purple room vents: COCOA, SHORTY AND BUTTERCUP

I have been trying to remember the name of my calf I raised when I was a kid. Each one of us kids had a calf and we got to name them. I called mine Cocoa, for the obvious reason, her colour. Kathy called hers Buttercup, not sure why and I am pretty sure my brother's was Shorty but don't quote me on that one.

Naming things is fun. My most recent naming fun was the first Jeep, Tank. Then the second Jeep, Gladys. Now for my new car.

Monte and I zoomed up to Toyota (yes, we actually have a Toyota dealership in town here...can't buy chilli paste or basil, but we can buy a Toyota), where they have all of two new cars and a couple of trucks on the lot. Jeez! And they don't make colourful brochures anymore where you can see what you might buy in place of the actual car. This town is ridiculous in some ways. When we asked why this emptiness was happening, they had the usual excuse...pandemic. Supply train. Lack of employees. Blah blah blah. Dodge next door had lots and lots of cars on their lot.

Anyway, I was actually only interested in a corolla. We needed to see if Monte fit in one. They had an owned by someone 2022 corolla there and Monte tried it out and whilst it is a bit small, he fit well enough. And frankly I am a huge fan of Toyotas and was willing to wait months for one, just like I did with the jeep.

We spent a great deal of time going over the ins and outs and all the crap that goes with buying a car with the sales guy when all of a sudden he says 'would you by chance be interested in a 2022, identical to the 2023 but a more luxurious one? We use a 2022 Corolla Se, more bells and whistles than the 2023 Corolla, as a loaner car. It has less than 20,000 miles on it and we would sell it to you with a discount, would be less than a new one. Plus it has four years left on its tip to tail warranty!" Well, yes please! And it is the beautiful colour celestite. Celestite is a lovely crystal, bluish white, metallic. And I can have it Saturday!!!! Photos below!!!

Just a couple of the bells and whistles includes all the safety features, blind spot warnings if a car is there, built in dash cam, a really good one, heated leather steering wheel, heated seats, remote start, wifi bluetooth, phone charging cradle etc....way more than the basic corolla.

Oh and I should mention that Monte is buying one third of it. His name will be on it as well. I am hoping that this will keep him from making a mess out of it! And when the sale of Gladys goes through I shall reveal who bought it. If it doesn't sell to that person I will sell it myself. I have had a couple of people interested in buying it or I can take it to a second hand place.

Bryce, Monte's friend, smokes briskets. He got hold of me a couple of days ago and asked if I would like the tallow. Well yes I would, makes the best gravy on the planet! So he sent it over with Monte and there was a huge amount! I rendered it out and got almost three cups of beautiful clear fat. I am freezing it so I am all set with that for a while. Normally I render out marrow bones but this is much cleaner and has a bit different flavour...a better one than the marrow one in my opinion. Very beefy.

And today it is bean day. I soaked two pounds of white navy beans overnight and they are all ready to be turned into baked beans. I am going to try to get at least some of them frozen before they get eaten. If anybody has any ideas for casseroley things I can freeze for easy quick meals please do send me your recipes or ideas. I already do chilli and Ange's cabbage roll casserole, and soups like pea and hamburger. I really need some new ideas badly. My email is hp1104@gmail.com. I would love it!!!!

Well I best get the day started. Today is shopping day. Groan. Not my fave day by all means. But I need vegetables and chicken broth. I do not make broths. They always end up tasting shitty and Campbells does a so much better job. In fact I buy a case of the concentrated beef one from Amazon. There must be forty of them in that box and they are cheap on Amazon. Maybe the only thing thats cheap on Amazon. We go through them really quickly.

Okay this isn't getting the day started. Have a lovely day! TTYL

'I've always been asked, 'what is my favourite car?' and I have always said, 'the next one!' Carroll Shelby