Friday proper was involved in tasks that are covered in Holiday Harbour. I worked until James got home from work, then we went to dinner at Fresh2Order, since we had a twofer coupon for our anniversary. They had not had my favorite, the Creamy Chicken Vegetable Soup, during the summer, so I happily enjoyed a bowl with dinner. This is a thick, delicious soup full of chicken, carrots, and other veggies, very filling, so I ended up taking 3/4 of my dinner home.

We also went into Buckhead to the big Borders, cutting through the "ritzy" homes on Mt. Paran Road and the others north of Chastain Park. "Mr. Inflatable," the guy with the myriad inflatable seasonable decorations, must have gotten read the riot act by his neighborhood association, because while he had his yard and house strung everywhere with Christmas lights and also had an illuminated Santa Claus, there wasn't an inflatable in sight. (I don't like the things anyway; they look cheap.) James had some $10 credits and wanted to go to the largest store where they had the most choice in the history section. Alas, the history section has been denuded; the book James wanted was not there. I fared better: two magazines, a Windham Hill Christmas CD, and two books, one about philosophical discussions about Christmas (such as telling children about Santa) and the other S.J. Rozan's newest Lydia Chin mystery. (I don't usually buy a book without a coupon, but Rozan's books are so hard to find I wouldn't leave that behind, and the Christmas book was nothing I'd ever seen before, so I got both, plus the newest Entertainment Book. We may need the Atlanta History Center coupon for the Candlelight Nights, anyway.)

Had dessert at Bruster's—James had peppermint stick ice cream, which tastes like a soft candy cane, but I would like it better if the base was chocolate instead of vanilla!—and came on home.

Saturday morning started early because it was not only the last Farmer's Market of the season, but it was Hair Day to boot. We got salad veggies and some green pepper, stocked upon homemade dog biscuits for Willow, bought jalapeno pimento cheese to take to Hair Day along with the sun goat pesto and crackers, got some chocolate chip cookies for dessert and a turkey pot pie for Monday supper, and James stocked up on boiled peanuts. We got stuck waiting for the train, but did get out of downtown eventually.

When we go to Ron and Lin's house from the Farmer's Market, we cut cross-country behind Whitlock Road via Polk to Dallas Highway, then go diagonally through Villa Rica Road. Most of Villa Rica is country-like, with horse farms or acreage, and it was like an autumn impressionist painting come to life, all soft edges and lovely colors. You would never think it looking at the Bradford pears in the spring, when they're all fluffy with white blossoms, but they turn extraordinary colors in the fall, from green to saffron to orange to scarlet shading all the way to maroon on one tree. Some of the maples are like molten butter in the sun.

We had a great time at Hair Day. Ron had told everyone Juanita was bringing lunch, but actually Andrew was bringing it, with a birthday cake for his wife, Shannon, and she was coming along later. There were birthday banners strung all over the house, and when she walked in the door and we yelled "Surprise!" she clapped hands to her face in a reproduction of Kevin in Home Alone. LOL.

A little after one we moseyed along home to put up the spoils of our final trip of the season, then went out to the hobby shop. I suggested to James that perhaps the Borders at Perimeter Mall might have the book he wanted, as they have always had a good history section, so we headed in that direction after our visit. We enjoyed our ride through the "ritzy" part of town, then stopped at the Container Store on the way there to buy a few organizational odds and ends.

Alas, when we got to the story there were big yellow banners outside screaming "Store Closing." Son of a bitch! You never see any of those wretched endless shoe stores closing. Looked around, then came home.

Glory be! Jen was on chat! She found a spot in her barracks that accessed the wi-fi in the galley and sat talking with us until very late. (The watch passed her twice without reprimanding her, so I guess it was okay.) She thought she would have a late school start, but there was a sudden opening, so her A-School begins on Monday! So needless to say we were up rather late and didn't get up until ten this morning. Had to go to Publix (good twofers this weekend) and Kroger, then came home to put the perishables up and went to Ikea for the afternoon. We hadn't been in...ages. I can't even remember the last time we went. Had lunch in their restaurant, then walked around. I am looking for a comfy chair to replace the old papasan downstairs. It's been a good old chair, but it's too bulky and it creaks and crackles when you sit in it anymore. I'd love a wing-back, but those are terribly expensive. I just want a comfy, sturdy chair, one you could sit in to read.

I also would love to replace that totty old microwave cart in the dining room. It's doing china cabinet/cup duty and I've always wanted something prettier. But the only thing small enough would be the buffet, which doesn't have a top half. We'd have to put up some shelves or a small cabinet. Not sure I want to mark up the wall like that.

On the way home, checked out the Brookwood Borders. James found a historical book he wanted, and also a collection of short stories, but we had to go out of our way back to the Buckhead store to get the book I wanted, the newest of the Bryant and May books. I'm really loving these, especially the little esoteric details about various London things like the courses of the river or the Underground.

And of course we enjoyed the splendid autumn color in all the older neighborhoods like North Druid Hills Road.

Listend to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the way home, and a couple of "Splendid Table" installments, including a Thanksgiving edition where they talked about turducken. Later we had turkey soup for supper with whole-wheat egg noodles and watched this week's This Old House and two R5Sons Alaska episodes.

Labels: autumn, books, friends, furniture, gatherings, Holiday Harbour, seasons, shopping, television

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