A day out

 I needed it. I decided, after successfully grabbing my gradebooks late last night (when Canvas came back), that I could take a day and go.

I went to Farmersville, which an interesting little old town in north Texas. It has really narrow sidewalks that are well elevated (several steps up) from the street level; I am guessing that goes back to the days when the roads were dirt and could get muddy and also have horse manure in them, people would prefer to walk up above that.

And some of the buildings have odd old features. One of the shops I went in (for the first time today) had a WELL in the middle of the shop:

 Yes, they invite people to toss a coin in and make a wish (there's a penny bucket, but it was empty, perhaps because pennies are getting scarce).

And yes, superstitious, maybe, but I dug out a quarter I got in change and threw it in there and heard the plink and made a wish. No I am not telling you what it was; it won't come true if I do. 

My main reason was to go to the yarn shop. I did stop there first (needed a restroom) and bought a skein of yarn, but I needed lunch so after I paid for that I went to the barbecue place I stopped at in December when I passed through there on my way to the train station

I considered getting a "more healthful" side with my pulled pork but before I ordered I saw one of the cooks dishing up the mac and cheese, and it looked SO GOOD I got that instead. (It was really good)

 And I splurged on a grape Crush (in a glass bottle, with real sugar). I've not had or even SEEN Grape Crush in years. And yes, it tasted good to me.

 I also went around to some of the little shops. I got some birthday presents for my mom - a little art-glass nightlight that plugs into a socket, and one of those Swedish "dishcloths," and a fancy soap and new little nail brush (for gardening; the soap is lemon and basil scented). Up there, I will get her a gift certificate from the garden center she likes. So that's sorted, too.

One of the shops had a shop cat who came and yelled at me (but then rubbed her face on my lower legs). I put my hand down to see if she wanted to be petted but she seemed not to be so I didn't try (both as a "don't violate consent, of even a non-human being" but also because I didn't want to get scratched). 

Her name is Delilah, the shop owner told me.

 And I did go back to the yarn store. Bought another skein of sockyarn (Madtosh, which has occasionally disappointed me in the dyejob not being consistent throughout the skein.....but it also has a holographic glitter thread running through and I am a sucker for sock yarns with sparkle) and a skein of a sportweight Malabrigo for mitts; the color is called "sea slug" and it has bright orangish red speckles on it.

(The yarn I bought previously, on the left in this photo, is from a dyer who has given up dyeing, I have a pair of socks on the needles of one of her yarns; the color of this one is called "Lilo and Stitch" and I guess I can see the bright, saturated "cartoon" and "Hawaii" colors, and anyway, it's one of my favorite Disney movies, so)

 Really, Farmersville isn't THAT far. It's just over an hour, and it feels closer than McKinney does, partly because the last time I went to McKinney (more than 10 years ago) the traffic was such a nightmare; to get to Farmersville it's a pretty straight shot on what are effectively farm to market roads, so it's much less traffic and the drivers are less aggressive. 

I also stopped at Albertson's on the way home. I'm only here for about another week (before I go visit my mom) but I still needed milk and I needed to plan a meal for Sunday because we all decided that trying to go out after church on Mother's Day was probably not the best idea (also, I am sure some of the women with children who live close to them have plans). 

But yeah, I just needed to get out of town for a bit.