Grocery and household shopping has now become an epic event.  I go to the Real Canadian Superstore for the bulk of the stuff, such as paper towels, staples like tomato sauce, milk, eggs, yogurt, etc.  However, I don’t like their meat or vegetables, so I get those at a small independent store called Lakeview Market.

Then I must go to Costco because they carry Squirrely Bread, which is made from sprouted wheat and not flour.  I also get bran bars there.  The family likes the bread at a Germany bakery downtown called Tripke’s, so I go there for their beautiful flax seed bread.

However, only Safeway carries the fat-free creamo, so I have to go there now as well.  Then, add Buckerfields for the pigs’ ears and munchies for the dogs, and Nature’s Fare for my many nutritional supplements.  Did I mention the wine at the licquor store?  Needless to say it involves a day a week to hit them all.

This is precisely why I say to Denis that I have absolutely no time for any frivolity such as getting a job.  He’s had the unadulterated nerve to suggest this from time to time, implying the fruitcake business is a bit crazy.

When these insulting moments have occurred in the past, I became quite livid.  Now, however, I just sigh deeply and slowly shake my head as I sadly say to him, “I would love a job, but unfortunately I simply don’t have the time.”  How I used to work outside the home over the past 25 years I do not know.

Right now I can barely keep up with watering the flowers and vegetables, never mind cleaning the house.  I’m wondering what’s going to happen when I realize that I’m running a growing cottage industry that has a firm customer base.  Every year I’m surprised by that, so not sure when I’m going to accept it.

In three months I’ll be up to my neck in glace cherries, and wondering why I neglected to bake.  I’ll be crying on the phone to the box manufacturer, and begging the label company to rush the order.  Under duress I will scream profanities at the family for making inane requests.

Even now I’m getting orders in dribs and drabs, and these are still due to the Province article that appeared at the end of March.  Should I have the great luck of appearing in Chatelaine Magazine, I can only imagine what’s going to happen.

Meanwhile, there’s Yorkshire pudding to be prepared to accompany tonight’s roast.  As soon as I sign off here I’m going to look up some recipe sites for a quick dessert.  Certainly there are priorities one must have in life, but for now, mine is to while away the time with food-focused activities.