A pause….

 I’m way up north this weekend and internet connection very spotty. 

Only got to visit a few locations, too. To be continued! 

This is what I see right now… 

🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬 SPRING 🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬

 Gosh, Spring is awesome. Very uneventful week which is fine with me. I just don’t see what’s wrong with relaxing on a beautiful Spring day..?!? 

I almost don’t want to get back to work. Almost. I’m tempted to veg out, lay in the big clear sun and commune with nature. No can do! eMails to answer, phone calls to make, a blog to write! 

Knowing that beautiful sun in such a clear sky will soon be able to fry eggs on a sidewalk makes me appreciate these Spring days all the more.  

Enjoy! And replenishments coming soon!   🍬🍬

                                                              ~ 

Rain, sleet, snow, storms, cats & dogs, and dragonflies?

Okay, it wasn’t raining cats and dogs, and it wasn’t a rainstorm, it was a dust storm of all things!  A tornado threatened, but only very fierce winds prevailed. I’m not sure of the difference between sleet and hail, but it was very hard, tiny but loud raindrops that melted right away! These were over the span of a few days, designed of course to make one really truly appreciate days of spring, which has sprung early. Birds are madly chirping, and dragonflies abound. 

   I’d like to say a word about these wonderful helpful creatures. 

Apparently, your common dragonflies are quite ancient, descended from dinosaurs ; 

   A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known.

 Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterised by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. 

Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. 

An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. 

   Ignore the ‘insect’ part :-p  , dragonflies are beautiful and awesome because they feast on those nasty mosquitos. Btw, baby dragonflies almost exactly resemble big mosquitos, pls make sure to squish the wrong ones, mosquitos, not the right ones, dragonflies! 

   Also, for some reason, they always try to get into front doors or open windows, pls gently guide them back outside, they don’t bite, and sort of tickle! After about mid-spring, they mature enuf to tell they are dragonflies.  

   Another fun fact, mosquitoes tend to hang out on the ground in damp or wet grasses, looking for baby feet to bite! Gosh, I can’t stand mosquitos, anyway, one way to tell that mosquitos are hiding in grasses is that u can see iridescent dragonflies gracefully sweeping across the grasses just inches above the lawn. I would say to let them do their job, it may save spending on pesticides. 

   There are small sound machines that mimic the dragonfly drone, and garden reflecting balls with colorful dragonfly attachments may assist…

                                        ~

   

    

    

  

    

 

A Rainy Day Off

 

It wasn’t supposed to rain today! But it did, in bucketfuls, so today is as good as any to take the day off. Lots of news recently, no new candy news to speak of tho.  

  

 

      ~ 

   

   

Run & Done!

 I don’t know how, but I completed the entire route in 1 day this week. With time to spare! 

Very luscious if I do say so. It was a rough start to match up candies to boxes, as some are grab-a-handful, and some are very organized, it always depends on customer requests. 

One place was unhappy with the candies, said they’d gotten hard, old, and tasted funny. I’m very grateful to be able to explain how it works as briefly as I could. I wasn’t about to argue that I’d just refilled them with fresh candy (?)

So here goes; both Mike & Ike’s and Hot Tamales are 2 of the most popular vending candies, but that’s only because they’re popular.  Neither vend thru machines easily. They tend to stick to the sides and to each other, clogging up machines rapidly. The fix for that is to get a long-handled vinyl spoon, and poke around in there to loosen them up each visit. During summers, the candy often sticks to the spoon! If it’s a slower location, the candy will stay in clumps. The fix for that is to spray the handle with butter spray as it slides thru clumps easier. Or, during every refill, to liberally coat the ingoing candy with butter oil. They vend beautifully and look glossy and yummy. 

I almost always taste-test candies, and if there’s a slight buttery taste to these ones, it’s supposed to be complimentary, but may not be to everyone.  U can’t really tell with 1 candy, but with a small handful of Hot Tamales, they always keep their cinnamon kick, and should be fine. If not, the standard Chicle gums are vend-friendly and remain popular, too. 

It’s an awesome location and I hope to heck they stick around. If not, that’s fine, too! 

  Ty!! 

                                         ~

No-kill Shelters

 

    Please understand, I do not now nor have I ever worked for or with any Humane Society. 

   I’m an Independent Contractor working for critters. 

    I called HSUS years ago for the proper terminology to place on honor boxes. They said I was to only say that I’m a proud supporter of HSUS (and I am!)  

    Almost all of the boxes say just that. This blog website URL is also on every box for contact. 

     A portion of the profits (and it’s tiny!) goes to HSUS every month. To be specific, there is an auto-pay of $5 to HSUS every month. 

     When my credit card expired, I recently updated payments to Best Friends organization of Utah, also $5 a month on auto-pay. 

    I should mention that I do not get involved with any political issues of HSUS. Many times, I have signed petitions for better treatment of animals, but I try to stay away from agreeing to any bills concerning critters as the full story is rarely known. 

     

      Best Friends Animal Society is a nonprofit organization that works to save animals and promote pet adoption. They operate the largest sanctuary for homeless animals in the United States. 

      Their motto was to be no-kill by 2025…

                                         ~ 

Valentine’s Day candies

 Stocked up on Valentine’s Day candies and specials so u will be seeing those for a little while. 

I haven’t seen any green candies for St. Patrick’s Day yet, but should I find them, will stock up on those, too. 

After that are Easter pastels. Yellow and green seem to be May Day colors, Flag Day is red, white, and blue, and then of course, July 4th is red, white, and blue. Either way, chocolate will be included in there somewhere. 

Have a colorful week and drive safe! 

   

                                              ~ 

 .

All Caught Up

 Finally all caught up 🎉 At least for several more days. 

Not one location defaulted, awesome start to the week! 

Can get back to some favorite topics. Like, critters! 

I was making a delivery to a location, it was a beautiful clear day, a lovely neighborhood, and I passed by a local small lake/very large pond with a fountain in the middle (to keep mosquitos away from stagnant water), green lawns (how do they do that in winter?), and 2 bright white geese. 

I thought they were lawn ornaments at first, but then they stretched their wings, a single pair, swans maybe? No wild geese as they’ve gone south for the winter and I miss seeing them around very much. 

                          

                               🕊 

It seems rains return all next week. Thank goodness my route is done for now!  

Drive safe. Thanku!    

                                                                ~

Dodge and weave

 The snowstorm was beautiful and the snowmen were precious, but I got a cold so bad I couldn’t drive (although that doesn’t seem to stop other drivers, it doesn’t even slow them down! but I’m not here to grouse about careless drivers, even tho I used to be one!!) 

Actually, I was so focused on work, that I totally forgot to take pics of all the snow-covered roofs and the snowmen dotting front yards. All I realized was that I couldn’t get on the road. 

After the snow came and went, was the cold, and after that, even tho there were several beautiful days, I was down for the count with that cold, then a rainstorm of all things! I was feeling better, ice and snow off the roadways, and didn’t think to check the weather. 

All in all, I was about 2 weeks behind schedule. I caught up a little last week, but still have to complete a few remaining locations. Thanku for your patience!  

All the best! Drive safely please!! Thanku! 

                                                      ~ 

Back at work

  All healed up and Finally back on the road. 

Serviced half the route, the rest next week including the new ones. 

Back to dashing deliveries, too. 

Even the weather warmed up a bit, great to be back at work I must say! 

                                   ~