Gloomy-June-y Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #51

Greeting journal-reading friends, I regret to inform you that this month's journal will not be a happy one so perhaps you may wish to skip this installment or at least jump ahead to the candy reviews...

Regrettably this month was defined by two deaths of my step-fathers dog and my cat. While I loved Tye, he was very old and his health had been declining for some time to the point that we were starting to seriously euthanasia when he quietly passed away. It was very sad, but at the same time, there was a sense of relief that he wouldn't suffer further as his mobility issues continued to worsen.

Parker, by contrast, was only 6 and came to us under inauspicious circumstances - my late mother responded to a classified ad looked for people with nursing queens and the next day two women showed up with a box of orphaned kittens who were put with our cat, Bella who raised them. As the kittens grew, however, it quickly became apparent that the kittens weren't quite normal. All three suffered from cerebral hypoplasia a congenital disorder that affect coordination - the other two had relatively minor symptoms and were able to be re-homed, but Parker was noticeably worse and so I adopted her as my own pet. Like most cats with CH she became extremely attached to people and loved nothing more than to clumsily scramble up onto my bed for snuggling and petting. Late Friday evening, however, I found her lying in the litter-box and booked a vet appointment for the following day - she didn't make it through the night, however. Shortly before 1am she scrambled out of the box I'd placed her in, collapsed on my bed and stopped breathing. Perhaps because she was so young and there was no protracted illness, I'm taking her loss much worse than I have most of my other pets as everything reminds me of her - the spot on my bed where she slept, her food dish, even the catnip plants in the yard...

I'm sure I'll be OK in time, but I'm just not in the right frame of mind to write up a topic of discussion this month. Fortunately, I have a backlog of candy reviews so even though it feels a bit weird given the circumstances, I will be posting those as per usual this month.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I promise that next month I'll post a much happier journal! *kitty hugs*

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Kaffre talks Candy #51

Name: Coca-Cola Lime
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 500mL bottle
Where Purchased: Dollar Tree
Description: Consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage flavoured with kola and lime juice.
Opinion: A product I haven't seen in a while. The flavour is about what you'd expect with the lime juice lending this product a refreshing citrus flavour that I quite enjoyed. Overall, I enjoyed this product and will definitely consider purchasing it again soon. That said, while I'm normally more of a coke fan, I do feel that for whatever reason the lime taste seems to go better with pepsi - though the competing product doesn't seem to be around right now...

Name: Dairy Milk (Peanut Butter Cookie)
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 100 gram bar
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Consists of a bar of milk chocolate with 24 sections of arranged in a 3x8 grid. The raised sections are smaller than usual due to a thicker base. The chocolate has bits of crumbled cookie and peanut-butter chips embedded in it.
Opinion: A new product I decided to sample. The milk chocolate is of the same high quality we've some to expect from Cadbury and the cookie bits offer a nice crunchy texture as well as a pleasant hit of peanut-butter flavour that I thought was quite enjoyable. Overall, I enjoyed this product and will definitely consider purchasing it again, but due to its size (and lack of resealable wrapper), that will probably only be when there's someone to share with.

Name: Lay's Cheese & Onion
Manufacturer: Lay's
Size: 170 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Consists of standard looking potao chips with a slight orange colour from the flavouring used.
Opinion: A limited edition product - though with the frequency Lay's releases some variation on this theme, it's a wonder they just don't make it a staple. The chips are a bit stronger than I remember, but both the cheese and onion are in balance and complement each other very well, I think. Overall, I liked these chips and will purchase them again, were they to be made a regular flavour they'd probably join Salt n' Vinegar and Dill Pickle as my go to flavours...

Name: Lay's Spicy Cheddar Chips
Manufacturer: Lay's
Size: 170 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Consists of standard looking potao chips with an orange colour from the flavouring used.
Opinion: A limited edition product I decided to sample. The chips are interesting in that the heat and cheesiness seem 'dissociated' in the sense that it is more reminiscent of an artisanal cheese incorporating hot peppers than, for example, a nacho cheese/queso flavour. Overall, I enjoyed this product and would consider purchasing it again where it to remain available, but there are still other flavours I like better.

Name: Simpkins Mixed Mint Travel Sweets
Manufacturer: Simpkins
Size: 200 gram tin
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consist of hard candies approximately 3cm in diameter and having a shape reminiscent of red blood cells. There are four colours: white, yellow, green, and brown each of which corresponds with a flavour: buttermint, peppermint, spearmint, and treaclemint (I was unable to tell which was which, however).
Opinion: A British product I decided to grab up while doing some Fathers' Day shopping. The candies are very pleasant though somewhat milder than I would have expected though they do last a long time so long as you don't chew them which compensates somewhat. Overall, I enjoyed this product and while I do generally prefer stronger flavoured mint candies, I would certainly consider purchasing these again in the future.