Yarn Again & What Sounds Like Dracula's Alma Mater

I couldn't stand it.  Durwood gave me yarn money for my birthday so I hightailed it back to Magpie Yarns to see if she had any of that baby llama yarn left in her sale baskets.  She did.  Someone came and bought all the remaining Lava Red in the intervening day but there were six skeins of the Khaki left and one of Amber Orange.  Then there was this one black silk and wool one in another basket.  Don't look at me that way.  He made me go buy more yarn.  He did.

Then I took a spin around Transylvania University.  Really, it's a place with a library, bookstore, and students, even famous alums like Jefferson Davis, Ned Beatty, and Sam Houston.  It's a pretty little campus with just over 1000 students smack dab in the middle of downtown Lexington, but I think it has an unfortunate name.

One of the places DD took us to eat was a local diner called Ramsey's.  The big thing on their menu is their "meat & three," a meat with three sides, few of them veggies but all of them tasty.  I had a salad the first time (disappointing and no three) and BBQ chicken breast with mac & cheese, fried okra, and honey ginger carrots (all delicious) the second time and Durwood had chicken-fried pork chops with fried okra, Parmesan deep-fried corn on the cob (interesting), and mashed potatoes and gravy.  All for $13.95.  Needless to say, there was no room for dessert.  In fact, his second pork chop and my second BBQ chicken breast made really great sandwiches for yesterday's lunch.

I did a little preliminary packing yesterday afternoon in between bouts of knitting.  I finished the second repeat of the Virgo Hat (it's already packed) and worked more on the Bee Stitch cloth.  I've learned that it's a pistol to tink because of the pattern stitch because you knit in the stitch below and drop the one above.  I'm absolutely certain I'm not doing it right and have multiple boo-boos but I like the way it's looking and who else but a nit-picker will find the mistakes.

September 5--A. Higbee/Imagewright, Candles.  "Happy birthday, tooooooo youuuuuuu!"  The group elongated the last two words of the song making Jen think of owls and loons.  She hated being the center of attention, but the whole birthday cake with candles, singing, and wish-making was unavoidable at T. Waldman's.  She'd like to take whoever started this tradition back behind the shed and teach them a thing or two about workplace decorum.  "Did you make your wish?" Sarah asked, clapping her hands like an excited eight-year-old.  Jen nodded.  "Then blow before the candles melt."  Jen looked at the slowly spreading pools of orange wax on the white grocery store frosting and blew out the flames.  One of the candles relit, shooting a tiny spark.  She licked her thumb and forefinger and then pinched it out.  "Very funny, Larry," she said to the balding guy with gravy on his tie.  "How'd you know I... I mean, uh, what makes you think I did that?"  She just shook her head and cut the cake.

We're pedaling homeward today.  We're banking on it being the Saturday of Labor Day weekend to make the traffic a bit lighter in the big construction pinch points (Louisville and Indy) and the hope that any holiday travelers will be going the opposite way until we get to Chicago which will be late enough in the day for them to be where they're going, except for the procrastinators, that is, and we can deal with them.  We think we're just going to take the main roads, no fancy juking around, and take our chances, and if we get too tired we'll get a room for the night and go on Sunday morning.  It's that simple.  Luckily Durwood's not one of those "gotta make time" kind of driving guys, not usually anyway.  Goodbye Lexington, hello Green Bay.  In about 10 1/2 hours and 650 miles. Gonna be a long day.
--Barbara