Author: boomingbanter

The Democratic debate is taking place tonight. Usually it’s not something we’d watch but we will tonight. Why? Well because it’s happening just down the road at the beautiful Otterbein University.

Funny how proximity peaks interest. Our local TV is coving the run up with details on all the measures that had to be put in place for security and so on.

We know people who attended the University. We even could have applied for tickets to attend.

The whole area looks so well today with blue skies and the trees in their autumn glory it really is a showcase for Ohio.

The state is critically important in all elections. If you don’t win Ohio chances are you won’t get the White House.

So tonight we will tune in and watch with interest the gift of free speech.

Hard to imagine that this doesn’t exist everywhere in the world. Look though at what’s happened in just one hundred years. Votes for women not least among these things. Mass media to let us all hear what is being said and now social media to allow us to openly voice our thoughts and influence outcomes.

Blessing # 489 – Freedom if Speech

We have a really fancy family run store close to our home called The Hills Country Market. To survive in a world of supermarket chains and megastores family businesses have to be very special.

The Hills is certainly that, they have a fine florists, a divine deli and a bounty of baked goods to die for. As you know we shop at Aldi but we hit the Hills now and then to pick up whiskey for Krishna as they have an exceptional wine and liquor selection too!

Its rare that we go and just get whiskey. We always check out their wine selection which is extensive. They have what they call « close outs » at great prices and that’s what we home in on. We’ve never been disappointed.

Yesterday we made the whiskey run after church and hit on an 2014 Italian on close out for just $6.99. Of course it had to be opened and tasted last night and it is nectar.

With new health benefits regularly announced and being loaded with all those things that help mind, body and soul to function so well we need to invest in the best!

So we’ll be making a trip tomorrow to develop an out of stock situation. When you find a gift you gotta get!

Blessing # 488 – In Vino Veritas

Some of you may have a Baby Book that your parents kept for you or maybe you’ve kept for your own babies.

My Mum was really good at this and the records she made of all major milestones up until I got married is a gift that is much treasured.

The Baby Book stayed in her house  until she moved into sheltered accommodation and then it was handed over to me.

All the photos it contains are falling out as the tape has lost its stickiness after all those years. Some day I’ll get around to making  them secure again.

Many of the photos are of Christmas showing me and my still best friend Carol posing with our gifts from Santa.

In this age of digital a real life album is still something to consider. I know we kinda lost touch with keeping one since everything went into the cloud. Fortunately Aarons younger years are all safe in his album too.

For new Moms and Dads though do think ahead of the joy such a treasury will bring in years to come and start sticking soon!

Blessing # 487 – Permanent Pics

When it comes to technology you could class Krishna and me at best as novices. The mastermind in the house is Aaron. Scooby probably knows as much as the ancient Ps.

There are some things that we’ve discovered late in life but have found them to be delightful gifts. One of these is TV On Demand.

We must have had it for years but only « discovered » it a few months ago. It happened by accident. Of course when I told Aaron about what we’d found he said « oh yeh that thing » he knew about it but used it very rarely. Kids just don’t do TV these days!

In the UK Strictly Come Dancing is a Saturday evening phenomenon and something I miss a lot. We got a KODI box to watch it but it blew up after a few months.

Here we have the equivalent Dancing With The Stars even with some of the same judges but it’s on a Monday evening. What a funny choice of timing. It was hard to get into if you had to go to bed half way through.

Of course now with the On Demand option that’s all changed we can keep the Foxtrot for Friday or Samba for Saturday. A treat for two to Tango

Blessing # 486 – Chance to Choose

There are all sorts of talents that people are born with. Some are great singers others like be are verging on being tone deaf. Others are artists they can capture a scene so beautifully it looks like a master painted it.

There are such well recognized gifts then there are others that are a bit more esoteric.

