The Cow's Come Home

Thursday, San Geraldo and I took another trip to Vivero La Vega, our favorite nearby garden center. We needed some odds and ends, as well as some flowering plants to replace the ones the bugs and San Geraldo's cyclonic winds have destroyed. We decided to keep these two planters simple and cheap this time. Four varieties of marigolds. I'm hoping they double as insect repellant and maybe even cat repellant (I know they're said to keep rabbits away).

18 MARIGOLDS AT 75 CENTS A PIECE.

You may remember that the first time we visited Vivero La Vega I noticed a fiberglass cow outside a restaurant across the road and that became my turn marker for our second visit (click here). But the next time we went, I told San Geraldo to turn left at the cow only to discover that someone had gone and moved the cow (click here). Well, yesterday, the cow was back. She's not elevated atop a billboard as she was originally, but she's clearly visible roadside. Yes, the cow's come home.

SHE'S BA-ACK... AND SHE'S BEEN LANDSCAPED.

On the way back from the nursery, we took advantage of having a car for the day and stopped at Iceland, the British store that imports some things we like having and can't find around town. Specifically frozen berries for San Geraldo. I also picked up several boxes of instant oatmeal (porridge) and crunchy peanut butter.

SAN GERALDO'S STASH...

It's always a quick shop when I'm with San Geraldo. The killjoy clever boy immediately loads up the cart with 2 dozen bags of frozen berries. Then, we have no choice but to rush home before they turn to blueberry/strawberry/mixed-berry slush.

I did manage to make a dash down the sweets aisle. I spotted Waitrose Dairy Toffee and couldn't resist. Next to that were bags of Waitrose Wine Gums. I love wine gums (much more adult than Gummy Bears), so I grabbed some of those, as well.

And speaking of sweet things, recently my sweet (and diabetic) blogging buddy, Jacqueline (click here to meet her at Cheapskate Blethering) left a comment on one of my blog posts telling me to "eat a bit of chocolate for her."

MY STASH (AND JACQUELINE'S).

For Jacqueline's sake (and only for Jacqueline's sake), I picked up a bar of Waitrose (it was obviously the Waitrose aisle) "Silky, smooth Belgian milk chocolate."

Jacqueline's blog is always a revelation. She writes on health, food, family, animals, creativity, life... whatever is on her mind. She's honest, enlightening, fascinating, funny, and at times irreverent. AND.... she shares some of the best music I've ever heard.

Jacqueline and her family (husband, "the Great Scot," and daughter, "the kidling") just got a new puppy and they named him after us (click here and here to meet him... he's of course adorable). His proper name is San Geraldo Mitchell, but he's more lovingly known as simply "Geraldo" (that's alright... I'm used to taking the back seat). Still, no one has ever named their child after me... even partially. I'm so honored.

I had a challenging time while creating this blog post. I wanted to get a photo of myself 'eating chocolate for Jacqueline' (yes, I was eating chocolate for Jacqueline).

The light wasn't quite right in my office and it was also a bit warm. I had to shoot the photo quickly because the silky, smooth Belgian milk chocolate was melting on my fingers. Due to the light, quick focus, and temperature problems, I went through quite a bit of silky, smooth Belgian milk chocolate while I tried to get a semi-clear shot. It was so harrowing that I finally had to stop (OK, mostly because I ran out of silky, smooth Belgian milk chocolate).

For Jacqueline, I'd do it all again... and again... and again... As I've always told you, I'm selfless.