I say "illustrated" because I discovered that the motel internet won't let me put pictures on here but RJ's internet will, so now you know where I am. I'm sitting at the kitchen desk in RJ & K's house listening to Durwood and his brother banter and make breakfast. Durwood's having his beloved tomato slice on rye toast with mayo, I'm having Fage yogurt with fruit, honey, and walnuts, and RJ's making another Dutch pancake hoping this one puffs up like it's supposed to today. We shall see. (I'm loving my yogurt, it makes my stomach happy, thanks for the yogurt recommendation, KW at knitting!)
Yesterday we all went a little ways out of town to an alpaca farm and yarn shop. There was a knitting group meeting and they were fun and friendly, and there was lots of yarn. I bought 3 skeins grown by an alpaca named Guyton (Gee like a French Guy) who just happened to be in the pen next to the shop so I went out to find him and RJ took my picture with him. In a pen along the road there were mamas and babies. Not near the road, of course, but visible. So cute.
After lunch the boys napped and K and I drove into Greenville to see the waterfall on the river in town and to cruise a new arts area to stroll a few galleries, then we found a yarn shop that was half yarn and half needlepoint. Nice but I didn't buy anything. Instead of going out to supper the boys bought steaks at Costco and we grilled out.
Today we're off to Trader Joe's (eeee!) while the boys look at pictures and RJ's baby book, and then we're going to a hot air balloon festival tonight just to look.
Tomorrow we leave for Wilmington, NC and adventures close to the ocean.
On Monday we spent the morning with DD, loaded up and drove through the Cumberland Gap where Daniel Boone blazed the trail so that the pioneers could move west. It was beautiful with those little mountains on every side and lightening shades of blue in the distance.
Robert, the GPS, takes us right to the door of our destination. I love it. We drove around the city in a lot of afternoon rush hour traffic to the motel and checked in, then went to the Cracker Barrel next door for supper. DD recommended the chicken and dumplins; we both had them and they were pretty darned good. Durwood turned in pretty early, like I said before driving's tiring, but I stayed up knitting and listening to an audiobook until nearly midnight. (I keep looking at the time and then subtracting an hour to see what time it is at home and then living like that's the time -- what's up with that???)
Tuesday found us at the Visitor Center looking for driving tours of Civil War sites and there was an awesome trio singing in there. Seems there's an indie radio station in the same space and they offer groups passing through an hour venue. It's free to go and the group gets invaluable exposure as they go from here to there. The one I heard was called Three Little Rules (I think, the paper I wrote it on is in the van) and are a daughter as the lead singer, Mom sings, Dad plays guitar and sings. They were good. Very good, nice harmonies, kind of folky, kind of country. I need to look them up. Anyway, I also asked for a restaurant recommendation for local food but I don't think the young woman got was I was saying as she sent us to a trendy bistro called Tupelo Honey that she said had great biscuits but Durwood wasn't interested, and neither was I really. I'd love a great biscuit but we're more in the market for a place that looks like it's made out of reclaimed wood, truck parts, and has a hound dog sleeping in the gravel lot, so we just struck out for Fort Dickerson via Robert the GPS. He got us there in good time,
we stopped for an Arby's sandwich (not exactly what I had in mind but oh well) and then went to the fort. That wasn't what we thought it'd be either. The fort had been an earthworks on a promontory overlooking the Tennessee River, not a wooden stockade, so it's pretty much eroded away, but there are still 3 cannon and there are markers where things were and signs describing what happened from where. Interesting, and the weather was gorgeous--70s and sunny.
Next we headed to Volunteer Landing where the Federals had intercepted a message of an attack by fishing a note in a bottle out of the river (!!!) in time to forge and stretch a chain across the river to foil the Confederates. We followed Robert's directions but didn't see a historic marker or site so we asked a young lady who sent us out and around and down to the riverbank (that took us 2 tries to manage) but we never did find it. (turns out it's just a riverside park, no marker, no historic signs) What we did find was a stone commemorating the house/birthplace of Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of The Secret Garden, my favorite book as a child. It's free for Kindle so even if you don't have a Kindle you can download a Kindle Reader for your PC and then you can read this lovely book to yourself or a kid of your choice.