One friend Maureen is gifted with finding parking spaces. It could be the eve of Christmas Eve when every car park in the kingdom is filled to the brim with mad women looking for Brussels Sprouts and Maureen will find a space right by the supermarket door. The worse the weather the closer she gets to the door! Her gift is recognized and appreciated to such an extent that others will ask her to drive!

We all know individuals who are born to win. It could be a tombola to raise money for a charity or a bingo at work for completion of some series of tasks or simply a draw for free tickets and this individual always scores. You can see people smiling with their mouths when the winner is announced but their eyes are secretly throwing daggers of scorn asking “why him and not me?”

Our Aaron is pretty talented when it comes to getting travel upgrades. Often we’ve been close to last to check in and been told to ask at the gate for our boarding passes only to find that they’ve bumped us up a notch from row 44 on the tail to economy plus. He’s yet to get the full business upgrade but now expects something on every flight!

I’ve got two little special gifts. The first is being able to hold and match a color in my head. Maybe in a previous life I was in sales for Sherman Williams in any case it comes in handy if you’re out shopping and find a bargain that just a perfect match for something buried deep in your wardrobe!

The other gift that’s special is being able to find a gem amongst a bucket load of junk. This is why rummage sales are so appealing to me. Take today for example we went to one and spent a big two dollars. One dollar on a brand new lampshade the other on a cute little vase. Turns out it’s worth about $45.

Will I ever sell it? Certainly not for $45 but if I get $20 that’s a pretty good reward and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy too.

What’s your special? Share and show!

Blessing # 486 – Each His Own

Today all over the world mental health is getting lots of attention. Not so long ago this was a subject few people talked about or admitted suffering from. It was fine to have a heart attack but you couldn’t have a broken one.

Today, thanks to high profile people like the younger members of the Royal Family, it is a high profile subject.

It’s fair to say that the seed for this change was sown by Princess Diana when she spoke of the issues she faced linked to the separation of her parents and later her postpartum depression and eating disorders. What a brave and special person she was.

Today people are encouraged to speak out about how they are feeling. Some of us are blessed to have friends who will listen to anything we have to share. Some of us reciprocate.

For those who find it hard to share with another person there is always the chance to talk to a beloved pet. They listen so well and give such good advice. Being out with them is such great therapy and all that unconditional love is the very best medicine.

So amongst all the posts that were circulating today on the subject of mental health the one that touched me most was about the positive impact and importance dogs make on the lives of  homeless people.  Puppy Power provides so many benefits it’s got to be up there among our greatest gifts!

Blessing #485 – Compassionate Companions

Being another fine day it was a good occasion to put up the outdoor Halloween decorations.

They live in the garage on a shelf surrounded by a lot of other clutter mostly of the Christmas kind.

if your garage is anything like ours then you can picture the scene that you need rock climbing gear to access such areas as they are surrounded by bikes, buckets, brushes and boxes bulging with junk of bewildering bounty.

Down came the witches broom, a few skeletons some roses dripping in blood and the scary moaning deadly reaper before I got to my favorite two squishy plastic rats and the big light up sign that reads what else but BOO!

Well that was where I uncovered an unexpected gift of the sort that would make the best of you scream.

Wrapped around the BOO was part of a snake skin. Now don’t get me wrong not the sort that shoes and purses are made from. Oh dear me no this was the real McCoy. A skin that some rather large creepy critter had left for just for us.

Once the BOO was on the ground and Krishna was called to look out lest I get fanged a few more skeletons were dragged from the shelf. It was then that the full extent of the scale of the beast became apparent. This thing must be six feet long.

Way back at the beginning of the summer Aaron had said he’d seen a snake in the garage but we never could find it.

Let’s hope it is long gone and hasn’t taken up residence or worse still had a family!

So ironic that it choose the Halloween decor though to leave it’s trace.

Blessing # 484 – Seasonal Surprises

Scooby is coming along by leaps and bounds. LOTS of leaps and bounds. Endless energy and happy as a clam racing round the house like a greyhound and high jumping onto sofas and tables!

