A few subjects that are on my mind:

At a recent convention, I ran into a woman entrepreneur of some “maturity.” We got to talking and she happened to mention that she can no longer thread a needle. “But don’t you have a needle threader?” I asked. “I use mine a lot when I’m shortening a hem or sewing on a button. The needle eyes are so small!” The lady seemed to have no knowledge of a needle-threader, so I thought I would include a photo here. Online, such a needle threader costs only a dollar, but from my experience, these threaders are somewhat delicate, so the sewing bag should definitely include three or four. The last time I bought a drug store sewing kit when I was on vacation and needed to make a repair, two of these needle threaders were part of the kit. The thin wire is pushed into the eye of the needle then the user puts the thread through the larger wire opening on the other side of the needle, then pulls the thread through. I suppose there are other needle threaders I could investigate, but the simple one works for me. One of the necessities of life for the mature woman or man: a needle threader.

I recently saw the movie, Music Man again. A year ago, I saw Music Man on Broadway and enjoyed Hugh Jackman’s vigorous dancing. However, now having seen again Robert Preston’s Professor Hill, I can see why a number of New York critics weren’t so fond of the Jackman Broadway version. Preston is so charming (and masculine)–who wouldn’t fall I love with him? AND with Shirley Jones and the rest of the cast, the movie had no lagging parts. See the movie from beginning to end to know what I mean.

Another favorite thing: shelf-stable Grossner Milk–-in a waxy cardboard box. I like milk in my coffee, but I don’t like handling big jugs of milk at the grocery store or at home. Ah ha–several years ago at the dollar store I saw a bunch of “boxes” of milk – that don’t need refrigeration and are light enough to carry easily. I now buy them in multiples and keep them – UN-refrigerated, until I need them. Cost at Dollar Tree: $1.25 for a quart. (Cost at Amazon is much more, but they deliver.)

Another favorite item: my hard-boiled egg cooker. I might have gotten the cooker as a casino reward, can’t remember how I got it. But the cooker is great–-six hard-boiled eggs in about 10 minutes. No boiling water–-no egg whites creeping out–just a small hole in the top Of the egg and it’s done perfectly. My cooker came with a small glass to fill half way with water to pour in the cooker for steaming. The glass also has a point on its bottom to put a small hole in each egg. However, the point got dull, so now I keep a straight pin near the cooker and just pierce each egg with a pin and that seems to work. I have an egg a day and so far I am still here. Egg cookers like mine are available on line for less than $20—-great little items.

I am a fan of British actress Helen Mirren when I’ve seen her in movies. I didn’t know she had been in a TV series in Great Britain called “Prime Suspect.” I ran into Prime Suspect on Amazon Prime because I love British mysteries. Great Britain does not have a gun culture, but they do have crimes and the detectives involved need to figure out the solutions. In Mirren’s case, her articulation is clears a bell; can’t say that for all the other actors so sometimes I had to put on closed caption to understand everything. But Helen is always terrific and a viewer does not think time in front of the TV is wasted. Watching all the seasons, we actually see Mirren grow a bit older. Her first Prime Suspect program was in 1991; the final season (Each season was just one or two specials) was 2006. The program has won a bunch of awards including three consecutive British Academy Best Actress awards. Each episode is about two hours in length. I think you’ll enjoy her.

As some of my friends know, for about two months I have had a roommate, my gentleman friend Jack Atkins who, sadly for me, discovered rather suddenly he has serious kidney disease. Jack is under hospice surveillance, but gets along very well using a cane when necessary (he loves exercise and even goes walking in the park) and occasional oxygen. He’s a great roommate–neat in all things, constantly grateful and available every evening for movie night. He’s always been a hand-holder and during the movie, we still hold hands. The only problem is that my gentleman friend loves ice cream–lots of ice cream–all the while keeping his slim figure. His daughter and I are constantly buying more ice cream, as if ice cream is the key to enjoyment of life, .

Thankfully, we laugh a lot.