a busy weekend

I've been rather busy this weekend - mostly fun stuff, luckily. Here is the plan for Saturday (and you know what they say about the best laid plans): We (Patty, her mother Irma, and I) would drive (Patty's car) to the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg (about 35 minutes away) to a city-wide yard sale. After we checked that out, we would visit the two antique stores we like in that city and then return home, because Patty had things to do at home in the afternoon. Irma and I, being retired have much more free time than Patty. That was the plan. Here's what we actually did: We did go to the yard sale, but were somewhat disappointed. It wasn't as large as we had expected and many of the booths were selling clothes or baby/child things. (They have several sales just for baby things, so we expected this one to be just adult things. Unfortunately, not the case.) We spent an hour there and were done. Next, we drove into town and got a bite to eat because the antique stores don't open until 10. We had a great time at those stores, but still were done well before noon. At that point, Patty said, let's try to find another antique store. It was raining very hard, but the store wasn't within walking distance, so we set out in the car. Patty has a GPS in her car - it's such fun to use and very handy. She plugged in the address and off we went. Unfortunately, that store must have closed or moved, as it was not where the address was. What a downer! By this time, Patty was bitten by the antique bug, so she suggested we try a large antique mall in a town about 20 miles further. So, off we went again. This one was a huge success! The handy GPS directed us right to the store, although we almost missed it, as the sign isn't very obvious. The store is in a big warehouse, with many aisles of antiques. And the prices were very reasonable. (We've found that the further we get from Baltimore and DC, the lower the prices.) Boy, did we shop! I spent far more than I should have, but I got some wonderful stuff. By the time we finished there, I was starving and we asked about places to eat. The antique store folks recommended the Mexican restaurant right next door. It didn't look like much from the outside, but the inside was very lovely, with light colored wall, modern art and tables with white linens. And, best of all, the food was suburb! I think it's the best Mexican food I've eaten. We felt really lucky to have stumbled upon it. After we ate, we headed for home. Along the way, I spotted another places advertising antiques and Patty made a very hasty turn off the highway into the parking lot. This place was actually a consignment shop and didn't have much that interested us, but Patty got chatting with the owner and he told us about a big flea market close to where we live. Definitely a destination for a future trip. So, all in all, it was a wonderful day.


Today my church held it's annual picnic. When I left home it was warm, but overcast. At the picnic grounds, it was very windy and looked like rain. I wished I had worn long pants instead of shorts, but at least I had a jacket with me. Despite the wind, we had a good church service, except when one of the speakers was blown off its stand. Hopefully, it can be fixed, as it was a borrowed item. The picnic was a huge success, as far as food goes. Everyone brought salads - I've never seen such an assortment. And the fellowship committee (of which I am a member) cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and served lemonade and iced tea. I am stuffed because I wanted to try every salad.


The photos show: more little animals for my shelves; colored bottles and pitchers. (the ones with corks aren't antique, but I like the shape and colors) and some cookie cutters. Can you see that the cookie cutters are dinosaurs? I think Alex will really enjoy making cookies with his mum if he can use these.