Welcome to your new home, Buddha - Bubby visits Grace on her lunch hour

Donna and I hung out together yesterday and she introduced me to the Art of Shopping. She's an expert. As a reward for our shopping spree I introduced her to Heavenly Ham at the Marshall's shopping center in Willow Grove.

She was also unfamiliar with the concept of Park far away and walk to your destination. You not only get exercise but you stay away from the congestion of people pulling in and out. We did in fact see a fanny-to-fanny crash.

She loved the Heavenly Ham. Here's what I order when I go there once every four years: Croissant w/ham, lettuce and tomato - I don't want cheese to deter from the delicious taste of the ham - and honey mustard dressing.

Donna introduced me to HomeGoods, at the former Toys R Us. It's huge. It's also a mish-mash of assorting bright and shiny things - and damaged things - for the home, which probly explains why the prices are so good.

I bought a beautiful 'throw rug' which, when I examined it at home - was full of white sputters. I returned it this morning and got my $30 back.

I did, however, purchase the below Buddha - be sure to spell it right - you know, laffing BuddHA - who was damaged, so the manager reduced it from $25 to $15 and told me to spray it with a sealant.



Since A C Moore is in the same shopping center, I went over and bought a can, in addition to pink spray paint, to paint my Buddha and put him outdoors. My late friend Elaine Restifo had a Buddha in her backyard.

A few years ago I made the above painting with spray paint. I went out in the backyard, laid some interesting shapes on it like leaves and pine cones and this is what I got.

There was also a fence in the backyard where I spraypainted huge swatches of black and red. Looked very dramatic.

Here's some of my tiny clay sculptures, some of which I paint w/ acrylic. Jilly at A C Moore and I were discussing our art work as I paid for the spray paints. They have astronomically high acrylic painting classes there but a reasonable make-your-own vase for Valentine's Day which I signed up for. I wanna get back into the visual arts.

Guess who I had lunch with today? Nicole started work today. Her mom, Barb Toohey, will watch Grace during the week. "It's just like being a new mother," said Barb.

I joined them for lunch, bringing my shrimp and cocktail sauce and a spinach salad with thousand island dressing. Grace didn't even cry when mom left for work. She was in a fantastic mood when I was there.

Like Scott, I try to make enough food to last a few days. Here's my bean-vegetable soup w/ frozen tiny scallops. I used three types of beans.



After I drive Scott to the train station, I'm gonna work on a new short story. Got the idea today when I returned the film "The English Patient" to my library. I spoke with our library director, who I love, and got an idea from her.

It's about a swimming pool.