Oh it's just lovely at Lovella's!

I think things are a bit settled in again, after my being gone on vacation (or as they call it in Canada "holiday") for eight days last week. It has taken some time to re-connect with my darlin' husband (who was traveling on business even before I left), and to catch up on family news and of course, do housework.

Laundry: It never seems to take a vacation, does it?

Since I forgot to bring to Canada the cables needed to download my pictures from my camera, I was only able to post a few times while I was actually in Canada, by using Lovella's shots.
She is an excellent photographer, so I really had nothing to complain about there!

But now is my chance to tell the story of my visit up North with my own pictures about visiting my friend and fellow blogger Lovella, and her friends/relatives and pets. It was quite a week!

I've already posted about my harrowing flight to Canada; the hurricane, the stand by finger crossing etc. here. If you missed reading about that, feel free to catch up!

It seems hard to believe that somehow our first meeting at the airport curb was not captured for history; all I can say is after the five hours on the tarmac waiting out a hurricane, and then a five hour flight beyond that, all of which was dicey at best, I think Lovella, Terry and I were just so glad I made it to Canada at all, that picture taking just escaped all of us!

It seemed like I just blinked and the ride from the airport to their home was over, Terry was hauling my luggage out of the car, Otis was glaumping over to say hi, and Lovella was throwing open the door to the guest room, and making me feel totally at home.

On the old wooden dresser was a vase of flowers freshly picked from the garden, resting on two "Heidi" books; my Swiss adventures not forgotten! A sweet card welcomed me with Lovella's own words.

A welcome basket of goodies was in a basket on the floor next to the dresser: Cookbooks, apron, tea towel, Canadian magazines, a bottle of wine, chocolate...

On the wall I recognized the painted glass plaques that were from Lovella's grandmother.

I knew just enough German to read them too!

Next to the bed was a small nightstand with more fresh flowers; shell pink roses and a cute teapot lamp.

I didn't know Lovella collected this kind of bear figurine; I thought the bear with the chicken on the nest on the second tier was especially cute!

I know Lovella did a lot of thinking about what would be the the best bed options, and in the end the full sized blow up bed was perfect. I slept soundly each night, and woke up each morning thinking I could easily curl up in this room with a good book for the rest of the day.
But...that simply was NOT an option with all that there was to do and see!
Good books can always be read at home, so instead, each morning I sprang out of bed as soon as I awoke, eager to get on with the adventure.

(Before I go any further: A note about dinner the night upon my arrival. The cabbage rolls that were served for dinner were scrumptious, and I learned a neat trick: Pop the head of cabbage into the freezer, freeze, then thaw. The soft cabbage leaves fold nicely without the bother of dealing with cooking the cabbage in hot water.)

When I got up in the morning Lovella was already in the kitchen making some delicious blueberry and raspberry scones. I didn't want to get in her way, so I headed outside to say hi to the famous Canadian Canine Bloggers, Otis and Indee.

Indee was not convinced that friendship with me was a good idea. You can watch her reaction to me by clicking here.

I thought I'd try to win them over with Texas doggie lollipops. Otis was totally on board with that idea!

Lovella's patio planters were just rioting with color and Indee used them to keep me at my distance, standing behind the biggest one while keeping a watchful eye on me.

British Columbia has made a name for themselves via their exuberant hanging flower baskets.

Lovella's basket did her country proud!

While I was hanging out with the dogs, Lovella put the final touches on breakfast....

The raspberry jam was home made too!

(Funny thing though...I thought for sure I'd be getting eggs for breakfast, since Terry is an egg farmer. I even got to see him in action, sorting eggs and even got a quick peek at the hens. Oh well, the scones did include eggs in the recipe...)

After breakfast we headed "downtown", a cute little village just the right size to poke around and enjoy, with hardly any traffic, but plenty of blue sky and more beautiful hanging baskets.

First stop: The local accessory shop, with a lovely wall of HATS!

