Another night, another coughing fit, in stereo. Sigh. At least it was cool enough to use blankets; it went down into the 30s last night.

I was dressed first again and took Willow outside. I needed a coat and hat today, buttoned up tight; the sky was very blue (but that might be with the cold). We walked down to the little building that houses the laundry room for the cabins on this road, then walked back, breathing out frosty air and crunching on leaves. And the leaves were soon being disposed of, as two men showed up with leaf blowers to arrange them into neat piles.

We ate breakfast in again: I had toast with blackberry jam and a cup of oranges with a glass of milk. Despite the fact that we were up at nine, we still didn't head to Knoxville until eleven, and we had to stop at Walgreens because James remembered not one of the four bags of cough drops we had, and we had to get gasoline at Kroger, not to mention we were stuck behind slow traffic all the way up Winfield Dunn Parkway. However, once on I-40, we made good time.

James sat in the car and read his comics and had cough drops while I stocked up at A.C. Moore. Surely, you say, in a town with Michaels and JoAnn and Hobby Lobby, there can't be anything unique you need at A.C. Moore! Horse hockey! as Colonel Potter would say. They have frames for cross-stitch miniatures, which none of the other three stores had. They actually had Christmas picks that were not covered in garish glitter. They have small wooden shapes that can be included in crafts. They had small bottle-brush trees and a wreath for use in a miniature Christmas display. And they had a collection of new DMC floss, which I've not seen anywhere else (which doesn't strike me as odd, since the new color combination flosses that came out last year didn't arrive here until six months after they were released; I had to buy them off eBay.

While I was thus occupied, James hunted up a Panera Bread and we had lunch there: good hot chicken soup, James a sandwich and me some pasta, and their special hot chocolate, with salted caramel (it's the big thing this year; don't ask) drizzled on top and chocolate marshmallows. It came in a cup so big I barely knew to do with it. :-)

Next we went to the Knoxville branch of McKay's used books/DVDs/CDs. I probably could have been very bad here, but restrained myself. Found eight "Dear America" books (brand new, at a third of their original price at least), copies of The Walnut Tree and May Your Days Be Merry and Bright (Christmas books) for $2 each, the DVD Booky and the Secret Santa (made by the same folks who did the Canadian series Wind at My Back), a video of Trolley: The Cars That Built Our Cities (the neighborhood I grew up in was originally a streetcar community, where the state fairgrounds were originally located), a CD of Celtic Christmas music, Red-Tails in Love which is about "Pale Male" and the other falcons in Central Park, and (ta-da!) a "Seasons of New England" 2014 calendar. All my credit is gone. :-)

Our last stop was a place called "Sci-Fi City," a gaming/comic book shop at the Knoxville Mall. I found the third book in the "Korgi" graphic novel series and James got a Wild Cards roleplaying game and four sets of figures to go with it all for five dollars (it's out of print).

We headed home right before sundown, reaching a hobby shop we saw from the road about 5:20, but it was already closed. Next door was a bird and exotic pet store, and we ducked in for a few minutes to check out the budgies. There was the cutest little white one there who wasn't an albino. Back on the road, saw a lovely sunset just as we entered Sevierville, a mottled grey and bright pink that faded all too quickly.

Back at the cabin, James took Willow outside while I cleaned off the pad, and then we had dinner: I had my Annie Chun's teriyaki noodle bowl with the leftover KFC chicken thigh meat. Yummy! Been watching HGTV all evening long.

Labels: books, crafts, DVDs, food, music, shopping, videos

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:42:00 PM

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