It was quite cloudy and damp when we awoke this morning, but it was not raining, which was just what we wanted. We emerged from our cocoon of blankets—it was down into the 40s last night—and dressed and breakfasted, and I took Tucker out for an airing. And then we were off, with Tucker in tow. It was the perfect day for the autumn Jonquil Festival, even if no one else thought so: cool, cloudy, open jacket weather.

We found a parking space behind the library, and began to stroll around the booths. Tucker was intensely alert, pulled in all directions by people and scents. The first dog we encountered was an Australian shepherd, mostly white with merle markings, and his name was Tucker, too. It's a small festival, so we ran into the other Tucker several times. Our Tucker got petted several times by people with small children, got barked at by a nervous pug, and tried to mark everything in his path. We admired jewelry and gadgets, and then stopped by a balsamic vinegar booth. We were out of our peach vinegar, so we bought that (now we don't have to drive up to Woodstock) and also some plum vinegar (which should taste smashing on lamb and beef), and a small bottle of spicy lime for James. We sampled huckleberry honey and dips, talked to some people with a shy border collie, walked past the rescue greyhounds, and looked at the Smyrna Library book sale books (here James bought some pecans for charity as well). As we were coming around we found a booth where a man was selling inexpensive clockworks in handmade wooden frames.

Now, way back when I was living at "the Cubbyhole," my studio apartment, and there was a Remington store at Perimeter Mall, Mom bought a little faux gold mantel clock with a rotating pendulum at the bottom which looked like the real one my Confirmation godmother Margaret Azzoli had in her parlor. Mom always adored that clock but couldn't afford an antique like that. When Mom passed, we took the little mantel clock home and it's been on our own mantel ever since. But the pendulum broke several years ago, and it's been going through batteries like water, sticking on certain hours, and running slow. I'd checked into lookalike mantel clocks online and they were very expensive and all plastic, and made in China.

James saw the look on my face when I came to one clock with an "aged" face set in dark walnut with a maple leaf cut on one side. He bought it for our anniversary, and when we got home I put it on the mantel. It fits right in with the fall decor and looks like it's always been there. The only thing wrong with it is that it takes "N" batteries and I will have to go to Batteries Plus for those.


We had some "island noodles" for lunch, chicken with vegetables and long noodles. It was very salty and I was equally sorry for suggesting it. We should have just had Williamson barbecue. James picked up some jambalaya for dinner and we were about to leave when we noticed a frisbee dog exhibition starting. This was just a short show, but there were three of the cutest dogs: a little smooth-haired bullet of a terrier-type dog, a border collie, and a red heeler. They all did a funny show where they deliberately disobeyed and had the crowd in stitches. Tucker completely ignored them!

By the time we got home he was completely "tuckered out" and sacked out on James' recliner for the rest of the day. I put the clock up on the mantel.

We were still both in good spirits, so we transferred all the junk from the box of Goodwill donations to the trunk of my car and took them all to the donation center. This gets rid of the Soda Stream, which James doesn't use anymore because the syrup changed manufacturers and got more expensive, a whole collection of small Hallowe'en decorations, a tailed mouse, plastic Christmas dishes, and a bunch of other little things.

Finally we strayed into dangerous territory by going to Kroger on a Saturday afternoon. However, it was less hazardous than we expected and we emerged unscathed. We came home to play about on the computer, watch some television, eat a little supper. James spent part of the afternoon and some of the evening downstairs in the "man cave" for the first time in a long time, and I worked on a tiny cross stitch "Colonial Sheep" that I bought so long ago in the gift shop in Yorktown.

Labels: cross stitch, dogs, errands, events, food, shopping, weather

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:05:00 PM

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