An Ice Cream Story and Peaceful Shelters

About 15 years ago, a new giant grocery store came to the town we lived next to before moving here. It was one of the biggest grocery stores I'd ever seen and cannot for the life of me remember its name now, but I think it was a store out of Oregon or Washington or maybe the mid-west somewhere, but not known here in Idaho at all. Anyway, it had full service in it: regular foodstuffs, organic food, coffee bar with exotic coffees, a small place to buy and eat fresh sandwiches, a pizza place in it, a deli, huge vegetable/fruit selections, bulk food items and an ice cream parlor. It was the ice cream parlor that fascinated me. :-)

They made the ice cream right there in that little section. It was so cute with pink and white canopies surrounding it and the requisite pink and white chairs. So one day I asked if they'd make me a special ice cream. I'd buy it all, of course, if they could. The lady there said she'd give it a try and seemed happy to do it. I wanted piña colada ice cream and told her it was coconut and pineapple in an ice cream mixture. I left the basics to her but told her what I wanted in it. I love pineapple and coconut! Love it.

So she agreed and I gave her a couple of days and went back to the store. I asked her about it and she went into the back and brought it out. I sampled it as she was telling me, "I also put in banana for you." I hate bananas! Right then I knew I wasn't going to like it. Now, I was very specific in how I wanted it and I was willing to pay for the whole bucket/gallon or whatever it took, plus as a customer requesting something and willing to pay whatever price they wanted, I assumed she would have met my requirements as to ingredients. I was so disappointed. But it taught me a lesson: always be as specific as you can. I usually am to this day but I sometimes fail. This happens frequently with the hubs. I won't go into that because this story is about a disappointing ice cream mostly.

The store folded after a short while—perhaps two years at the most, if I'm remembering correctly, and it became a Home Depot. I always wondered why such a huge store came to a relatively small demographic area of Idaho and Oregon.

So, recently, we bought a small Cuisinart ice cream maker and made our first batch of just plain old vanilla, just to get a feel for the appliance. It came out fantastic. I'll now work on doing strawberry perhaps before I work my way up to pineapple/coconut piña colada. ;-)
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A place to dream.

Smell the roses or tulips in this case.

Pretty and neat bathroom organization. Is there any person alive who has only this much in their bathroom storage? My stuff in both our bathrooms could fill a ROOM all my itself!

An old colander kept or purchased at a garage sale and relegated to a new lot in life.

One of my favorite things: laundry drying on a line.

A place of repose and reflecting…with a cool lemonade drink.

A truly attractive vignette with its pink peony.

Pink lemonade with a swish of lime and a rose petal making a grand performance.

Be still my heart. Drool!

I know. If you see one more bathroom you’re going to retch. Well, I have a few more later so hang on tight. ☺

A patio wished for by many of us.

A wardrobe of clothing wished for by many of us! Maybe that’s the laundry. Hmmm?

Large colorful patio with plenty of spots to cool down.

A collection of dishes displayed to perfection. ;-)

Another cute “cottage” any of us would like.

Or maybe this one is to your liking.

Buckets of beautiful fresh flowers in front of cabinets.

Wishing you lots of eye candy today!

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