A Book Review

 

Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje

A friend of mine in Canada mentioned reading this book and I checked out a copy from the library.  The author lives in Canada, but, he was born in Sri Lanka when it was still called Ceylon and left the country as a young boy.  But he made two trips back to Sri Lanka as an adult to find out more about his family, especially his father, who, by all accounts, was a very colorful character.  

I enjoyed reading this book,  Partly because I knew all the places he mentioned, not just Colombo, which is the capital, but, also Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Kegalle, and Jaffna.  They were all places I had been in while growing up in Sri Lanka and I had memories of those places.  And partly because I knew people with the same last names as the people he mentioned; maybe not the actual individual that was mentioned, but, I knew people with the same surnames.  

And then, he mentioned someone whom I actually knew!  A former statesman who had known the author's father very well as they worked together.  Not only did I know this person as a former statesman, he was also distantly related to my father and a very good friend of my stepfather's!  The author described going to breakfast with his sister at this gentleman's home on one of  his visits to Sri Lanka, and it was something I had done, as a pre-teen and a teenager with my stepfather and my mother!  When the author described the pre-breakfast ritual of feeding the animals in the menagerie on the grounds of this former statesman's home, I remembered doing the same!  There were deer and at least two, maybe three, elephants, during my visits, plus peacocks and geese.  I don't remember what other animals there were, other than squirrels that seemed to have the run of the house.

For the most part, this was a book about family anecdotes and recollections of the author's grandparents and parents as he tried to learn more about who his father was.  But, we all have our own family anecdotes, don't we?  I used to love it when my Aunt D (mother's older sister) used to visit us and they would talk about their childhood and various family members and the things they used to do.  How my maternal grandmother, as the eldest of 14 children, drew water from the well to bathe her younger siblings, how one uncle used to come home drunk and set his children on top of the almirah (a free standing wardrobe), how my mother won a rickshaw in a raffle at school after making up a long story about why she needed the money to buy the raffle ticket (she had to come clean once she won the raffle), etc.  I think that is something we all have in common, no matter where our families originated, no matter where we currently live - old family stories which tend to be forgotten as the older generations pass away.  

I really did enjoy reading this book and now I want to read a more famous book he had written, earlier.  

There's a New Buffet in Town!

 

The Chickens Invite Themselves to the Cats' Kibble!

The chickens have discovered that there is a new buffet in town!  After several weeks of being out in the garden, they made if up the back steps, earlier in the week, and helped themselves to the cats' kibble!  

The Cats Waiting for Their Turns at the Buffet

The next day, they made a bee line to the cats' food and Mochi was the only kitten who was brave enough to eat from the second bowl while the chickens were there.  The other two kittens just watched.   Fluffy was no where to be seen.

The traps are still there because we are hopping to trap Toro (sitting near the traps) this Friday; we have an appointment with the neutering clinic for Saturday.

The sight of the chickens eating with the cats reminded me of Chicken Little and Mama Cat: 

Chicken Little and Mama Cat

The chickens have established the pecking order when it comes to the garden cats!

Yet Another Grocery Delivery!

October Groceries Part 3:  10/11/26

Yes!  I ordered more groceries on Saturday evening to be delivered on Sunday morning.  Mostly because I wanted to buy more sugar at the  "pick up and delivery only" sale price of $1.99/4 lb. package.  This time, however, several of the items I ordered were out of stock.  The out of stock items included store brand vanilla ice cream, store brand cranberry juice, and the sugar.  There was no indication, at the time of ordering, that any of these items were low in stock as sometimes happens when I order.  But, I guess in the time between ordering and shopping, these items were sold out!  I watched a video someone had posted online about empty shelves at their Kroger store in a Midwestern state and I wondered if our store shelves were empty, too.  Anyway, I am thankful I received the items I did receive!

Here's the receipt:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$44.91

Item Coupons/Sales-$26.00

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.40

Sales Tax$0.00

Order Total$19.31

---

Item Details

10 Items

Ensure Max Protein Shake, 42g High Protein, French Vanilla, 14 fl oz, 14 fl oz

$7.94

6 x $1.32 $4.49 each (approx.)

Kroger® Original Pancake Syrup, 24 fl oz

$2.49

1 x $2.49 $2.99 each

Nature Valley™ Oats 'n Honey Crunchy Granola Bars, 6 ct / 1.49 oz

$3.48

2 x $1.74 $4.99 each

Smart Way™ Fresh Uncooked Chicken Drumsticks, 4.5 lb

$5.00

1 x $5.00 each

---

Other Fees

$0.40

Bag Fee$0.40

4 x $0.10 each

My total came to $19.31

Going through the receipt, I noticed that I had not been charged for the package of bacon, which was on sale for $3.99 for 12 oz.  I knew from past experiences that the store would simply say to keep the bacon.  So, that's what I'm doing!  

