Beware: right from the outset I am going to say that I do not believe this post will relate in any direct way to tapestry weaving. By the time I get to the end, I may find some way to slip some reference to yarn, design, or art in there, but I'm not feeling it at the moment. You might want to stop now if you were looking for something intelligent.
What I do want to say is that I was in my lovely neighborhood Albertsons store this afternoon (okay, it wasn't my neighborhood store because my neighborhood does not contain any grocery stores at all. There is a bar, a gas station, a winery, 7 churches, and a post office... this time of year there are fruit stands selling apples--which are fabulous by the way--but there are no grocery stores in my neighborhood), and I found THESE:
I realize this might be of no interest to most of the three of you who read this blog at least occasionally, but I was practically jumping for joy in the aisle. When I broke out in the Hallelujah chorus (the alto line, so people didn't even recognize the tune, sadly enough), I did get some funny looks. But you have to understand that I have celiac disease and that makes eating somewhat harder than it used to be. Used to be I could eat just about anything (hold the olives) that I wanted. Stomach like iron, metabolism like a 15 year old... and then I got sick and now I can't eat gluten... which is in everything except lettuce.
But recent years have improved this state of affairs because now major companies like Betty Crocker have realized that the gluten intollerant market is full of people like me who used to be able to eat everything and now can relate endless experiences of standing besides tables of food at potlucks and parties, unable to eat anything except the carrots (hold the dip) and praying that someone brought a bottle of wine--and would you pour it quickly because you're not going to eat anything tonight... and that we'll pay just about anything to be able to eat like we used to... so a brownie mix that used to cost $2.59 now costs $7.99... and we don't flinch when reaching for it. This is survival and we feel like we're in a potentially critical situation and have to have it. Very smart of Betty Crocker to get on board with this. They'll make a mint. And the Cinnamon Chex are heaven. I haven't eaten much from that bread/cereal group in years, but baby, I'm back! Unfortunately now that I'm quite a few years older, my metabolism is not quite so high and I'd best be careful with those Betty Crocker "foods" lest when I tell other celiacs that I actually have celiac disease, a glance at my waistline makes them call me a liar.
Attention relatives-who-only-make-inside-out-chocolate-bundt-cakes-for-birthdays: I can have my own now. In case you don't have it, the recipe is basically devils food chocolate cake mix (please buy the gluten free version--see photo above--lest I end up in the bathroom for the rest of my birthday), a package of Jello chocolate pudding mix, a ton of chocolate chips... I'll be over August 5th, 2010.
Isn't this dragonfly wing pretty? Maybe that would be a good jumping-off place for a tapestry design. He was living in my girlfriend's house and was, this particular day, in fairly poor health on the windowsill. I snapped his photo and let him outside where he flew off in search of whatever dragonflies eat. (Huh. Got the word tapestry in here a few times after all.)
