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Even though Virginia is hardly an hour away from our house, we haven't seen much of it until recently.  Austin's Uncommon Objects shows up on aficionados' lists of the country's best place to shop for antiques, and it absolutely lives up to its name.  One day last month I dropped Cheri off at this very large structure, which we called, alternatively, the "mushroom" and the "marshmallow." She had quilting-related activities to attend to; I decided to take a drive.  Image Source: https://dianeloomisquilts.wordpress.com
The 32,000 quilters who had attended the American Quilter's Society show in Paducah, along with the hundreds of vendors who sought our money, had mostly left town after the show closed late Saturday. I had seen an antique shop that I wanted to visit Sunday, before leaving town on Monday.  I’ve been a fan of the HGTV show Home Town since its inception, so being able to head back to North Carolina through Laurel, Mississippi was a great opportunity.  I started reading the cookbook Mi Cocina, in which author Rick Martinez says that he could happily meander the neighborhoods of Mexico City in nine-hour stretches, which reminded me that I never posted the last of our San Francisco curiosities.  The thing I love the very most about San Francisco is all of the unusual things that you discover while meandering its streets.  Brian Wilson was a major part of the San Francisco Giants' 2010 incredible season, leading to their first World Series win since moving to California.  We still have a timeshare in San Francisco, so decided to spend Thanksgiving here. The plan had been to also visit friends and family in Monterey, but we realized that the three days we had scheduled was not enough, so that will have to be another trip.  I saw the girls alighting from a limousine for the Quinceanera that Mark talked about while I was reading in the truck, and tried mightily to get a quick picture, showing them through the open window, with the side mirror as a point of reference. My finger skills failed me. Most of my time in town was spent at an antiques store. Mark said that this pet, found on the second floor, was a musk ox. I thought water buffalo.  Mark and I had an off day from our Shop Hop today . . . a day before we move to a new "base camp," having seen all of the participating quilt shops in the area. We hit the blue highways and happened upon a source for all things "junque."  I know, the picture doesn't match the title, but I had to put one of Mark and me up top, since our first date was 38 years ago today. This one was a few years ago, in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens. Soon I'll do a post on how we met, or "Why We're Living This Life."  Yesterday's post didn't show any actual quilting, but I nearly finished my project. (Didn't hurt that I was working on something that had been started at least four years ago.)  Maggie Moe
 I am sorry, Joe (and you know who you are).
We went through Benson, NC one day too early; Mule Days starts on Thursday the 22nd, and we went through on Wednesday. This festival began in 1949, and has grown over the past 70 years. 30,000 spectators are expected this year. We did see some of the early birds setting up in Chambers Park, and some folks grooming and walking mules near the trailers, but we will miss the mule parade and competitions this year. When I took the pictures you'll see here (except the Stuart Motor Building picture, which I didn't take), I wasn't expecting to blog about them. I just wanted to text them to Mark. At first the building at the corner of Main and Mountain Streets seemed pretty typical for this area.  |
