May-be a new Joural? + Kaffre talks Candy #84:

Welcome once again loyal journal-readers (I'm not actually sure there are any, but no matter) and welcome once again to my shiny new, May 2024 journal!

So what happened this month? Well, chronologically, I finished reading the Power Pack 40th anniversary miniseries "Into the Storm". It was a pretty entertaining story, Tattletale and Kofi got some character development, we learned a bit about more about Snark society via Djinna and Mayhem, and the kids got their hands on a Time Tesseract! The story itself, however, didn't really feel like it went anywhere though they were admittedly somewhat constrained by the story being set in the past limiting their ability to make any major changes to the kids' continuity.

After that, I attended a smaller mineral show in my area. It was fun, but it really catered more to jewellery and only a relatively two or three stalls actually sold minerals - I bought Specular Hematite, Flint, and a nicer sample of Labradorite than I previously possessed. I considered grabbing another piece of Bismuth as well - I really like the form of the piece I currently own, but it has a very uniform colour and I was hoping to grab one with a richer palette, but I didn't really see any I liked and I'd have had to break a $50 so I decided to pass for now...

I got very sick and had to miss my brother's birthday celebration, but did send him some money and called to wish a Happy Birthday anyway. Speaking of birthdays, now that spring is behind us, we're starting to see lots of baby animals, kittens, chicks, piglets, baby raccoons, and more! It's been busy, but rewarding taking care of them - even the raccoons; getting them to wildlife sanctuary after their mother's death.

Oh, I also finished watching S1 of 'The Owl House', a series I started watching when it first came out, but then just sort of dropped. It was pretty good, but I'm reluctant to continue - the characters, setting, and humour were good, but I just didn't care about the nominal plot which apparently gets a lot more focus going forward - I probably will watch the remaining seasons eventually, but for how a hiatus will do me good!

Hmm I guess that's it for now. Thanks for putting up with my journals! *hugs* See you in June with a brand new installment!

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Kaffre talks Candy #84:

Name: Barr Bubblegum
Manufacturer: A.G. Barr
Size: 330mL can
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of a blue carbonated soft-drink flavoured to taste like 'bubblegum'.
Opinion: A Scottish import I mistakenly grabbed before noticing that it was 'sugar free'. The product has pleasant enough artificial fruit flavour that is indeed reminiscent of bubblegum and, more importantly to me, does a pretty good job covering up the aftertaste of the artificial sweeteners used. It was quite light as well and might be a good choice for a refreshing beverage to enjoy in hot weather. Overall, I liked this product well enough, but I don't think I'm likely to buy again though if you're looking for a sugar-free soda, but hate the taste of artificial sweetener, this might be a place to look!

Name: Crispers (Smokey Bacon)
Manufacturer: Christie
Size: 145 gram bag
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Consist of thin, flat, crackers with a wavy, but rectangular shape and a faint orange colour.
Opinion: A limited time flavour I decided to sample. Like other 'Crispers', these cracker-chips are delightfully crunchy and do manage to deliver a smokey flavour that is quite nice albeit, unfortunately, short-lived though that too is common to the brand. Overall, I liked this product and would purchase it again (in fact, I have), but I'm still partial to Salt & Vinegar or Dill Pickle...

Name: Curlywurly Squirlies
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 95 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe.
Description: Consists of segments of Curlywurly (a British confection consisting of chocolate-covered caramel arranged in a sort of lattice or loose braid.
Opinion: Longtime readers of my journal will be aware that I am generally indifferent to caramel, but way back at the start of this project, I actually gave Curlywurly a pretty good review. It may be a result of the differing proportion of chocolate to caramel, but the chocolate flavour didn't really come through and the texture of the caramel felt rather too stiff for my liking. Overall, this item was OK but I don't think I'd buy it again except, perhaps, to test whether this batch was bad...

Name: Loads of Cheesy Garlic Bread Chips
Manufacturer: PC
Size: 200 gram bag
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Consists of thick-cut ruffle style potato chips with a slight orange colour.
Opinion: Despite a rather unorthodox inspiration, these chips are actually pretty conventional in flavour having a savoury cheesy flavour reminiscent of staple British flavour 'Cheese and Onion' and similar products there is a definite hit of garlic, but it's really more of an aftertaste than anything and while slightly off-putting at first, I got used to it pretty quickly. Overall, I thought these chips were quite good especially for a 'store brand' and would consider buying them again.

Name: Penguin Biscuits (Orange)
Manufacturer: McVitie's
Size: Pack of seven 24.6 gram cookies
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of two chocolate biscuits with orange-flavoured chocolate creme sandwiched between them and enrobed in milk chocolate. Comes individually wrapped in packages of seven.
Opinion: An item I finally grabbed because the shop was out of Club bars, this product provides a pleasantly crunchy sandwich cookie that, despite having a lot of chocolate, manages to not be too rich and instead a rather nice crunchy tea biscuit. The orange flavour was just right not too subtle or too intense and the jokes on the wrapper are suitably groan-inducing. Overall, I liked this product and would buy it again though there are other orange-flavoured chocolates I like more.