It was rather a routine week except for waiting for "the other shoe to drop" about the budget. I had a clot of purchase orders, some being the obstreperous sort, a few complications, and a migraine caused by my own stupidity (I'd forgotten to take my Claritin before bed and woke up with a virtual drill trying to make its way through my left temple). During lunch one day—which day is problematic, as they all seem to blend into one another during the week—I actually found something that I had been missing since early November and which I believed had inadvertently fallen in the trash basket: my three thumb drives, the largest of which held the second backup of our photos (the first being on disk in my desk at work). The smallest, however, was the one I missed the most: I had a story begun on it, a fanfiction, and a piece I would like to offer to Reminisce magazine. I thought I had it backed up on my desktop, but couldn't find the manuscripts. I found them later, backed up on "the Mouse." In any case, I had gone out on Black Friday specifically to replace them.

Well, there they were, behind the rolled-up keyboard on the shelf with the drama DVDs. Why on earth I placed them there I have no idea.

During the week I also received the Bluetooth keyboard I'd ordered for the Droid from Amazon.com. I had discounts coming and thought I'd try it. I'd read all the reviews and knew it didn't work with the Evo; otherwise the reviews were not bad. One reviewer on Amazon, "Daniel," had done a thorough job not only reviewing the keyboard, but telling you how to pair it with the Droid and linking to an instructional video. So, after a minor bobble (I downloaded the wrong driver), I did get it to work. This morning I had to figure out how to start it up again after shutting it off. :-) Had to mess around with the proper "booting" sequence, but did figure it out after several attempts.

Would have loved to have slept in, but it was not only time for the Farmer's Market, but it was "Hair Day." We'd eaten at Fresh2Order last night and then walked to Costco, where we bought the main dish, boneless skinless chicken thighs, and James spent about two hours on Friday evening cooking up what he calls "chicken cacciatore light," the chicken thigh sautéed with onions, mushrooms, and diced tomatoes, with a bit of Italian seasoning. He cooked it up and placed it in the crock pot, and cooked an extra portion and placed that in a storage container, and all went into the refrigerator.

This morning we wandered about the Farmer's Market, sampling jellies and pot pies, buying more veg. They are now also having an Artist's Market (not sure if this will be every week), which was set on Mill Street, between the railroad tracks and the square, and we had a chance to peruse the small exhibit as we walked into the square and then out again. It was very warm even at 9 a.m., not even a jacket needed.

Then came my favorite part of the drive. On Hair Day during Farmer's Market season, we go through Polk Street, which is an old residential street. The first few small homes are from the early part of the last century, with big porches with vines trailing along the roof and down the supports. Then you pass the school and the houses afterward are neat little homes more from the 1950s and 1960s, still with pretty yards full of flowering trees.

For a while we turn onto Whitlock Avenue and commercial sites, and then finally we make a right turn onto Villa Rica Road. This runs through some pretty countryside, a set of apartments near a new rotary (they're starting to put rotaries in the area, acting like they're something new...it's very amusing) to dissolve into small farms. It was still early enough that there was a slight haze hanging over everything so that the horizon was in soft focus over hayfields and horses grazing; we also pass a tiny country church with a little cemetery behind it, a horse farm where some children's eventing seemed to be taking place, with kids in hacking jackets and hard black caps, riding horses and ponies, and scores of dogwood trees and blooming azaleas everywhere until we reached Macland Road. I'm always disappointed when this part of the ride ends.

So we had a lovely time at Hair Day. Phyllis brought a luscious home-made fruit platter and we picked our way through that until lunchtime. The chicken was well-received; we brought some home for another dinner, but left most of it there so folks could have second helpings—we needed to leave by 1:20, so James could get to his club meeting.

I did some vacuuming while he was out, typed this, and listened to some Paul McGann/Sheridan Smith Doctor Who audio adventures, "The Beast of Orlok" and the first part of "The Scapegoat."

Labels: food, friends, travel, weather

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 4:22:00 PM

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