This green straw was my favorite; a knotted sisol straw that flattered Lovella wonderfully.

For such a small shop, it had an exciting selection of straw, felt and fabric hats. Added bonus was Lovella finding a "diamond" pin in the shape of a baby carriage.

Just the thing for a grandmother-to-be to wear while she waits for the next generation to arrive.

I had made Lovella a yellow Daphney style hat, with an underbrim done in a print of eggs and chicks. When I gave it to her, I suggested it would look great with a white blouse, yellow sweater and jeans, and lo and behold, that was exactly what she wore the next day!

There was a bead shop right near the hat shop, and since I had also brought an unblocked hood for Lovella, it was only natural that she get going on creating the perfect hat pin for that hat.

Sooo many beads! The hat pin really only needs about three beads, how ever can you decide with limitations like that? In the end, she went with silver beads, so the pin will work with any color hat.

I had been told (repeatedly) by my Canadian readers that there was little hat wearing in British Columbia. That seemed strange to me as Canada has a robust collection of milliners busily creating splendid hats for all seasons.

Apparently one section of the population is very much atuned to the up and coming turban fashion that I saw in Milan just this past May.

How quickly fashion fads spread!

Milan had shown women wearing turbans, but...well, I did read ONE article about how Brad Pitt (or was it Tom Cruise?) came to a party with a tuxedo and turban.

Sounds good to me!

If they can do it, then why not this guy?

I would say the turban would look better with a tuxedo though.

Oh well.

At least he is wearing something on his head.

(The size of the Sikh population in British Columbia was a bit of surprise to me. Sadly, last week there was accident involving this very community in which six Sikh's were killed in an accident during a wedding party and seventeen more were injured. Even small towns have their share of tragedy.)

Public art is fun and can be improved by inserting one's self into the display.
These three gents represent some of the historical people of the town; I think they haven't had so much fun in years.

There was a great little quilt shop down the street. In the center of the shop was a long table piled high with remnants which were being sold by the kilo. Lovella and I had quite some fun digging through the piles looking for pieces with designs that we liked. I got a piece with four circles exactly the size of the top of a Daphney hat. Be on the look out for that to be used in another millinery design really soon!

(Wish I had gotten a better photo of Lovella, she looked so adorable in a hat and sweater!)

Then it was off to the tea room. We had THREE to choose from! I decided on an egg salad sandwich (who knew when I might get an egg again around these parts?) and a delicious white tea, magnolia tea I think it was called. I took a look at the box as we left, and made a mental note of the brand, satisfied I could pick up some when I got home.

The mental note never made it home with me.

Lovella, next time you are down in the village, could you pop into the tea shop and send me the exact name of that tea we had? Or post it on your blog so all our friends can try to find some in their location and share a spot of tea with us too?

I had the prettiest cup for my tea; Lovella explained that the dogwood was the flower of British Columbia.

I really can not describe how wonderful it was to sit and have tea and a sandwich with Lovella after all the months of friendship only via electronics. While I do get to go to tea with my friends from the Houston Hat Net (by the way, when DO we go to High Tea as the St. Regis again anyway?) I really do not have a "spur of the moment" girlfriend to meet for coffee or tea midweek or nearby.

And to think this was just ONE of three tea rooms...

After lunch there was more public art to enjoy....

And clearly the public art enjoyed us as well.

Clearly the public art enjoyed seeing us as well. Look at that silly goose checking Lovella out!

After Mr. Goose had received a peck on the beak from me, Lovella and I headed out to another little area with more cute shops and houses.

But that will be on tomorrow's post.

So much more happened on my Friday in Canada that I'm going to split the fun up into two post.

See you tomorrow!

Sixty-one years later....

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Mom still has the circlet feathered hat, in a saucy coral pink with olive feathers here and there. The white satin peplum suit didn't survive a year, Mom cut it up for a slip! I think she looked like a movie star; so glamorous, and Dad in his double breasted pin striped suit was pretty Hollywood himself. I wonder what he is carrying in his hand...I'll have to ask him later.

