Saturday, April 25, 2020

In the Secret Garden

Started the day at work. Except for sweeping the store (which I alternated with the afternoon bagger), I cleaned the entire day. The head bagger spent the day cashiering. I wish I had an easier time of it. It's impossible to keep people out while I'm cleaning, particularly the men. I'll tell them to leave, only to have them tell me that they need to go and can't wait. Sometimes I can get them to hold it if I'm just finishing. The bathrooms always take so much longer than they should!

Went straight into grocery shopping after work. Not only did I not really need much, but I'm trying to not overstock things right now, given I'll be moving in a little over a month. I'm almost out of Pantene conditioner; good thing it was on sale and I had an online coupon. Bought a regular toothbrush until I can find the heads for my electric one. Two of my hair clips broke; found similar ones on sale in the hair section. They didn't have a lot of toilet paper in large packs, but there were a ton of individual rolls. I grabbed one. Opted to make a pudding pie with whipped topping and a graham cracker crust rather than buy ice cream again. Found organic fruit twists that were pretty similar to the fruit bars I bought at CVS last week. Restocked sugar, bananas, oranges, strawberries, vanilla extract, tea, cereal, yogurt, and deodorant.

My schedule next week is something of an improvement. Only two days off this time, Tuesday originally for counseling (though I highly doubt that'll happen now), and early days all week. Same amount of hours, though, and only five or six hours most days. The only day I work 8 and 1/2 hours is Wednesday, one of the head bagger's days off.

When I got home, I threw together leftovers for dinner, then made the pudding pie while watching the 1993 version of The Secret Garden. Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly) is a very sour little girl who has never been loved by anyone, including her self-centered parents who preferred parties in India to raising her. They're killed in an earthquake, forcing her to move to her Uncle Archibald Craven's (John Lynch) lonely manor in Northern England. The grouchy housekeeper Mrs. Medlock (Maggie Smith) has no time for her demands and sends her outside.

There, she hears stories about a mysterious garden that once belonged to her late aunt, who died after a fall from a tree. A robin leads her to the wall that surrounds the garden and the key that opens it. With the help of animal-loving local lad Dickon (Andrew Knott) and later her invalid cousin Colin (Heydon Prowse), she brings the garden back to life...and the garden brings out the life in spoiled Mary and hypochondriac Colin, allowing them to flourish as much as it is.

There were two absolutely gorgeous film retellings of Frances Hodgeson Burnett books in the mid-90's, and this was the first of them. It's not a 100-percent perfect adaptation - why did everyone die in an earthquake in India instead of a cholera epidemic? - but it is beautifully shot on a real English manor and features excellent performances by all three kids and Smith as the grouchy woman who fails to understand why her sickly charges are now thriving. Highly recommended for kids who need a little springtime magic right about now.

Here's another kid's tale, the animated Peanuts film Snoopy Come Home, which I go into further detail on at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Snoopy Come Home

Oh, and YouTube gave Nick of MatchGameProductions so much trouble with the Salute to The Love Boat marathon, he's moving it to Monday. Tomorrow is now an extra-long tribute to the wildest contestants and biggest wins, starting at noon!

No comments: