respublica

Snow coming

It seems we will never get through the empty grocery shelves. We are in the stores in big numbers constantly. Every time I drive past Schnucks the parking lot is full, the same is true for the Walmart Neighborhood Market. Aldi's not so much.

Yesterday I needed one thing to go with our supper-grated parmesan cheese. Schnucks was filled with shoppers, employees trying to fill shelves and countless Insta-Cart personal shoppers. The one thing I needed was gone. The parmesan cheese I usually get across from the deli was sold out except for the chunks made for do it yourself grating. I went to the very back of the store where the more name brand cheeses are located and after bending and stooping and raising up on tip toes I saw one last tub of grated parmesan. But it was on the top shelf and all the way back against the wall. I could not reach it no matter how many things I tried. I was about to go to the cleaning product aisle and grab a broom  to try and slide it down. But finally I sucked up my nerve and asked the first tall man I saw if he'd reach it for me and he graciously did.

All this is mentioned because tomorrow night an Wednesday this area is supposedly getting a snow event that won't just be a dusting. Maybe. This sends everyone out to the store again and after the many empty shelf spaces I saw yesterday I doubt the employees will be able to stock fast enough to satisfy everyone heading for the store.

The oddest items are gone-the peanuts we like to have around, cream cheese, Chex Mix, many cuts of meat, milk. There is plenty of wine and beer and sodas, olives, tuna. The biggest issue is supposed the supply chain and I can kind of understand that, but boy, do we all eat the exact same things.

We are wearing ourselves out dealing with food to eat at home.

Sunday morning 10 a.m.

We've been to church and home and still no Sunday papers at 10. We have no idea what the reason for the late delivery, but it's becoming tiresome. Maybe the local papers have gone to afternoon publishing.

Update:

And...it's now 11. Still no papers at our house or the neighbor's.

11:30 the papers finally arrived.

 

The Tally is back

So far this year 8 mattresses and 8 ladders have fallen onto St. Louis highways.

Last year the final total was: Ladders 84 and Mattresses 64

Best frozen pizza?

I am really really weary of making a real meal each night for dinner. I've run out of ideas and want something easy. So my thoughts turned to pizza, the frozen kind. I know there are delivery and carry out pizza places making good ones, but I am not ready for us to eat something made by someone we do not know. Call me ridiculous, I don't care.

I started googling "best frozen pizzas" and found a lot of snobbishness from sites recommending certain types. This page from Food Network writers, for instance, went down in the weeds with way too many recommendations of pizzas which don't even seem like pizzas. For instance: Banza Chickpea Crust Cheese Frozen Pizza. Yikes. The Milton's Cauliflower Crust Uncured Pepperoni Pizza. What's with vegetable crusts? Amy's Cheese Pizza made with Organic Flour and Tomatoes. I've eaten Amy's stuff before, not really crazy about them. And what is organic Flour anyway?

Then came this: Simple Truth Goat Cheese and Beet sauce pizza with flavorful cubes of butternut squash on top. Forgive me, this is not pizza. Finally a recommendation which actually seems like a real pizza. Newman's Own All Natural Thin and Crispy Uncured Pepperoni Pizza. I may go for this, but not totally convinced.

Walmart and Schnucks have loads of frozen pizzas. One we've had before is the Chicago Home Run Inn Pizza which is good but not that good for Chicago. I've also liked some of the fresh pizzas sold in any number of stores.

DiGiorno gets many props from pizza people, But Newman's Own ranks up there as does Freschetta

I think I just have to go to one of the stores and pick one.

Words to describe almost everything these days

I came across a link to a story on comments made by a Canadian psychologist talking about climate change. I didn't read the article out of indifference, but the comment made about him by climate scientists made me laugh because it could be used in any number of circumstances.

"This was a word salad of nonsense."

Useful directed toward cable news people, politicians, covid experts and on and on.

Best Nuts

We have taken to having a couple bowls of nuts out on the coffee table all the time these days. We have two kinds-regular peanuts (Schnucks roasted and salted extra large Virginia Peanuts) which are very very tasty. The other is the Culinaria Gourmet Blend of mixed nuts. Both are very very good. We grab some as we pass through the room or while watching TV.

At the moment the Collinsville Schnucks is out of the Virginia Peanuts and has been for about a week. Today I am going to (maybe) go over to the Schnucks near the seminary and St. Marys Hospital to see if they have any. That store is not like the others, more items, more selections, more variety. It may be because they get a lot of business from those at the hospital as well as 3 universities all in a row along Big Bend. Wash U especially.

This article on nuts today interested me-Almonds versus Walnuts- which is better for you? The can of Gourmet Nuts we get is just loaded with Almonds, maybe too many for our liking. I kind of laugh because a couple of years ago Almonds were in short supply. The other nuts in this can are about everything but peanuts. The article seems to believe both Almonds and Walnuts have great benefits, just different.

So eat more nuts! What can't they do?

Get more sleep Illinois

Another study, take it for what it's worth. This study looked into how much sleep people in every state get each night and Illinois was second with the fewest hours. Michigan people get the least amount of hours of sleep each night. Illinois people get an average of 5 hours and 57 minutes each night. Minnesota people get the most while averaging 8 hours and 57 minutes.

I'm not sure this means much, but I know the survey-ers did not ask us.

Want a new hobby?

It's January, a new year, and things slow down after the holidays. It often seems like that days seem longer and cold which makes us kind of restless for something different to do. Well, along comes this article with ideas on new hobbies.

Let me just say I would not try most of these which makes me wonder just who would. For instance: Get an electric bike on which you can explore your area.

Also take up knitting;the repetitive hand motions of knitting are rhythmic, and people love to zen out during a knit-sesh. If you go to the link, take a look at the humongous, fat, blanket someone knitted. I mean, seriously, this blanket made me laugh.

Take up skateboarding to give your core a workout.  Sorry, my skateboard days are well past.

And here's a great one: Take up axe throwing!

And finally needle felting what ever that is.

What ever happened to wood working or gardening?

 

Current trendy colors

When it comes to clothes trendy colors pop up and then fall away. But if you are a woman, and these new trendy colors seem geared to us, well, here you go. Here are the 3 colors you need if you want to look trendy. The link shows the colors on actual clothes.

Bubble gum pink.

Moss green-I am not inclined at all to wear this color, it just looks depressing to me

Chocolate brown

Of the 3, I might wear a version of the pink

When it comes to paint colors, here are a couple of colors of the year from various paint companies.

Benjamin Moore-October Mist which kind of mirrors the Moss Green

Behr Paints is touting Breezeway which is a seagrass green. Again with the green

Sherwin Williams chose Evergreen Fog.

So there we have it, greens win the year

Just one more backyard animal issue

As if this past summer's raccoon population wasn't enough, now comes a squirrel. We really haven't been bothered much by squirrels the past couple of months since we had 4 trees taken down. But for some reason a squirrel decided to check out our driveway yesterday and it did not bode well for him. We had our extension ladder laid down horizontally against the house because we have been waiting for a good day to get the leaves out of the gutters.

As I was in the house yesterday watching a football game I heard the ladder fall over and figured the wind did this. When I went outside later I found this:

If you click to enlarge the picture you'll see this squirrel dead but with a front paw still gripping the foot rail. He must have been running along the top edge and somehow it fell over on him.

The worst part is that Dale went to our Huzzah cottage yesterday to check on things and isn't home so I have to deal with a dead squirrel. When he called and I told him about this, he said, just get a snow shovel out and scoop him into a trash bag.

All I can thing of is how icky this job is going to be and do not want to do it.