My October grocery budget is $250.

Spent to date:  $43.94 + $68.71+ $19.31 = $131.96

Balance left: $118.04

I am honestly not planning to order any more groceries in the next couple of days! 

I cooked a curry with the tray of chicken I purchased in this order and froze some of it for later.  The bacon has been frozen, too.  

Are you noticing any empty shelves in your grocery store?

The Weekend

 

Saturday Morning Clouds

On Saturday morning, when I was outside taking pictures of pink flowers for my Ten on the Tenth post, I noticed that the clouds were starting to move in.

Saturday Afternoon Clouds

We started off the week with temperatures of 100F which cooled down to 90F by Friday.  On Saturday, the high was 80F and the forecast called for light showers.

Pomegranates

Daughter and I picked all the pomegranates from our tree on Saturday afternoon and we put them in a big pot of water to wash them and make sure there were no insects and spikers hiding in them:

Pomegranates

This year, we had a very good pomegranate harvest.  Some of the fruit were small, but, there were several bigger fruit.  Daughter spent several hours cutting them open and removing the arils from them.  We froze some of the arils to be used later and the rest are in the fridge until we decide what we want to do with them.  

Rain Clouds Moving In

While the pomegranates soaked, we decided to pick the rest of the calamondin fruits:

Calamondin

We have been picking them and juicing them for several weeks, but, this weekend, we decided to pick all the rest of the fruit that were still on the tree:

Calamondin Soaking In Water

They, too, were put in bowls of water to soak to remove dust and cobwebs!  Daughter juiced about half the fruit and filled a large jar with the juice.  We'll juice the rest, later.  They are too small to be juiced using the citrus juicer and need to be cut and squeezed by hand.

More Rain Clouds

While we picked the calamondin, Henny Penny and Niwatori enjoyed themselves pecking at things around the garden:

Henny Penny and Niwatori

A hawk flying overhead caused Niwatori to make a run to the coop enclosure, but, Henny Penny decided to squat under a small loquat tree, until daughter carried her into the coop enclosure and closed the door!

More Rain Clouds

Later in the evening, it drizzled a little bit.  

Raindrops on Roses

On Sunday morning, however, we received the light showers we had been expecting.  It had stopped raining by the time I went out to feed the chickens in the morning, but, the ground was wet and there were raindrops on the roses:

More Raindrops on Roses

Sunday's high was only 69F.  I had another small grocery delivery in the morning and in the afternoon, daughter and I went to a department store to return an item she had ordered, online.  Afterwards, we went to the nearby dollar store to buy a few items.  She mostly wanted some crafts items and I wanted a few things, including a white plastic table cover and a package of paper plates.  

After we came home, daughter tended to the chickens while I cooked a chicken curry.  I froze two portions of the chicken curry and kept a portion in the fridge for next week.

This weekend, I was grateful for:

- Pomegranates from our tree
- Calamondins from our tree
- Daughter processing the fruits we picked
- The chickens were safe from the hawk

- Rain for the garden

Joyful activities included picking our garden fruit.

Plumbago Flowers

How was your weekend?

Ten on the Tenth - October

Joining blog friend Joy at Forty Three The Final Front Door with October's ten photos taken on the 10th of the month.

In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month and celebrating it being 11 years since my lumpectomy (done on October 2, 2015), I'm going with a pink theme:   

A Pink Ribbon Sticker on my Bananas

Pink Lantana

Pink Rose 1

Pink Rose 2

Pink Oleander

Pink Pony

Pink Pipecleaner Flowers

Pink Pipecleaner Rose

Pink Crocheted Phone Carrying Pouch 

Pink Silk Sari (My Mother's 'Going Away' Sari; October is her Birth Month)

Thank you, Joy, for hosting the Ten on the 10th Photo Challenge.

October Grocery Shopping Part 2

October 9 Groceries
(only 1 of 10 gals. of water shown)

I ordered groceries on Thursday evening and they were delivered on Friday morning, by a nice young man who asked me to verify that all the items I ordered were there in the right quantities, which I was happy to do.

I wanted half and half for my daughter's coffee, bottled water for emergency preparedness, another dozen bottles of sparkling water, just a couple of items of fresh produce (bananas and a cucumber), another tray of chicken drumsticks (plan to cook the tray I have in the freezer for next week's meals and I like to have at least one tray of chicken in the freezer as a back up), and a couple of boxes of snack crackers.  Plus sugar and canned condensed milk since they were on a good stock up sale price and they are things I use all the time.

