we left. Now, my late husband had a shop that specialized in antique American motorcycle restoration, and I have spent plenty of time at swap meets and around biker enthusiasts. But really, this place was like breathing toxic energy.  A bit of city site seeing along the harbor and riverwalk, then we checked into our hotel room before going to the arena. We got Cuban sandwiches for our supper and people watched befor e the doors opened. We found our seats. There are no b...

  My recall of Easter growing up is a mixed bag. It is not my favorite holiday but there are some fond memories, and many of those are around food. My mother did nothing but cook and go to church for the entire week before Easter. Oh, and clean the house until it sparkled.  All the food had to be prepared by Saturday so that the priest could come to our house and bless the food which would be set out on an embroidered tablecloth on the dining room table. This is a Ukrainian tradition.   Ours was very similar to this but with a plain white top. My mother made this bread, braided Paska. Sometimes she also made these in cleaned soup cans. There was always kilbasa. My grandfather made his own so store bought was never the same. A baked ham -- Harrington's since there smoke house was down the street. Butter was molded in a bowl and decorated with an imprinted design. Grated beets mixed with horseradish Dyed hard boiled eggs decorated with a wax resist, of course. And this mold...