This morning Dad brought Mom a bouquet of lilies the color of her wedding hat, and they'll be going out to a fine restaurant for dinner. They are celebrating: Dad asked her if she would marry him again after all these years, and she said yes she would in a minute.

Boy was Dad ever surprised she said yes when he proposed both today and 61 years ago.
I think Mom still has all her faculties, no dementia...so I think she meant it....just kidding, of course she did!

I just got back from Canada last night, have stuff to do, so I'll be sharing my pictures and memories tomorrow.
Meanwhile, try to imagine what the world will be like when you are married 61 years, should you be so blessed!

Canada Adventure: Day Four August 19 2007

A quick recap: Saturday evening we attended a wonderful church service at Terry and Lovella's church. Such enthusiasm for worship, and testimony from a man whose life had been so changed by encountering Jesus. The best!
After that Becky from Random Pondering and her husband Ray join us at Lovella's home for dinner: a fabulous spaghetti sauce that has permanently altered my definition of what spaghetti sauce should taste like; her all day prep recipe is simply out of this world delicious, and I learned a new trick about using papaya seeds!

Sunday morning we headed to Starbucks for a visit with John and Hilda and Becky and Ray. As usual, the guys sat together talking boy talk while us ladies leaned in for girl talk. Same the world over, eh?
(Thought I'd slip in a little Canadian talk there...)
We scurried home, grabbed a few things then headed out to Tim Morton's the "everywhere" in Canada meeting place for a good nosh. The chicken sandwich was tasty, and I got to try the classic British Columbia treat...um...how was that spelled again...anyway, it was delicious although Becky and Lovella shook their head mournfully that my introduction to the treat was not Lovella's excellent style, and that I was having to just make do with Tim Morton's ordinary.
I guess I *would* have had a good visit to Canada if that detail had been right, now all hope is lost...and I clearly will have to visit again for her to have an opportunity to make amends for that little oversight (just kidding!)

The weather has been very co-operative. Becky, Ray, Terry, Lovella and I next headed over to Vancouver, to visit Gas Town and see the sights.

A JADE version of the Itsuk, the symbol of the upcoming Winter Olympics.

A motorcycle show was in full throttle...colorful bikes and riders everywhere!
All over BC I saw such beautiful hanging baskets. It was difficult not to stop and snap a picture of each and every single creation.

A Royal Canadian Mounted Moose! Guess things are so quiet up there now, the Mounties have turned over duties to large stuffed animals...

...and wooden cut outs. Wonder what the real deal guys are doing with their time?


(Just kidding! They are still around, but just not wearing the flashy jackets while they perform their ordinary duties. More's the pity, don't you think?)

Orange...I'm telling ya....it is everywhere!

I was fascinated by the steam powered clock...

It took quite some time to see all the cycles, hanging baskets, and people. People watching is always fun.
We then headed over the bridge to Granville Island, where we wandered into the fabulous Granville Millinery Shop. Canada has lots of very talented and creative milliners, and I had seen the Granville shop on line years ago.

When Lovella and I began to communicate via blogdom and email, I asked her if she had ever visited the shop, and a soon as she had a chance she popped over to the Island and took a look around. Her post on that was delicious, and she looked so good in all the hats.

Naturally we had to take a trip there while I was visiting.

Becky is clearly a HFP girl too..

(HFP: Hat Friendly Profile!)

What a hat!

I loved that one on her!

It was such fun to see the girls trying on hats, and I picked up a few ideas too. The store carried many Canadian milliners, and it was wonderful to see the Lilliput's label again. I do so admire Lilliput's hats, such as the one above.

Wasn't this just the most gorgeous setting with such a handsome couple across from me? The view the other was was great too...Becky and Ray are equally smart looking. Oh, and the mountains in the background and the sail boats bobbing in the harbor at sunset was pretty spectacular too.

