Tuesday’s Chatter. #1

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! Today it’s cloudy with a bit of a north wind and cooler than it has been. It’s noon and the temperature is 25F (-4C). However, it’s about to get much colder day by day until we hit the weekend. On the plus side, there is no snow on the ground and none in the forecast for us either. However, in northeastern Ontario they will be getting a major snowstorm with more than a foot (30+cm) of snow.

Also, west of us they are also getting snow, though not as much, around 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15cm). But, to be honest, if it’s going to be as cold as the forecast suggests, it is better to have snow on the ground. Snow acts as insulation, keeping the frost from going too deep and freezing water pipes and causing other problems as well.

I have used the bird pic above before, but in this one his head is tilting differently.

Speaking of shopping. I went shopping yesterday morning, which is normal, I nearly always go shopping Monday morning. What isn’t normal is when nothing weird or funny happens to me. It’s nice when nothing happens, but it isn’t normal. Yesterday I was looking for toothpicks, which they always have in the baking section. I checked over that aisle carefully, twice. No toothpicks. So, I tried to find someone who works there.

Now, they have a lot of employees at that store, but trying to find one when one is needed, well, that can be hard. And when I do find someone I’m usually told that is not their department. But I digress. I did finally find someone stocking shelves and he informed me that toothpicks are over with the garbage bags. Why didn’t I think of that? After all, they will end up in the garbage, so it makes sense. Sigh. He was right, the toothpicks were with the garbage bags.

A fall scene of cattails by the lake.

One time I was looking for a particular brand of lotion, my skin gets very dry in the winter and I have tried many brands of lotion, but only one that really worked well for me. They had changed the aisles around and I couldn’t find this lotion. Am I allowed to say the name of this product? I never know and I don’t want to get in trouble, but it’s a great product anyway. I asked, which was my mistake. She directed me to an aisle and I went there.

It was all shampoo. Dozens of different kinds of shampoo. Some for men, some for women, some can be used by both. Some for short hair, some for long hair, thin hair, thick hair, light colored hair, medium colored hair, dark colored hair, red hair, blond hair, curly hair, straight hair. Dozens of different fragrances for both men and women, some with no fragrance. I found one for me and left.

An old look at one of my bear visitors up a tree.

It wasn’t until I got home that I remembered I was supposed to buy lotion, not shampoo. Sigh. I got to the checkout yesterday and was in line for 5 minutes while she finished with the man ahead of me. Once he was through she told me she was closing and I had to go to another checkout. Now, seems like she could have told me that right away so I would not have wasted time standing there. I sighed and went to the other checkout.

Only one lady ahead of me but her shopping cart was full and actually overflowing with stuff. When I saw the checkout person I groaned a bit, he is the slowest in the store. But no other checkout was open. I waited and waited. The first checkout lady returned and called people to her. Three ladies behind me went over there and all 3 made it through the checkout before I even got my items on the counter. Sigh.

A white-tailed deer, buck, reaching for some tasty leaves.

To make matters worse, this was the third week in a row that this has happened. However, if these things didn’t happen, I would have less to talk about. So, there is a plus in all of this. Kind of. Including a mix of pics today, hope you enjoy! Anyway, I hope you all have a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. ©2025 Steve McLeod.