He also has learned that calls of nature must be taken on the grass. He is great at holding on but he got us up at midnight to go for a pee.

Well of course he and Dad were soon snoring but not me. Took me a good hour to nod off again.

At 5:30 the phone rang. School was delayed by two hours because of thick fog. So unexpectedly the lost hour of sleep was recovered nicely.

The fog was still thick at seven when Scooby needed out again and stayed that way till close to ten.

It then moved off to reveal the most beautiful of fall days. Blue skies and mild temperatures.

After six weeks in the body shop the fog on my accident also lifted and my car was ready to bring home. It looks perfect and pristine.

Once the car was safely tucked into its usual place in the garage Scooby and I took advantage of the great day and walked for a long time.

The young man is getting used to fast moving objects including squirrels, birdies, bicycles and joggers and loves meeting all his doggie pals. He had a face to face today with two deer and neither seemed the least concerned by the other.

The local UPS driver stopped us to ask what breed Scooby is. He said he looked just like Benji the star of many a movie. Well a quick google proved he was spot on. Who knows maybe we have the curtain rising on a leading man! Regardless he’s a great goofy gift!

Blessing # 483 – Fog Lifting

As we have crinkled till we’re crunchy the topic for the next few weeks will be GIFTS.

There are different ways to look at this. Gifts may be material, innate or spiritual. If you can think of others suggestions they are most welcome.

Madonna would be proud that to start with were hitting material! Specifically the worst gift ever!

Do you remember yours? Is there something that sticks out in your mind as a huge disappointment?

This may sound ungrateful and of course it is but it’s funny too!

At Christmas 1976 I’d been dating my then boyfriend for about six months. Truthfully I cannot recall what I got him as a gift. Probably aftershave or something equally cheap and cheerful.

Being the eternal optimist I was anticipating something similar like a bottle of scent or maybe a little piece of silver as Is just had my ears pierced!

Well sure enough on Christmas Eve along came the lad with a nicely wrapped little box of a promising size. He said he wanted to give me something thoughtful and personal. My eyes were like saucers!!!

Not for long though! When I opened it what did I find but an a little electric razor!! Horror of horrors and worse still the reaction of my mother!

What the **** is that for she yelled at me as soon as he was out of sight! You’re not starting to shave your legs my lady mark my words you’ll regret it! It was like I was about to embark on a career in the red light district!

Poor chap was doing his best to come up with something special and had paid good money for the gift too but it was such a disappointment I actually lied when people asked me what I got and told them I got bubble bath and body lotion.

Well that would sorta fits with the principle of getting a silky smoother you too!

Blessing # 482 – Expectations

Crinklies remember the years when the milkman came to each house and left pints of the white stuff in glass bottles on the doorstep.  Once the bottles were empty they were collected when the fresh milk was delivered and reused many times.

The practice almost entirely disappeared until just recently when, in a bid to reduce plastic waste, it was revitalized in of all places the trendsetting big smoke of London.

There is something fresh, premium and appealing about products packed in glass. For the manufacturers though it poses challenges to make sure there are no glass chips in the bottles and no safety risks to staff on the line.

Just a few years ago we’d have doubted that the old glass milk bottle would ever return but this could just be the tip of the iceberg.

We see more and more shops popping up selling grains and pulses, nuts and candy by weight rather than prepackaged. You can bring your own jar and use it again and again.

Microbreweries with beer in bottles are the in place for a night out not to mention farmers markets for weekend warriors rather than the ancient hippy.

Whats next? Well maybe the easiest way to predict is look back. Eating seasonally? Eating less? Cooking from scratch? Growing what you eat? Or horror of horrors eating offal?

Will there be a return to the village or the corner store where you got your steps by walking to get what you needed? Will the high street with butcher baker and candle stick maker make a takeover from the takeaway?

It all sounds so wholesome and quaint. Will we be willing to pay for it though or risk loosing the convenience of the one stop shop?

In the meantime ……………….

Blessing # 481 – Retroretailiation