Salmon with blueberries for dinner: YUM!

Wedding for the boys with the groom/bride in a stunning navy blue straw with elegant blue face veil: I do so love a veil. I'm not so sure I'm such a big fan of a veil on a guy though. (try not to think about it....)

THEN we headed over to see The Bard on the Beach's version of the Taming of the Shrew, done western style! Hilarious, and such great acting! The male lead had a Matthew McConanghe (you know who I mean, Laura...) look about him. Not bad, not bad at all!

The heaven's opened up and thankfully we were in a large tent so the show continued without a pause, and the weather toned down to just a light sprinkle as we headed to the car and on to home.

I must have done something good to deserve so much fun in all in one day!

Today, we are off to the mountains to meet another blogger....see ya later!

Canada Adventure: Day Three

Whew! We have been having SO much fun, and doing so much I have not had time to even call Bernie!
Sorry honey...I love you!
Terry and Lovella are running to the store before we dash out of town to Vancouver to see Taming of the Shrew as part of Bard on the Beach tonight.
So this is just a quick catch up post using some of Lovella's pictures from along the way so far.

Above: Terry disciplining Indee by doing doggie time out.
She is quite a head strong teen age girl, but so cute it is hard to stay mad.

If you go over to Lovella's blog you will be able to see more of our trip to Minter Gardens, but this picture captures my fellow bloggers and now dear friends Becky from the Random Pondering and Julie from Pearls in a Nutshell.
Isn't it fun that they both wore green?

Beautiful Minter....I'll post a web album later...

We all had such stories to tell about roses that we had tried or liked or remembered...it took quite awhile to get out of the just the rose garden area! You can see in this picture how much we were laughing and enjoying each other.

Canada Advemture: Day 2 August 17

We're still working on getting my pictures...if I had them I would be showing you the beautiful guest room that Lovella prepared for me, with the most comfortable bed and sweet touches. I'll save sharing the details until you can actually see the pictures!
Anyway, that was the room I woke up in this morning after a great night sleep. Lovella whipped up some blueberry and berry scones, delicious!

I hadn't had a chance to meet Indee the night before, she was kenneled while Terry and Lovella came to get me at the airport. This morning she was out and about, so I stepped outside to gree her.
She took one look, growled questioningly, then ran away to find Terry.
Great little guard dog!
Not to worry...I was planning on bribing a friendship with the hounds anyway.
Doggie lollipops ought to be just the ticket to the hound's heart.

Indee was completely unsure about this...it looked good, it smelled good, but...
She kept running back to between Terry's feet.

Otis stepped right up.
Glup, gulp.

It took a few minutes of chewing, and we had two happy dogs!

After that little get aquainted session, Terry headed out to the barns, and Lovella and I had a hat trying on session with the 30 hats I had brought with me, including a few that were designated for her to own if she liked them.
She did like them!
She is such a HFP person.
(Hat Friendly Profile)

Then we headed out for a grand tour of downtown Abbotsford.
Pictures, hopefully, coming soon...
And as stop at a hat shop
(see Lovella's blog)
and Tea!
The day is not over yet, but I thought I will just post while there was a break in the action.
And by the by...the weather is warm and lovely.
What fun!

Canadian Adventures: Day One August 16, 2007

I am still needing to get a means of down loading my pictures onto Lovellas's computer (should have brought the cables, when will I ever learn?) but I can always go back and add pictures later, right?

Yesterday I got up at 5:30 am, and was at the airport at 8 am sharp for my 9:30 am flight. Onto the plane I went, got happily settled in....and the pilot announced that because of "The Storm", Hurricane Erin, the flights were backed up, we would be delayed and more details later.

Later was an hour later, when we finally rolled onto the take off position, and we learned we were number 16 in cue. Forty five minutes later we were number six...BUT the airport had decided to move the take off directions around to avoid the storm.