Here's the receipt (I've removed the UPC codes and added comments in blue):

Order Summary

Original Item Total$89.38

Item Coupons/Sales-$22.50

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.40

Sales Tax+$1.43

Order Total$68.71

---

Item Details

38 Items

CA Redem Val

$0.60

1 x $0.60 each (for the sparkling water)

CA Redem Val

$1.00

10 x $0.10 each (for the bottled water)

Cheez-It® Crackers Original, 12.4 oz

$2.49

1 x $2.49 $4.79 each (on sale with digital coupons)

Cheez-It® White Cheddar Cheese Crackers, 12.4 oz

$2.49

1 x $2.49 $4.79 each (on sale with digital coupons)

Cucumber, 1 ct

$0.59

1 x $0.59 $0.99 each ($0.40 "best customer" coupon)

Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk, 14 oz

$9.95

5 x $1.99 $4.49 each (approx.) (with digital coupon; stock up price!)

Fresh Bunch of Bananas – 5-7 Bananas, 1 bunch

$1.43

2.07 lbs x $0.69 each (approx.) (reg price; cheaper than at the Armenian store)

Kroger® Half and Half Half Gallon, 1/2 gal

$5.49

1 x $5.49 each

Kroger® Purified Drinking Gallon Water, 1 gallon

$13.90

10 x $1.39 each (approx.)

Smart Way™ Fresh Uncooked Chicken Drumsticks, 4.5 lb

$5.00

1 x $5.00 each

Smart Way™ Granulated Sugar, 4 lb

$9.95

5 x $1.99 $2.99 each (approx.) (with digital coupon, good stock up rice at $0.50/lb)

Sparkling Ice® Summer LTO Lemonade Variety Pack (Pack of 12), 12 ct / 17 fl oz

$13.99

1 x $13.99 each

---

Other Fees

$0.40

Bag Fee$0.40

4 x $0.10 each

Total:  $68.71

My October grocery budget is $250.

Spent to date:  $43.94 + $68.71 = $112.65

Balance left: $137.35

It's not a good idea to spend almost half your monthly grocery budget in the first week or so, but, I did some stocking up and emergency preparedness and I feel good about that.  I do recognize the fact that being able to stock up and prepare for emergencies is a blessing.  

As always, I am grateful for:

- The availability of groceries
- Being able to order online and have groceries delivered 
- Good sale prices and digital coupons
- Being able to stock up
- Receiving all the items I wanted at the right prices  and in the quantities I wanted

My joyful activity is putting away the emergency supply of water, knowing that I now have the minimum recommended stock of emergency water, if only for drinking, cooking, and brushing our teeth.  

October Grocery Shopping Part 1

 

October 8 Groceries

On Thursday, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a medication refill and received a coupon for $4, which I redeemed for two boxes of cereal, on sale for $1.99 per box.

Then, I drove to the Armenian store because they had salmon steaks on sale for $7.99/lb.  I bought four salmon steaks which weighed a bit over 2.5 lbs. and came to $20.29.  Before I went to the store, I did a bit of price comparisons and made myself a shopping list of items, in addition to the salmon, to buy from the store: onions, ginger, tomatoes, yuca root, Fuyu persimmons, bread rolls, raisin buns, a jar of Nutella, and two cans of coconut water.  My total came to $43.94.  I've shown the receipt, below: 

Receipt

I checked the price of fresh green beans and it was $3.99/lb. and I didn't buy any.  It's $2.99/lb. at the supermarket.

Daughter and I had a bread roll each for a late brunch, sandwiched with slices of curried chicken.  Later, I enjoyed a raisin bun at tea time, with a cup of tea.  

Then, I ordered more groceries from the supermarket, to be delivered on Friday morning, including gallon bottles of drinking water as part of my stocking up/emergency preparedness.  Canned condensed milk and 4 lb. bags of store brand sugar were on sale with digital coupons for $1.99 each, so I ordered the maximum of 5 each.  I will post about those groceries once they are delivered, but, my estimated total was just over $68.00

My October grocery budget is $250 for food and drinks.  It does not include household cleaning products, toiletries, paper goods, etc.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Free cereal with my coupons from the pharmacy
- The availability of my medications
- The availability of groceries
- A safe drive to and from the pharmacy and grocery store
- Not needing to buy eggs thanks to the chickens!

Have you gone grocery shopping yet in October?  Are you finding good deals?