Muscadines, Passing The Time, And A Serial Killer Cat

Magdaleine Pinceloup de la Grange,  1747.   Jean-Baptiste Perronneau

Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.

― WINNIE THE POOH 

This summer in South Carolina was brutally hot. Both the garden veggies and I have been miserable. Even with all the bugs and heat, we had the most fruitful garden we ever had. We had months of tomato sandwiches, cucumbers, peppers, 30 pounds of muscadines, and two glorious watermelons. We are still waiting to harvest a bed of sweet potatoes. That'll be ready at the end of October. Our summer was filled with lots of little things. I think that's exactly how a summer should go. The most exciting thing about the garden is our new scary hunting cat, Gerri. I think it's a boy, but I'm not sure. We first saw him in May when I watched him hunt and kill a mole. We see the crime scenes on the walking path. There are feathers, blood, and bodies. We are so happy to have him patrolling the yard. I've seen him 5 times total. Isn't he cute?

The muscadine vine was here when we bought the property and it's very productive. I pick them, wash them, and freeze them in plastic freezer bags. At my leisure, I'll thaw a bag overnight to "juice." We cut each muscadine in half, remove the thick peels, scrape the seeds out, and then blend the pulps. I strain out the pulp and store the juice in the refrigerator. We splash it in our iced hibsicus tea or water. 

I can't think of a single exciting thing to share with you.  We had a really nice summer. I'll leave you with this. Remember the phrase, "passing the time?" In modern times, it's been replaced with this hyper productive, efficient, goal seeking, seize the day type thinking. Passing the time is a bunch of little things that when gathered together become a really beautiful thing. Passing the time used to be a very reasonable thing to do. My mother and I talked about spending hours playing cards with loved ones. You could also pass the time watching TV, reading a book, cuddling, watching birds, shooting the breeze, processing muscadines at the kitchen table, and listening to the local oldies radio station. Passing the time is something I don't want to forget to do. I have two regrets in my life. The first is actually the thousands of sins I've committed in my youth and all the days I spent soiling myself away from God. The second is that I wish I spent more time with my father before he passed. Life was so exciting, and it was so tempting to chase the fun. Looking back, I wish I could sit with him again and watch PBS as we passed the time together. 

I call my mother every week now. I don't want to miss out on hearing about her day and all the little things she has to share. We pass the time chit chatting for awhile. I think the overly scheduled life is a big corporate tactic. The fear is that you are going to miss out on a great life, or you are "wasting time." Life is a bunch of small simple moments spent passing the time. 

Mr. Peasant read the Blue Zones book this summer. One of the Blue Zones (longest lived people) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea called Ikaria. I think this island is the best blue zone in the book because they sleep in until 11:00 am, nap in the afternoon, eat olive plates with hummus, and don't have clocks. They aren't trapped by our modern hyper time management. It goes to show that slow living is a great way to pass the time. I hope you had a quiet beautiful summer. God bless you and thank you for stopping by! 

P.S. The pictures below are of an old historic house in our town. It was next to the alterations shop we went to. Wouldn't you love to pass the time on that porch? Or lay on the grass beyond the arch? 

I love how old houses used daylillies as a border with the lattice covered in vines.

Mr. Peasant On The Three Kinds Of Shoppers

Sears Hawthorn Center,  2006

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

WARREN BUFFETT

In my experience, there are three kinds of shoppers--budget, value, and luxury. If you peruse the offerings of various producers, they target their products for these three kinds of shoppers. For instance, Toyota offers Toyota, Scion, and Lexus as distinct brands of cars. Casio has their cheap watches, their G-Shock line, and the Edifice brand. Whether you have a little or a lot to spend, there is a product for you. Unfortunately, many shoppers have no clue about the relationship of price to value and end up disappointed with their purchases.

1928 - Sears Roebuck and Co. - 15 Jun MC - Allentown PA

1. The Budget Shopper

The budget shopper only looks at the price tag of a product. These are the types of folks that keep the dollar store in business. The tragedy is that these cheap products aren't even worth the dollar. As a friend once said to me, "If you pay cheap, you pay twice." You don't want to be the budget shopper.

2. The Value Shopper

The value shopper is the shopper with brains. This shopper looks not just at the price tag but the product itself. The value shopper understands the quotation from Warren Buffett about price and value. The most important thing is to buy value even if it costs more. In the long term, it will save you money as the value shopper only pays once. As they say, "Buy once, cry once." If you buy value, there will be fewer tears.

3. The Luxury Shopper

The luxury shopper is a cousin of the budget shopper. The luxury shopper wants value but assumes that value comes with a high price tag. Sometimes, they buy junk because they only looked at the price tag and not the value of what they were buying. I recall some fashionable watches that sold for a lot of money but were worthless for keeping time. They were more for fashion than function. Another is a brand of tools that are not any better than what you can get from a big box store, but they cost a fortune because of their branding and marketing. I don't see the wisdom in overpaying for value or no value.

1955 - Sears Roebuck and Co. Allentown PA

The Way To Go

By this point, the Gentle Reader should have gotten the message that the value shopper is the smart shopper. Being a value shopper requires more effort, but it is worth the effort. It means reading reviews and asking people for their recommendations. Mrs. Peasant hates having to do this sort of leg work to buy decent stuff and yearns to go back to the days in the 80s and 90s when you could buy something decent off the shelf of your local K-Mart, Sears, or JCPenney without a second thought. Today, inflation is calling the shots, and retailers play their games. The value of the US dollar diminishes daily, and this is going to be reflected in the prices and values of products.

One of the bitter lessons I have learned as a value shopper is that a good brand doesn't always remain a good brand. Private equity firms love to buy good reputations and hollow them out for short term profits. It is sick, but you still have to be a value shopper. It is the only way to play and win the game.

1960 - Sears Roebuck and Co. Allentown PA

When I find value, I share the information. I don't do Amazon reviews, but I do write blog posts. I have discovered that you can find value at a low price point. These products aren't dirt cheap, but they don't cost a fortune either. I keep the radar on for these sorts of things.

I hope this guide to the three kinds of shoppers helps you, Gentle Reader, to decide to become a value shopper. Thank you for reading!