WEEK OF JAN 5th It is a New Year. A good time for new beginnings. I no longer make resolutions; I just try to do my very best. Don’t smoke or drink but really do like those chips, cookies and ice cream.
Being a widow sucks. I suspect that being a widower or a divorcee does too. Was sitting at home on New Year’s Eve feeling just a bit sorry for myself. My phone indicated a message so thought it was a friend wishing me a Happy New Year. Eagerly checked the message to find it was from Ameren telling me my projected monthly bill was $483,21! Not really sure this was necessary on New Year’s Eve night.
Good time to shop for bargains. Aldi and Walmart had greatly reduced Christmas items. How many stollens can one fit into a small chest freezer.
Had time to close out store this week. I am a numbers fanatic so all the columns and cross checks need to match. They did! Can condense a whole year for the store on one really big crowded green sheet and when it balances, I am glad and sure my tax preparer is too. Rewrite my inventory book to see what is still in the store and to refresh my memory on what is there. Sort of fun in a way. Yes, I know I’m a bit strange but I like working with numbers and all the things associated with my antique store.
Think I am impressed with Amazon. I bought two heated pet bowls locally. Checking the sales slip indicated that they had been marked up so that the sale price would be the regular price. Disappointing. Checked Amazon after the purchase and found a much wider selection at higher and lower prices. Bought two heated kitty houses for my outside kitties then found I needed a special extension cord for them. Amazon had that as well as another heated water bowl and vacuum cleaner bags that would have been very difficult to find in a store. Really convenient to just sit on the side of the bed and shop and have it delivered to my home. Do see it as a problem for brick-and-mortar stores however. Hard to compete with the convenience and selection.
Gasoline in Macomb normally is all the same price but this week it ranged from 2.65 to 2.99. Often wonder if price or habit matter most when we buy gas.
I am amazed by my phone. Am using my calendar to keep track of appointments. One day they were all gone. Went to U S Cellular and the nice man said yes, they were gone. Two days later they reappeared. Touched a link and got to view the interior of the space station. Now have a link to NASA on my phone. Was doing taxes for the B&B and evidentially tossed the instructions. Checked with Google and found the instructions were on line. So much information there if we just know where to find it.
I hope you have a good 2026. I do believe a lot of life is not luck but a result of some of our decisions and actions. Speaking of actions, continue to scatter Kindness and Love.
WEEK OF JAN 12th “Song sung blue, everybody knows one.” So many sad things happening lately. You don’t need me to remind you of lives taken, assets grabbed, lies told and so much more. Personally, Puff jumped out the door last Sunday evening after helping me write the column and she has not returned since. She is an indoor kitty and has no survival skills. If you see a fluffy beige kitty in Plymouth, she has a home and would like her to be home and safe.
“Song Sung Blue” is also the title of a movie currently playing. As I am a Neil Diamond fan and have his music playing at the store, went to the movie last night. It is not a movie about Neil Daimond but rather about a tribute group. It is a good movie but not one that leaves you in a festive mood. There were six people in the theater on a Saturday evening.
Illinois tried to relieve a bit of the tax burden by taking the 1% tax off food. It was my understanding that taxing bodies could then impose a 1% tax of their own because of the tax removed. What seems to have happened is that we are now paying 1% more on everything where the taxing bodies chose to continue the 1% tax. Tax in Macomb is now 10%. In my opinion, that is very high. I would rather have had the 1% tax on food continue than paying one percent more on everything.
Sal climbed the curtains and bent two curtain rods. I bought curtain rods and got out the tall ladder. Finally had to wire up one set of rods to get them to stay and got another rod that I could just lay across ends so that if Sal tries to climb those curtains, it all should fall on his head. What I did not anticipate was how Sal would react to the ladder. He was under it and trying to figure out how to climb up-went around the leg to the outside and succeeded. Sat on the top and tried to play with the ceiling fan so I moved the ladder. Could see the fan smashed on the floor. He then proceeded to groom himself on the top of the ladder and climbed up repeatedly. The end of the story is that the ladder is now in the dining room where I have room to leave it up for him to enjoy!
The Plymouth Village Board met on Wednesday evening. Some good discussions on the future of our village. We need a new water plant and water tower and though they are in the future, I’m glad that plans are being made. We still need a policeman. Though we have ordinances, we have no one to enforce them.
2026 has had a bumpy start. Hope things improve. Hope you have a good week. Though we may not be able to do a lot about many things beyond our control, we can scatter Kindness and Love and do our best to help those in need in our community and the surrounding area.
Editor’s Note; Joyce is a resident of Plymouth and owns Plymouth Rock Roost B & B and Plymouth Rock Antiques.
