So we slept the night away to the beating of rain on the roof, listening to it patter through unavoidable delay and turning over in bed. It was still gloomy and raining when we got up at 9:30, and colder than a witch's you-know-what when I took Tucker for his morning airing.

This morning we had breakfast at Trish's Place. The crowd was sparse, and we talked to Trish herself, an older lady who told us the restaurant is moving in February, a little closer to town, where she can run the place as she did here in Cosby, but get a salary. She'll also be doing catering for a Christian conference center. She sounds pleased with it. Good to know all this good food won't be going away. Anyway, I had a hugh bowl of oatmeal, toast, bacon, and baked apple with milk.

Since it was supposed to get colder as the day went on, we did some things with our eyes on the thermometer built into my car dashboard. To start out, we drove to Sevierville via our favorite back road so that we could go to the Tanger Outlet. I needed some things from the Hanes store, and also got a couple pair of fuzzy socks to wear when I telework (can't wear slippers; it makes sparks--I've killed at least one computer mouse and don't want to kill the computer proper). Checked at the Reebok store, but they didn't have classic black in my size; alas, will have to buy online. Also stopped at the Yankee Candle outlet and got more cafe au lait and christmas wreath tea candles. Picked up some cookies for dessert at the cookie store, and looked around the Disney Store.

Nipped over to Books-a-Million to have a hot cocoa and check out the magazines. Found a lovely "Crazy" (British cross-stitch magazine) with cute Christmas designs. I also found a new Doctor Who book, Inside the TARDIS: The Worlds of Doctor Who and Rudolph!, a very strange looking fantasy that starts out with Santa hacking into the Vatican's website. And, because James simply left me alone too long, I got the two Melody Carlson Christmas compilations that were on remainder.

Now we headed back to the cabin via "Glitter Gulch." Did find a parking space at The Incredible Christmas Place, but James stayed in the car, so I just did a half-hour of Christmas immersion. They had a live singer and there was the coolest Christmas tree with fiber optics making it turn into a rainbow. I wanted to see the new Department 56 Downtown Abbey building. It is huge; you would have to have a big table to put it on. It comes with a stone wall and gate with a Maggie Smith figure out front. There is also a gazebo with two figures.

I bought two car magnets and a gift for Nicki; they had the handsomest cashmere scarves and I bought a plaid one for James because his other wool scarf died an ignominous death in the dryer.

Stopped briefly at Dixie Darling, the cross-stitch store (too many beading kits!), and at Cracker Barrel to see the Christmas things, but only bought two adorable Pilgrim sparrows, and James bought me a light-up maple tree for my birthday which will go perfectly with the light-up turkey we bought there in 2009.

As we drove, the temps were still dropping; it was about 35 as we headed up the East Parkway and little ice pellets started appearing. We made one last stop, at a combo convenience store/deli to get a cigarette lighter so I could burn a candle tonight, and James found a lined hat.

By the time we pulled into the cabin five minutes later, the pellets were snowflakes.

James warmed up the soup while I took Tucker for his walk. It was that silent it gets before it snows, one where there's almost a faint ringing in the air, and we walked up the gravel road to the last cabin. I had barely registered that there was a road behind the cabins when in the failing light I saw a big canine shape, pricked ears, greyish, long-legged. It was standing staring at us, but, unlike a dog, it did not bark. In my dark blue hooded jacket, I wheeled Tucker around and booked it out of there just as animal began to lope. I suppose it could have been a dog, but it didn't lope like one, either.

Well, that was exciting.

Had hot chicken soup with oyster crackers for supper with a chocolate cookie dessert. We watched the news and the usual games (Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy) and an hour of TVLand before switching to tonight's Sleepy Hollow (looks like Tom Mison took the episode off) and finally Castle and Beckett "honeymooning" at a Western reinactment town. A bit lightweight, next week looks better.

Of course just as The Tonight Show was starting, Tucker needed to go out (yes, we were back in time to see Benedict Cumberbatch!). The car was covered with a light blanket of snow, and Tucker trotted through the white stuff preoccupied with the cabin lights in the distance. Or maybe he just still smells the coyote (wolf?) that we saw. Because of the snow, I didn't need a flashlight at all as I did last night: the snow on the ground glowed, as did the white-grey sky, and I could see the driveway and the trees and everything very clearly. We even went out to the gravel road and it was all distinct.

After I finished with Tucker, I just tossed my pash back on, went out, started the car. My dad used to do this with his cars on very cold nights, start them up again before bed. I cleared the glass on the car, but left a "blanket" on the hood to keep the engine a bit warmer. The windows are already frozen shut.

Well, we have food in the cabin; if we need to stay in tomorrow, so be it.

Labels: Doctor Who, dogs, events, food, shopping, snow, television, weather

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:57:00 PM

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