Then it was time to find a yarn shop. I asked in a riverside restaurant for a phone book since Robert the GPS didn't know where one was but they didn't have a phone book in the restaurant because their phones only call out. What???? So we went back to the Visitor Center and used their phone book and found one. The drive there was an adventure since it was like Robert was braiding us -- "in 300 yds. take the left exit and then stay on the right; in 200 yds. exit right and then stay on the left...). Each move one way was followed by one the opposite way, but soon enough we found loopville and there was yarn--and 2 couches of smiling knitting women. I found the off-white superwash wool I wanted in the right weight and they were having a bag sale wherein the more skeins in the bag the higher the discount. I found 10 skeins of nice wool & silk yarn in a charcoal which was 75% off. Sold!
We stopped at Kroger for some coleslaw and macaroni salad, then came back to the room, in rush hour traffic of course, to heat up our leftover bbq ribs from Lexington to have with our salads for supper. It was good.
Today we're off to Greenville, SC to visit with Durwood's brother RJ and his wife KM for a few days. I hear tell there's a llama farm with a yarn shop nearby and there'll be a hot air balloon festival on Friday. Should be fun. Time for breakfast and packing. Later, dudes and dudettes!
--Barbara
Our drive to Lexington was relatively uneventful except for a 10 mile downpour coming into Milwaukee on Thursday night. Durwood was his steady self and got us through just fine. We spent the night in an ancient, but clean motel in Kenosha and then zoomed off toward Lexington on Friday morning. Durwood drove us through Chicago and I got us to Indy, then we swapped off the rest of the way whenever the driver got tired or antsy--or I had to pee. We got here around 7 PM, called DD, grabbed a quick supper, and pretty much crashed. Driving's tiring.
Today DD and I went to the (her) fabric store where I found some snap tape to finish the Rocco sweater and there was this linen on sale plus there's DD's employee discount so I got a lot for not too much. Score! Then there were grab-bags of buttons half-price, a couple might have come home with me. After lunch we went to The Red Mile, the harness racing track for the afternoon. It was hot and humid but we scored 3 chairs under an overhang so we didn't get fried. DD won the most, I won once (40 cents plus my two buck bet back which I promptly bet and lost on the next race), and Durwood not at all. But we had unlimited fun and got to spend the afternoon together outside until the storm clouds rolled in, thunder and lightning arrived, and rain came, so we left. Now we're waiting for a call from DIL2 who is busy getting a show ready for the road and can spare us this evening mealtime. Thank goodness the girl has to eat or we wouldn't get to see her at all--and that'd be bad 'cause we like her.
I confess I haven't written a prompt either of the nights we've been away. Maybe one of these days. Toodle-oo.
--Barbara
I meant to come home from work yesterday and repot the little rosemary plant so it can live indoors while we're gone and not get frozen if it frosts. Did I remember? No. When did I remember? Why, just as it started to rain this morning, that's when. Happily I scrounged up a pot with a saucer and a little bag with a few cups of potting mix in it so I didn't have to pot the poor thing in dirt from the garden and a few sprigs of thyme came too, as did the world's biggest, blackest spider. I mean, I saw that there was a web linking the pot with the rosemary to the one with the basil but I didn't realize that Aragog (the giant, acromantula spider from Harry Potter) had moved in. Luckily I was half asleep so I only moved my hand and it skittered off. It was too early to eek! and leap. Too early and way too drizzly. Although I did manage to pour half a bucket of icy water onto my right shoe and foot shortly thereafter. It's a Croc (whew) so I'm not sitting here with one soaked shoe and foot, just dampish ones.
I did get a few things more organized and got the important things (my knitting and the snacks & water) into the van. I clambered up in the garage and got the small cooler down for carrying cheese and fruits for lunches along the way. I programmed all our destinations into Robert, the TomTom GPS, and put him into his mount in the van so all I have to do is select our next target and zoom! off we go. We sat after supper with pill bottles and supplement bottles and the pill keepers and counted and sorted all our pills. I'm happy to think that I only HAVE to take 3 of them, 2 prescriptions and one supplement, for normal living (the rest are just vitamins and hearsay). That's quite enough for now.
