Bad dog, no cookie… and snow throwers in the land of no snow…

This weekend is night tours at Patterson House… one Victorian house, 80+ oil lamps, 0 electric lights… a fire in the fire place, a fire in the wood burning cook stove for baking cookies, for which we need cookie dough... as a result we have cookies, no butter and a bad dog… I had butter out over night to soften… early Friday I started to make the cookie dough… unwrap the butter, grab the white sugar… not enough.. time for a store run… while I while at the store our darling Emma ate the butter… all the butter… back to the store for more butter… cold butter, hard butter, which won’t cream with the sugar… chop it up, put it in a warm oven, beat it for a bit, back in the oven, repeat, repeat… finally get the cookie dough done and off to work just in time for the first tour… The cookies are pretty good…



On other thoughts… I like to get up early and read the Sunday paper… the Sears (formerly Sears Roebuck) caught my eye… Here in the land of little snow they have snow throwers on sale… three different models ranging from $599.99 (Save $130) to $799.99 (save $270) Clearly this is an national ad campaign… and those developing it in Chicago land have forgotten that a snow thrower is of little use in the land of no snow…

I am tempted to walk into my local store and try to buy one… Better yet, gather friend and make a short Michel Moore style film: Scene 1, couple sitting in living room reading Sunday paper, Him, “Wow, these are great prices on snow throwers… I think I will buy one”… Wife, (while picking oranges from tree in front yard) “OK honey, its good to be prepared (maybe she believes in Global warming…) Scene 2, at Sears, Husband (holding ad from paper), to clerk, “Can you explain the features of each of these snow throwers…” Clerk, with blank stare “Hun????)

In their defense, in the fine print at the bottom of the page the following can be found (under the heading “Sears In-stock promise on advertized items”) … items not normally available at your Sears store are excluded…”

Still you have to wonder about their one size fits all approach to advertizing… The flyer also includes warm coats better suited to the arctic than to the beach… and we are the beach… I guess I won’t be shopping at Sears this week