Plenty to Talk About!

You never know what you're going to find at the flea market. Shannon, Allen, and I went up to the "Big One," the October flea market at the fairgrounds in Nashville. We actually drove up Friday night so that we could be at the flea market early Saturday morning. We didn't buy any little people chairs, but we did find some treasure. Shannon came home with a retro radio, among other things, but I think I got the best finds.The first find was this accordian style wooden sewing box. It needs some repair, but Allen will be able to help me out with that, and for $10, what a deal! I'll have another stash for sewing stuff. While that was a bargain, the second item we bought is truly a treasure.We found this Singer 221-1 Singer Centennial Featherweight. Quilters say the Featherweight is The machine to use for piecing. From the serial number on it, it seems this was made in 1951. It has a case, the original (musty smelling) instruction book, and the original attachments. It's not in mint condition, but it is very nice. Allen knows a good bit about sewing machines from his time working with Bernina back in the early 1970's, and he knows machines, so we were pretty confident about getting it to work. On my first try, though, it jammed. Uh-oh. We turned to the book we bought, Featherweight 221, The Perfect Portable And Its Stitches Across History, and Allen took apart the bobbin mechanism to find a many year old thread glob. Try number two -- success! She hummed along and stitched perfectly. We think we got it for an excellent price based on after-the-fact research. I love, love my Bernina, but what fun this will be!
After lunch at the Franklin Chophouse, we headed to my favorite fabric shop in short driving distance from home, and Allen patiently waited for Shannon and me. I picked up backing fabric for a new kitchen table batik I'm working on plus a few fat quarters for Tap's birthday quilt and some blues for a little project I am going to do for Shannon's work. I always think it is a good thing that I don't live closer!Sunday was "Empty the Kitchen Day" for Allen and me. Take one last look at the painted white cabinets. I just don't think I'm going to miss them.We pack lots into our kitchen. It now fills the dining room and the living room. All flat surfaces are covered. I know that I am not the best of housekeepers, but the amount of kitchen grime and dust is pretty embarrassing. When the new dishwasher is eventually hooked up, we will give it a good workout before we fill the new cabinets.
The first cabinets to go in were in the laundry room. Now we have more clearance between the machines and the cabinets, so maybe I won't have any more squished fingers opening the washing machine! Plus, these have shelves up to the ceiling which will provide a whole new shelf space. These are the upper cabinets above the sink area. The top set will have glass front doors. Tomorrow, they will finish this part of the work and re-install the microwave and stove. Then Wednesday the counter people come to make a template. After that, we will still not have water or counter tops for seven to ten days, but when the counters are ready, the plumber will install the sink and the new Bosch dishwasher. Pretty darn exciting, if I don't say so myself!

The only unhappy part of all of this is that I was home today -- due to a broken tooth. Ugh. I felt a twinge or two last week, but then Saturday morning while I had a biscuit breakfast at the flea market, the back end of a back tooth broke off. Today I stayed home to go to the dentist. At least it was a crown, not a root canal, but other than that, I can't say too much positive. It's expensive, and while it wasn't hurting this weekend, now that I have the temporary crown, it is pretty sore. I'm just going to focus on the kitchen and my new Featherweight and the fact that I could spend some hours sewing today. Oh, and Allen is home (yeah!) and Ozzie is now about five weeks old.

Splendid Fall Break

Fall Break was absolutely wonderful. We started out early Saturday morning last week so that we could be in Daphne in time for the Alabama kickoff at 11. We just made it in time, and we got to play with Bridger and Taplin and munch on pizza while we watched Alabama win. Roll Tide! Bridger was shy for a few minutes and then warmed up to Grandma and Grandpa quickly, showing us all of his school work from St. Lukes. He showed us his career week creations -- fireman, doctor, mailman...it sound like St. Lukes suits him.
We took a stroll through the fun shops in Fairhope, a romp at the playground, and then a stop in at Old Bay Steamer for dinner. We all liked our seafood, but Taplin seemed to really love the potatoes. Who knows what inspired him to put them on his head! What a silly fellow! Taplin's antics keep us all laughing. Aren't the curls something? Meghan dumped both boys in the bath after we got home, and she trimmed those sideburns.
Monday, Allen and I took off alone for Savannah. We drove as far as Tallahassee on I 10 and then took the turn northeast and drove through Georgia's small towns to Savannah. It was fun being off the Interstate, even though we had lots of slow downs along the way. By time we rolled into Savannah and found our hotel, it was time for dinner at a great, colorful little neighborhood place called The Toucan. Tuesday morning, we strolled along the riverfront. Allen got a kick out of the practicing black hawk helicopters. We loved the old buildings, most of which have been converted to shops, restaurants, and bars. The streets are brick and cobblestone, and the stairs to the street up from the riverfront are frequently steep narrow alley-like passageways.
One of my favorite buildings was the Cotton Exchange. We stopped in some shops, but mostly we just enjoyed walking and watching. SCAD studnets didn't seem to mind when we stopped to snap a picture of them working on some art assignment. We were such tourists!We decided to drive to Tybee Island to see the lighthouse. It is one of the oldest lighthouse stations in the country, welcoming ships to Savannah River for 270 years. Of course, the lighthouse was closed to tourists the day we were there, but we didn't mind. Later, when we were at Fort Pulaski, we could look back and see the Tybee Lighthouse light.

Even though the whole day was overcast and damp, it was plenty bright on the beach. We walked a good distance and watched the water birds play. It was quite a bit cooler on the beach than on Savannah's streets. I don't think I'd enjoy the visit as much in August because it was hot enough in October.
We could have eaten at any number of Savannah restaurants, but we had a fun time at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island. We ordered a giant plate for two with crab legs, shrimp, mussels, sausage, and potatoes. Pretty decadent, actually.After stuffing ourselves silly, we stopped at Fort Pulaski and wandered the grounds for the rest of the afternoon. Poor feet. This was one of the sets of stairs leading to the maze of rooms below ground.I felt like I was at a castle with the moat and drawbridge entrance. Apparently turtles, alligators, and other marine life inhabit the moat. The Confederates had to surrender to the Union Army after the two day battle. Brick forts were no longer built after that.Wednesday, we were pretty tired after all of that sight seeing, so we were happy to stroll through several of the the amazing park-like squares downtown and take a drive across the bridge downtown into South Carolina. Thursday was a long drive home, through Macon to Atlanta and the over the mountains in northeast Alabama back to Huntsville. We both loved our time in Savannah, and I imagine we'd be happy to take a return trip some day, but it's always good to be home.

Alas, Allen and I both had to go back to work today. Sigh. One thing vacation does for me is to remind me why I work -- it's fun to spend money, and to spend it you have to make it (and yesterday we spent even more by adding a Bosch dishwasher to the kitchen project). I don't like going back to school the first week in August, but I would sure hate to give up Fall Break. We had such a splendid week!