survey: practical and decadent purchases

Our peonies are blooming!

Thanks for the paint suggestions, everyone; I realize now I should have gotten a SMALL paint sample and tried it on the wall first, duh. Because my carpet won't be installed until the end of this month, I might hold off on choosing a paint until next month. Or I might just go with plain white.

Look how happy this woman is with her Hook'n'Go!

My most recent useful purchase was the Hook'n'Go Shopping Bag Caddy. Can't believe I didn't get this years ago, but then again perhaps it wasn't available years ago; I found out about it recently from my friend Cathy. I used to use Grocery Gateway, on online grocery shopping service, but I find that I really enjoy grocery shopping in person.

Yes, I admit it...I actually do ENJOY grocery shopping, browsing the fresh produce area, snooping through the ethnic food ingredients aisle. Since I don't drive, I'm limited in how much I can carry, especially so since the whole tendinitis thing began. I used to have a regular shopping cart but I found it too bulky, and my bags of groceries got squished because I had to pile them on top of each other.

My new Hook'n'Go caddy can carry up to 70 lb of groceries, and folds up. I can pull it behind me (I prefer this) or push it in front like a normal shopping cart. I've used it twice so far and love it. Each time, at least one person has asked me where I got it.

And it's a heckuva lot easier on my tendons and shoulder muscles than lugging stuff around in a backpack and by hand. If you're interested in checking it out, here's the page from Hedonics (picking it up in person will save you the shipping cost). It's also available from Hammacher-Schlemmer (sp?), but it's more expensive.



My most recent decadent purchase is lavender-olive hand soap: Savon de Marseille Extra Pur Olive Lavande. I've been wanting some ever since first trying it years ago, saw it for sale for the first time in a tablecloth shop (!) in Niagara-on-the-Lake a couple of weeks ago.

The fragrance is heavenly and my hands never feel too dry after using it, as is often the case with other soaps. Every time I use it, I feel like I'm being pampered. The sensual and emotional pleasure I get each time makes it so worth the extra money, at least for me. The awareness that I will likely only buy this once a year makes it that much more special.

Ok, now your turn...

Survey:

What was your most recent useful purchase?
What was your most recent decadent purchase? (doesn't have to involve a lot of money, but needs to be something purchased more for pleasure than practicality)

Some garden pics...

Cranesbill (aka Hardy Geranium):



Clematis (not sure what kind):



Another type of clematis :



Pink flowers have appeared at the end of our tamarisk tree branches:



We thought the tree below was dead. Jeff cut it off near the base, was about to pull it out completely, noticed a couple small leaves near ground level, decided to leave it to see what happened. Looks like it's coming back to life...



My new oregano plant:

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