Naturally I had the devil of a time falling asleep last night. Too much running around in my head, I'm sure. I think I managed before the clock struck twelve, but 6:05 and 6:31 came mighty early. (I have 2 alarms, one beside the bed and the other across the room, I'm a reluctant riser.) I like having gotten up early, I just don't especially care for the actual getting up part. Once I'm up, I'm up and moving but motivation is a tenuous thing at 6:something o'clock in the barely light morning. Pretty soon it'll be darkdarkdark at that time of the morning and it'll be coldcoldcold, then I'll really feel put upon, but before I know it it'll start getting lighter and lighter and warmer and warmer, my spirits will rise and (sound of angels) Spring will come around again. See? Nothing to it. (yeah, I can talk big on the warm end of the season but just you wait until the middle of January when it's darker than a stack of black cats and colder than a well digger's ass in the Klondike, I'll be singing a different tune... of course then I'll have a grandbaby to brighten up my days so maybe all I'll be saying is "baby, baby, beautiful, brilliant baby"... watch this space)
October 3--Riker Brothers, Watch Pin. Maren sat in the chair watching the sun sink into the sea. As the orb touched the horizon a heron stalked along the shore searching the shallows for a last snack before roosting in the mangroves for the night. She heard the neighbors loading up their dive gear to drive along the shore to do a night dive. Their voices carried over the water sounding excited and a little nervous. She wondered where they were going but didn't feel like getting up to ask. The longer she was alone, the harder it was to make the effort. Tom had left a month ago, maybe more. She lost track of days. Here on the island one day was much like the ones before and the ones ahead. If it weren't for the maid, Lorena, coming on Tuesdays she'd never know what day it was. Why did it matter? There was nothing she needed to do. No one would care if she just faded away. A dark silhouette moved across in front of her blotting out the last golden light. "You shouldn't drink alone," Drake said as he took the glass from her fingers.
Well, hmm. Okay enough shillyshallying, time to get this laptop and all the cords and chargers packed and shoved into the van. Durwood's getting one more tank delivery today so he'll have a full complement of full ones to take along. Once I get home from work, the whole shooting match gets put into the car, my car moves into the garage and we're off. This is the time when my stomach's in a knot and I'd just as soon stay home. Good thing I have Durwood to shove me out the door. See some of you very soon!
--Barbara
Last night at yoga we ended our practice with our legs up the wall (it's called an inversion, just like a headstand only doable) and it occurred to me that I'm not so feeble after all. Achy, that I am, but yesterday I walked Porter for a couple miles, mowed the lawn, and did an hour of yoga and felt able to do it all. Oh, I get a backache when I walk with the dog so we stop for a minute and then go on and it's better, and I get all hot and winded when I mow but Gatorade and a shower takes care of that, and yoga wakes up muscles that have been dormant for ages but in about 12 more hours they won't ache anymore. My first instinct is to sit around, to not do stuff, but once I get myself moving I like it or, better yet, I like having moved. I'm not fully evolved just yet to like it in the time immediately before doing it but I might get there. As long as I keep pushing myself to do something active, something walk-y or exercise-y, I think I'm good. Now that September's over and the "30 days for 30 bucks" yoga sale has ended I'll choose one class to go to a week and then do the (free or free-will donation) community classes when Mardi teaches them. I thought I'd choose the Saturday 11 AM class but that's smack dab in the middle of the day and kind of disrupts it all. The Tuesday 5:30 PM class looks like the winner to me, even though every other month I'll go to the community class the next night... although I like the 8:15 AM Monday one too... I'll think about it while we're gone and decide when we get back.
Oh, hey, did I tell you that I won a DVD for going to yoga 3 times in week 3 of the sale? I got to the studio on Monday to find a smiley face next to my name on the chart; Mardi told me that meant I won a DVD, so when Kathleen came in I asked her and got to choose one of her yoga-along DVDs. I chose the gentle one which she says is like a yin class, just what I like best, so that's the one I chose. And I am evolved enough (thanks, HZ!) that I took a thank-you note along when I went to class last night and left it on her desk. There's a $10 price on the DVD so that's like getting 15 yoga sessions for twenty bucks. Such a deal! That earns a thank-you note. Plus it's polite. I can play it on the laptop while we're away and not stiffen up so much. It's a win win.