AND they had given us a flight plan for which apparently we no longer had enough fuel. We pulled out of line and got gassed up as the skies boiled black, the runways lights automatically switched on in the dark, and lightening and thunder rocked the plane.

(Notice the lights on? This was about 12 noon...)

I was glad I had brought a book to read.

The title was so appropriate!

(It is a fiction about the Russian Mennonites in the early 1900's. Lovella's family were Russian Mennonites who immigrated from Russia to Canada in the 1920's, so it was a great way to get to know a bit more about her family's history.)

After they had refueld the plane, enough gas, but no one was allowed to fly because of the storm.
It was now past noon. The decision was made to let everyone get off the plane to grab lunch!
We had to be back by 2:00, and we pushed back at 2:30 onto the tarmac. I believe we were finally in the air shortly before three.

Our "meal" was then served: Cherrios.

Oh yum.

I was able to sleep a lot of the time as the plane headed to Seattle.

Above: Seattle Airport Art.

Sadly because of all the delays I had missed my Seattle Bellingham connection, and was told the next flight at six o'clock was over booked.

The flight after that one, scheduled to leave after 10 pm did have seats available.

Oh boy...and Lovella had promised cabbage rolls for dinner! I really didn't want to miss that...especially after having a sole meal of Cherrios five hours earlier.

I hated to think of getting to Lovella's so late, and in the dark. I called Bernie and Lovella and we all said a quick prayer as I signed up as a stand by passenger for the six o'clock flight.

I was assured there was NO chance of getting on that flight.

Rushing through the Sea Tac airport, I wondered if I should just relax or try to get to the gate Just in case there would be an opening. I made it there minutes before boarding began. A flood of people lined up, then they began calling names of passengers, last call for passengers...and then:

Stand by travelers: Jill....report to the ticket counter!

Whoo hoo! I was on!

The flight to Bellingham was beautiful on a turbo prop plane. We landed, I grabbed my luggage, and minutes later there were Terry and Lovella at the, doors of their car flying open as they ran out to greet me!

It only took 12 hours to get there...and worth every minute.

And yes, I still got cabbage rolls!

(Pictures by Terry...thank you!)

Question: What came first, the friendship or the egg?

Ever had something just catch your eye, and you stop, take a second look, and then find yourself chatting with another person who is looking too?

Last December I was visiting a few links from my San Diego friend Chris's daughter-in-law's blog. I had known Chris for over thirty years, and when her son Josh married a girl named Heidi from Canada, I was unable to attend the wedding. When I later told Chris I had started blogging, she passed along Heidi's blog address to me.

It was fun getting to know the girl through blogging though. She was writing about all the kinds of things that are important in the life of a young newly married woman. Often I would read her posts and chuckle, remembering my own journey through early marriage.

Heidi had (HAS!) a list of links to other blogs on her site. The list was the longest list I had ever seen...names of people that she either was related to, or had met at school, or from her hometown, or maybe that she just liked their blog and added it to the list.

Why I was killing time that December day I don't recall. I do remember clicking on Heidi's links and seeing picture after pictures of smiling babies, happy couples and families gathered for someone's birthday or shower.

It was like seeing the next generation documenting the beginning of their family's history...oh so young, oh so earnest, and usually rather uninteresting reading. Parties: You mostly have to be there to enjoy a party.

Then I clicked on a link to someone named Lovella.

She didn't post a picture of a baby, or a young happy couple, or even a birthday party in progress.

Instead, she posted a picture of an egg.

Now granted it was a picture of a HUGE egg amongst a dozen of typically sized eggs, but it was still just an egg, nevertheless.

