We have set some kind of record in our household. We made it almost seven weeks without a trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot. There was one short stop at Menard’s about a month ago to pick up Orville Redenbacher’s 94% Fat Free Kettle Corn Microwave Popcorn. I am not sure why this particular big box home hardware store sells our favorite popcorn in a larger quantity and at a cheaper price than either Jewel or Walmart. One of life’s little mysteries, I guess.
Another of life’s little mysteries is why men like hardware stores. I confess to enjoying a little bit of hardware store browsing every so often. There is a hardware store in Yoder, Kansas where members from the surrounding Amish community shop for lumber, shingles, tools, nails, etc., as well as, every day home hardware necessities, Dazey Churns, meat grinders, sausage stuffers, Radio Flyer wagons…. you get the picture.
If you visit around mealtime stop by Carriage Crossings, the local restaurant, and park your vehicle with the horse and buggy crowd. If you are there for breakfast you can have really good biscuits and gravy and my personal favorite, fried mush and syrup with homemade sausage patties. They, also, have an excellent pie selection. The pies are baked daily in local households and delivered to the restaurant early every morning. The pecan pie is a seasonal favorite and the coconut meringue pie is the best I have ever tasted. I have been taste testing coconut pies for almost 60 years. They have a wonderful gift shop…..I digress.
My enjoyment of hardware stores, at least the big box variety is limited to two, maybe, three times a year. Since Mike and I have been married we have remodeled and re-decorated two homes. Plus, Mike is a Mr. Fix-it. He can fix most anything if he has the right equipment, tools, parts, materials, paint, brushes, rollers, etc. There was one memorable day when working on the basement TV room in our Kansas house years ago, when I was at Lowe’s or Home Depot or Star Lumber at least 15 times. Sometimes we stop by to walk around the outside aisle of Lowe’s or Home Depot. We are checking to see if they have some obscure item we did not even know we needed until we found it on the end cap of aisle 30.
Why Mike invites me along on these trips is another mystery. I complain and sigh and call him on his cell phone when I cannot find him. For some inexplicable reason he continues to ask me along. He does like me to interface with the checkout clerk and he never brings his reading glasses, so I have speculated he needs me to be his personal assistant. He assures me he just likes my company.
Today it was about 20 degrees and snowing. We were on our way to pick up a vacuum cleaner belt. We visited Lowe’s, Home Depot and Ace Hardware. There was not a Sharp vacuum cleaner belt to be found. Since there is a good case to be made for popcorn really not being a hardware item, we are still on a seven week no purchase streak for home hardware, which is a good thing.
If someone had checked online before we left the house we might have kept the no trip streak going until spring planting……..
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