The Cozy Mystery List Blog

I don’t know why I’m fixated on writing this particular blog, but for some reason, I just feel compelled to do it! I wonder if the reason I have tossed this blog idea around for a while is because when I discover a product that I really like, I just feel like I "have" to tell people about the product…

Two days ago I started to write my blog about this product… but then I got stuck on a tangent… the reason I no longer have local access to this product. But, I have been successful at finding the product through the internet.

The product I am talking about is Flavour Creations. Years ago… probably twenty years or so, way back before Starbucks… there was a company that specialized in making different flavored coffees. Although these coffees were delicious, they also were high in calories. So, imagine my excitement when I found that Flavour Creation tablets could add special flavors to my coffee… without adding sugar, fat, or calories! Sometimes I just feel like I want to add a little flavor punch to my morning coffee,  which is when I toss two of these little tablets into my cup. My very favorite Flavour Creations flavor is the French Vanilla, but I am also very fond of their Hazelnut and Almond Amaretto. (I think that the last place I ordered them from was a Kroger’s.)

So, now that I am approcahing the end of my latest E. V. Cunningham mystery, I can do it with taste!

I do not know what I would do without the internet! When we moved here fifteen years ago we had several grocery store options: Albertson’s, Handy Andy, and the Texas chain "H-E-B" (named after the initials of the founder). When we first arrived, I shopped at our Albertson’s grocery store. It was clean, large, well-stocked, with nice wide isles so that two shopping carts could easily navigate without having to "park" behind  store kiosk-type displays that littered the isles… In short, it was an ideal store.

About five years after we moved here, I did a couple comparison shopping expeditions and found that my local "H-E-B" store actually had better prices on some of my often-purchased items… The prices were only about a dime to a quarter cheaper than the Albertson’s prices, but I knew that the coins would start adding up. So I changed my allegiance to H-E-B.

Boy am I ever sorry I did that! I wasn’t upset when I saw that all of the Handy Andy’s were closing up their stores in San Antonio since I didn’t live close enough to one of them to make it my regular shopping store. But, little did I know that Albertson’s would soon follow suit… pack up their stores, and leave us with an H-E-B monopoly.

It seemed to me that as Albertson’s started liquidating all of their inventory, I noticed a surprisingly immediate hike in some of the very same items I had "comparison shopped"… YIKES!!! And, since H-E-B no longer had competition in town, they were able to do away with name brand items that they had once carried… and replace them with their own brandS. (Yes, they actually have more than one store brand… so that we, the shoppers, can feel like we actually have a choice!)

The reason I started this blog was not to rant and rave (which it seems like I have done) but to say that I am glad I have access to the internet… so that I can still buy special items that I can no longer find in town. For a few years I was able to pick up items at the Albertson’s up in Austin (after visiting my college-attending children)… But guess what! Let’s just say that there are probably people in Austin who now have to use the internet to find some of the very same items that H-E-B once carried… but no longer has to carry.

This may seem like a very silly blog entry on a site that is devoted to Mystery Books… in particular Cozy Mystery Books  BUT:::

I am pretty sure that I have mentioned that I enjoy cross-stitching a whole lot! Recently most of my cross-stitching involves 11 mm glass beads in one way or another. I use "regular" cross-stitching patterns and simply add the beads that coordinate with the floss colors to achieve a truly 3-D effect…. and I love it!

I started "adapting" my cross-stitch charts shortly after I became addicted to the Mill Hill beaded cross-stitch kits. I thought… why am I purchasing these kits when I have oodles and oodles (that’s a term I haven’t used in "oodles and oodles" of years!) of cross-stitch books and pamphlets?!? And, since I had so many of those little glass beads left over from my past kit projects, I decided to put them to good use.

Of course, with my rather compulsive personality, this meant that I had to separate the mixed beads into little packets, which almost meant that I had a new separate hobby… Thanks to my reading glasses I have been able to "keep ahead of the game" by separating the beads as they become available. I was able to supplement my cross-stitch beading addiction with new bead additions… while our local Michael’s and Hobby Lobby kept the beads in stock. Unfortunately, neither of the stores carries them any longer (anyway our local stores don’t) so I have had to resort to other "suppliers"… See what I mean! It does sound like I’m talking about a true vice addiction!