Under the picture she had written:

When I ask Terry to please bring me in some eggs for baking, I'm never entirely sure what will come to the house. He'll walk in and set the tray down like nothing is at all unusual. I look at him and say "what is that thing?" to which he replies "you said you wanted eggs."
When I cracked this massive egg open, it actually had another complete egg inside. Pretty weird. I just feel bad for the hen. What would go through a hens mind after delivering that? I can't think of anything else to report about this and no I won't sit in the barn with my camera waiting for some super clucking to begin.

I had to laugh. It was so funny to imagine an egg inside an egg, and her husband Terry's droll comments. I was one of three people to comment that day, a rather long comment about a book series that featured eggs as part of the humor.

Me, talking about books. Now there's a surprise.

Lovella's humor and eye for the interesting had me coming back to her blog for another visit the next day. And the next, and the next....

Little by little I learned about her and her life in British Columbia. How she had grown up in Abbotsford, given her heart to God as a child, married right out of high school, raised two fine boys, lost her parents, and was tackling the task of middle age challenges with spunk and humor.

I learned a little about her husband, who I promptly christened her beloved Mr. T, who was in many ways like my own beloved Mr. B. Good solid hardworking men, good with tools, and with a dry wit.

It wasn't long before Lovella was commenting back on my blog. Soon our comments were longer than comments should be, and we would communicate with "Not for publication" comments, so we could read and talk more without sharing our chatter with the world.

Heidi, it turned out, was Lovella's friend's niece. After Lovella asked Heidi if I was who I said I was, and I asked Heidi if Lovella was who she said she was (both Lovella and I are cautious people...) we exchanged emails and the friendship blossomed.

It wasn't long before the phrase "when you come to visit" began to crop up regularly in our emails. When I realized I had enough frequent flier miles available to me to make a jaunt up north, I asked her if she was serious about having me come. I already knew the answer...I was welcomed anytime.

I've never gone to visit someone I have never met in person before. Save for one brief phone call, Lovella and I have only conversed via blogdom and email. Somehow though, I feel like I have known her for years. We have shed tears together, laughed, rejoiced and yes, occasionally griped about what life has served us up in our two corners of the world.

So tomorrow morning, bright and early I will be flying to Canada to meet my friend that I have never met. I am looking forward to the beautiful coolness of British Columbia, the delicious food that I know Lovella has prepared, and long conversations about everything under the sun. She and Terry have been working so hard preparing for my visit I almost feel bad for coming, yet feel honored that they have made such efforts to make this visit so very special.

We plan to visit around the area, and I'll be meeting other bloggers in the area as well. Blog hopping! How cool is that!

We will both be posting what we are up to while I am there. I hope you will join in the fun, just come back and visit our blogs,.We will be sure to post the adventure for you to enjoy as well.

The egg? Well, the egg came first...but you know something? I think it was so big because inside it was holding the beginnings of a friendship.

Millinery: New Milliner in link land

In case you didn't read Blogger Buzz yesterday, Blogger has rolled out a new feature called Profile Browser. You click your own profile (or maybe anyone, I haven't tested that idea yet) and then you click on any listed interest and it will give you the list of all the other blogs that have that interest listed.

I swear that feature used to be available way back in blogger beta days, but whatever...I'm just glad the feature is back.

Of course I immediately clicked on my interest "millinery" and up popped 18 links. Later I added hats, hat making, hat makers to my profile to try to find others who share my my interest in hats.

Those who had the specific word "millinery" knew what they were about. The other words led to some very strange folk, including one gentleman who is attempting to become a hat. As of yesterday, he has only had success becoming a cat. A very nice looking cat by the way, but becoming a nice looking cat nevertheless is not a substitute for becoming a hat.

I wish him well in his endeavors.

Of the 18 millinery interested blogs, only one was "Sisterhood of the Hoods" worthy. I've add "Glorious Hats" to my link list, with the blog owners approval, and encourage you to check out her post about another blog which posted a pattern on how to make a really sweet cut and sew hat. Oh so much fun!

I want to dash downtown to get some great men's suiting fabric and whip up one of these hats! Or maybe get two souvenir tee shirt, and make one into a hat to go with the other tee shirt.

