OT: I *fianllly* quit smoking again!

Yes, we opened the last All Dark Chocolate delivery last night.

Bliss!

Mary

I haven't had hot flushes for years! I measure my BP in the morning, when I remember, but it's stable - if on the borderline of too high :-)

Mary

...

Coins? They sound like the Pomfret Cakes of which I spoke. Round, flat with (in our case) an imprint of Pontefract (Pomfret) Castle.

see:

has a lot of other interesting links. Mary

> which has a lot of other interesting links. Thank you for posting that link, Mary! As soon as I saw them I remembered them (if not them, then something that looked very much like them) from when there used to be a candy store here in town.

They also look a little like the candy Mirjam mentioned too... but those were Dutch and very salty.

*hugs* Gem

Yes, I remember them too. And "Good n Plenty" (hard shell candy coated licorice bits, in pink and white colours) that I used to buy at the movie theatre.... we can't get them in Canada anymore for some stupid reason. So

*when* I make it to the States (which isn't too often) I pick up a box or two. ;o)

There was also "plugs"... that looked a lot like chewing tobacco, about 5" long by 1 1/2" wide and very flat. In the candy store that used to be in town, they were beside the "cigars" and "pipes" shaped licorice. We can still get those, but not the "plugs".

*hugs* Gem

I don't think any confection shaped like cigarettes or cigars are allowed in UK nowadays. Spoils all kids' fun :-(

Mary

Mary Fisher spun a FINE 'yarn':

Actually I think they are cutting them out here too... likely because they are trying to avoid letting the kids think it's cool to pretend to smoke like grown-ups do. I noticed that the licorice "pipes" are difficult to find now, and I'm sure it won't be too long before the "cigars" disappear. I also noticed recently (at a movie rental store where they sell "retro" candy) that something that used to be called "Popeye Cigarettes" (small white sticks of hard candy that used to have one end done in red like a lit cigarette and were sold in a box that looked a bit like a tiny cigarette package when I was very small), are now sold as "Candy Sticks" without the one red end. At least they haven't changed the flavour.

*hugs* Gem

Ahhhh... seven years of hot flashes?!? Phew, even though I'm not crazy about the reason (cervical cancer that made it necessary that I have a complete hysterectomy).. I'm glad that I went through all my hot flashes within the two weeks immediately after surgery! Over and done with... but MAN was I an B*TCH... *big time*.... I couldn't even stand myself!!! LOL My parents would take Matthew for drives in the car just to get him away from me while I was ranting and crying and carrying on. I am SO glad that passed.

*hugs* Gem

I only had them as a child when someone praised or flattered me :-)

Mary

Oh those sophisticated sparkling red ends!

Did they have a flavour apart from sweet? I can't remember ... I probably only had a couple all my life, I wasn't allowed them and sweets were very rare anyway because of rationing.

Mary

Not Likely spun a FINE 'yarn':

>

Mary Fisher spun a FINE 'yarn':

>

To me they just taste sweet... or perhaps with a hint of vanilla flavouring.

My parents and my older siblings lived through the rationing from the war years... my second sister and my brother were born shortly before the war ended. Thankfully I was nowhere around or even thought of back then (my Mom used to joke that I was an afterthought)... so they knew what it was like to have to do without. I am the spoiled one of the family, but I did learn from them not to just assume things would always be available.... I'm glad I did too, as it helped when my son and I have gone through (and occasionally still go through) some hard times. I wondered out loud one day why my parents bought so much canned and dried food everytime they went to get groceries, and I was told "When you live without, and have to ration your food, you tend to make sure your cupboard is full when you can finally afford to. We never want to have to live through that again, or have you have to live through it, so we stock up on food to make sure we always have some in the house." When I *can* afford to, I do the same thing! :o)

*hugs* Gem

My cancer specialist was going to leave my ovaries, but I said "NO! I want them out! I have heard too many horror stories of ovaries being left so the patien doesn't have to go on hormone replacement medication and one year later they end up with ovarian cancer, and I do not want to have to have more surgery... and I *know* that ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly of all cancers because it's difficult to detect. So I want them out NOW!" He went along with my wishes, and put me on hormone replacement medication... but I kept forgetting to take it, and it had no bad side effects for me *not* taking it (I didn't grow a beard or anything, and the horrendous hot flashes faded away completely within a few weeks) so I just never bothered with it again. ;o)

*hugs* Gem

:-)

I have a beard and have never taken hormone replacement meds (as far as I know).

I blame old age!

In fact I blame everything bad on old age and everything good on my nature

Mary

Do you still?

I can stand up in front of hundreds of people and talk but if somone, even my husband, flatters me I still blush.

Mary

Ah, the seige mentality.

I think I must have it too - I blame it on not liking to go shopping so go as infrequently as possible and stock up. Not on tins, frozen or dried stuff but with more than enough basic ingredients to see us through for a few weeks, whatever happens. We've worked out that whatever happens we could survive for quite a long time.

It's a bit like stashing yarn (trying to justify all this off topic stuff!)

Mary

Candy ciggies when *I* was *young*(er) were wintergreen flavoured! JM2C, Noreen