I took Durwood's van when I went for my manicure so I could run it through the car wash to get the windows cleaned inside and out and the crud vacuumed out. I wanted to start our 2-week jaunt with a clean car, and as I drove out of the car wash I turned on the blinker and the left rear one went out. It blinked once and then shifted to that fast clicking and a message came on the dashboard thingy telling me that it was out. Naturally most of the turns I made for the rest of the trip were left ones. Grr. I guess it's good that it happened at home instead of when we're on the road, but still... Durwood'll get it fixed up at Rabideau's today.
October 2--John Singer Sargent, Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau). The body was posed. She lay in the center of the room, her skin the same color as the marble floor. "Look, the veins in her arms look like the marble veins," said Korsak. Timmons shook his head. "Listen to you, this isn't an art installation, it's a dead body." Korsak shifted his shoulders in his ill-fitting suit jacket. "Yeah, I know, but I think Art might be part of it. Art with a capital A." He pointed. "Look at her, the way she's lying there. She didn't fall there like that. I bet she didn't dress herself, maybe didn't do her hair or makeup."
Okay, then. Some days I think I watch too many crime and procedural shows, but I'm hooked, mostly on the characters I confess but I like 'em and I won't be acting on any of the ideas anytime soon. Cross my heart. It's time to go work. You have yourself a nice day.
--Barbara
Hi! I'm up and sitting right now but it might be the last sit for me for a lot of today. Pretty soon I'll pick up Porter for a walk, then go to the bank, pick up an Rx for Durwood, mow the lawn, get my nails done, and go to yoga. While I'm getting Durwood's pills I have to pick up a potpie or some other quick supper item because he's off to one of those investment lecture/suppers so I'll be on my own. Man, I'm tired just typing all that. But it's going to be a gorgeous day so I won't mind being outside a bunch.
As much as I wish the days would stay long, I like seeing the sun rise when I get up early. This morning there's a sliver of moon high up in the sky and the scattering of little clouds looked just gorgeous with their bottoms all rosy. Don't you agree?
The other night I cast on a baby sweater and got to a "counting" spot at work yesterday only to discover that I was 20 stitches off. Twenty! How could that be? So I tinked (k-n-i-t backwards) the row and recounted. I had the right number of stitches. So then I counted on the pattern to see how many stitches the next row meant me to have. +20. Hmm. I checked a different version of the same pattern (it's a free one with a lot of different variations) but the math defeated me, so I printed out a version to study at home. That didn't work either and in studying it I realized that I probably didn't have enough yarn anyway. Grrr. So I frogged (ripped = ribbit) it all and looked for a different pattern that I do have enough yarn for. Knitting's so relaxing... yeah, right.
October 1 (good God, October already!)--Ettore Sottass, "Carlton" Room Divider. Light shining through the room divider cast a maze of shadows on the opposite wall. Dinah was tempted to get a piece of chalk to trace the outline to keep it like a piece of art. The ultra modern construct was why she'd rented the place. It was in an old mid-80s building that had never really been good but that hint of genius had intrigued her. The mystery and whimsy of it made her think of rooms she saw on design shows, the ones where the designers were more concerned with form over function, but Carlton worked on every level. He divided the space and held her books; he even caught her keys and purse when she came in from work. It had a label on the top piece that looked like a stick man; that's how she knew its name was Carlton.
Okay. It's 7:15 and if I hurry I can get a jump on my day and not be totally tapped out by suppertime. That made no sense, but you know what I mean. Hasta la vista, babies.
--Barbara
Yesterday we all went a little ways out of town to an alpaca farm and yarn shop. There was a knitting group meeting and they were fun and friendly, and there was lots of yarn. I bought 3 skeins grown by an alpaca named Guyton (Gee like a French Guy) who just happened to be in the pen next to the shop so I went out to find him and RJ took my picture with him. In a pen along the road there were mamas and babies. Not near the road, of course, but visible. So cute. 
Today we're off to Trader Joe's (eeee!) while the boys look at pictures and RJ's baby book, and then we're going to a hot air balloon festival tonight just to look. 