Once I got playing around in my head with this pattern, the more excited I got.

If if that wasn't enough to keep my brain spinning creatively, I also researched veils and netting, and discovered that birdcage veils are the HOTTEST thing going. Reese Witherspoon wore one in the movie Sweet Home Alabama (it is also hot, as in warm, there in Alabama; wearing a full veil outside would probably kill the bride.) The new movie with the silver surfer also features a birdcage veiled bride.

The veil I created last week was of course a birdcage style. Most birdcage style veils that are available are actually just a little flower or bit of fluff with a veil covering the front of the face. But I did find two variations that got me very excited.

One was using the palest blue extremely delicate veil with white flowers on top. It just looked so fresh with the white gown! Like a grown up version of "girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes. I regret I can't find that picture again! If I do I'll post it, but I think you can imagine it.
(Update: I did find another example...here.)

The second was using a nude or skin tone VERY fine veil with soft white floral. So sophisticated, vaguely sensual, totally beautiful.

There are few places that offer veils other than the heavy Russian and plain English or French. Whenever a wispy veil bolt is found in someone's attic, usually the veil just crumbles. Give me a gazillion dollars and I promise I will spend some of it founding a company to make those wonderful old veil styles, sort of like there are now companies that will recreate vintage wall paper and mouldings and such.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on these bits of lovely (from Leah C. Couture) and have a creative day!

It's hot...and it's here!

How hot is it? 100 degree F. (37.7 C.)

The weather.com site informs me it feels like it is 112 F. (44.4 C.)

It is THAT hot.

The grackles are standing around in the parking lots with their beaks hanging open. The way I caught him against the background of trees makes him look like he has his beak propped open with a little stick.
A little stick is not necessary. They stand around with the beaks hanging open without any help at all.

I want to tell them to head for the trees where it is a little bit cooler, but they seem to prefer to stand on baking hot cars and look pathetic.

I have no sympathy for them if they are going to be that stubborn.


I had to go to the grocery store. I've been putting it off for several days.
When Bernie is out of town it is possible to fake it and just nosh on what ever is in the fridge or in the cupboard. But I just couldn't fake laundry detergent, so off I went, on a Sunday afternoon, on probably the hottest day of the year.

Serves me right, shopping on a Sunday.

The place was packed with other Sabbath scoffers, and that made shopping even more difficult.


At least I can always count on H-E-B to have something amusing to offer in their store.

Today it was an alligator and a turtle made from pineapple skin, residing in the deli case.

Gotta admit, they were kind of cute!

I felt like I had shopped for an hour; my cart was overflowing with paper towels and flats of water bottles and kitty litter and such, and I was almost going to skip the ice cream aisle, when my common sense kicked in.
When the weather is this hot, at the very least I want to have limeade or lemonade fruit Popsicles available to me.
At 80 calories per Popsicle, they are a sensible treat.

Then my "common sense" handed me over to "Pay Attention!" which reminded me that Blue Bell Ice Cream had not yet released this year's limited edition of cantaloupe ice cream, and it would be a really good idea to check the Blue Bell Ice Cream section, just in case it was here.

IT WAS!

( I don't get it: "Still a 1/2 Gal." )

Sorry I can't do more than provide you with pictures.
Maybe you can fake it with vanilla ice cream mixed with your own fresh cantaloupe.
It's a treat worth waiting for.
Especially on a VERY hot day.

And it is now 101 degrees F. outside, and it is 4:15 pm.
It actually could get a few degrees hotter before night fall.

Dear God:
Thank you so much for blessing me with air conditioning.
Thank you for Blue Bell Cantaloupe Ice Cream.

And I apologize for grocery shopping on Sunday.
Amen.

PS: If you could let me go somewhere where it is a little cooler, soon, I'd appreciate it.
Thank you in advance.
Jill