I woke up, had coffee, and worked on my taxes before it was time to call dana. Justin called and said he wanted to go the flea market too, so I told him to come on to the house. We had a piece of toast and the left-over King Cake, and then headed out to meet Miss Kat, dana, and Greg in Anderson. It had rained last night, and started getting yucky as we got down closer to Anderson. That of course killed the yard sale part, although dana was lucky enough to find a table of bottles to look at. We weren't a very cohesive party today. We seemed to spend a bunch of time running around trying to coordinate, but it was still fun, and I just love having friends to go to the flea market with me.
"Bird Cage with rolling cart and invisible bird" I love the little signs at the Jockey Lot
This "tabel" looked perfect for James' living room to me, but he was happy with the one he has, and I was all caught up by the time he called me back anyway.Well then it happened. Because of the rain, I had resigned myself to not finding any glass today. Which was fine. I scored big last weekend, and haven't even incorporated all those pieces into the display yet. But of course I ended up spending money anyway - a lot more than I ever expected to spend.
Miss Kat had asked me to come today in part because she was picture shopping. We looked at a couple of places and she bought some things, but I was most excited about the knock-off oil painting place. They have these at the beach flea markets, but we only recently got one here. I noticed it the other week. He had some pretty good Van Gough copies, and other things I recognized. I love things people have touched and actual originals, as opposed to poster-type pictures, when I can get them. Well Miss Kat and dana weren't impressed. I hadn't even had a good rummage around when I looked up to see them leaving the booth. Then I was struck. I fell in love with this really cool painting. When I was buying pictures before, I wanted an abstract, but couldn't find one I liked. I ended up with a neo-cubist abstract that I've never been particularly fond of. This one was both arresting and huge. I walked off to think about it (which many times cures the desire), but it called to me. I eventually decided I had to have it.
I went back and dickered with the guy a bit, getting him to frame it for me, etc. So I bought it. As frequently happens to me, the picture looked a lot smaller with I was buying it than it did when I actually started trying to put it in place. I laid the seats down in the Cruiser, but still had to move the front seats up a good bit to get the hatch closed. So I kind of drove back to Greenville in the fetal position, but I got it home. When I got it home, I realized that it was too big to fit over the fireplace where I bought it to hang. So I started moving pictures around.
The problem with that was that in the process I moved the picture that had been over the fireplace to the green room, where it looked so much better than it had in the living room that I didn't want to move it back. I also had mixed up the other pictures and it started to get very complicated to restore the balance and harmony I wanted. The bottom line is that I decided to get rid of three pictures. So because I bought one, I'm going to end up buying several more. But it's time. It felt so good to have something fresh in the house to make it look different and new. As small as the house is, I have to get rid of something when I get something new. It was good to have a new picture make me look at the others in a new light and decide to toss some.
The new picture in situ. I absolutely love this painting. My crappy camera doesn't do it justice. It has so much activity and energy. I love all the color too.
By the time Justin and I got home, rearranged furniture and pictures, had lunch, and made a run for picture hangers and Cole's long-overdue birthday present, we were really pushed for time as far as making it to dinner went. The reservations were at 5:30. We were a bit late, but made it.
Dinner was nice. We had a bit of a kerfuffle over the table - they were trying to cram us into a space that was too small to maximize seating for VD. We eventually worked it out though and were comfortable. It's always good to see Mom; and her friends Maureen and Mary Ellen were there. They are my favorites. I got to see Rod again, and he really continues to be friendly and likable. More importantly, he treats my mother like a queen, and she is obviously happy. I gave Mom her card and she gave me mine - along with a big ole Reese's peanut butter heart. It has over 800 calories in it. Well that's only 55 minutes on the walker. I know I'm going to eat it. Justin didn't have much to say, but I was really glad he was there. I had a breaded flounder in lemon cream sauce with a side of orzo with spinach, tomatoes and pine nuts. The breading on the flounder was a bit heavy, but it was some of the best orzo I have ever eaten.
I talked a bit with Maureen and met her fiance Dee, whom I had heard about for a good while. He seemed nice, and he and Maureen were really sweet together. I cracked a few jokes with Rod and tried to put him at ease. He tends to try a bit too hard sometimes. I didn't get to talk to Mary Ellen as much as I would have liked. She was at the other end of the table. Her husband seems like a bit of a drag, and didn't act like he wanted to be there. I think I have a better understanding of why she travels with the girls now. I generally did my best to be the agreeable and charming picture of a Nice Young Man.
We finished dinner and saw them off to the play, after which Justin and I scampered home so I could change, after which we headed for Spartanburg.
I made it to James's about 9. I took in one of the pictures I had been meaning to give him, and he seemed to like it (one of the three I decided to replace). I was glad that it went to someone who would enjoy it. I spent a lot of money getting it framed (it is an original watercolor I bought shortly after deciding to do the living room in all originals), but had just fallen out of love with it.
Tonight I met the famous Amanda. She is one of Justin's friends that I had heard so much about that I felt like I knew her already. She is quite a study in contradiction. She's a boyishly thin girl with an elfin face and a plait of honey-blond hair that runs down to her ankles. Any thoughts of delicacy flee when she opens her mouth though. She was in the navy, and true to cliche has the mouth of a sailor. She was dressed, and talks, like a young teen-age boy. She's smart and fun, a huge tease, and radiates energy. If it wasn't for the plait, and her insistence, I would think she was the definitive baby butch. Her constant good-natured barrage of irreverence and profanity is a good foil for Justin's amusing affectation of "Aunt Bee"-style waspishness. They delight in trying to one-up each other with insulting witticisms. It was a lot of fun to watch them together, and I like her.
We started playing Apples to Apples (with the relaxed rules), while we waited for Jeff to get in from work. Justin won, and I got not one green card (how you score). When Jeff got in, we tried to start over, but the game just kind of tapered out. Jeff had just gotten in and wanted to settle in and catch up, and we were at the point of the evening when we wanted to talk and carry on rather than conform to even a relaxed structure.
We ended up playing a drinking game called "Never have I ever...", which I had never played. The idea is that you say something you have never done, and anyone else in the game who has done that thing has to drink. For example. I could say "Never have I ever eaten walrus". Anyone at the table who has eaten walrus has to drink. It can get pretty interesting pretty fast, depending on who you're playing with, and this was an interesting group. Word to the wise - never play "Never have I ever" with a virgin. Yeah. They can pretty much make you drink at will. Amanda is a wicked player. Eventually, though, she and Justin started to make each other drink. She was really good at it. He ended up getting trashed and passing out in the floor.
At that point we ended the game and I put in Girls Will Be Girls, which I don't think Jeff or James had seen before. I know Amanda hadn't. I think they enjoyed it, although that is a movie you generally like better the third or fourth time - at least that's the way it was for me.
By the time the movie was over, I was whooped. I got home about 4am! And yes Justin, I will repeat it. You were right. It was a truly wonderful Valentine's Day. I had a great time.
Posts
1 comment:
Well, I do what I can.
Post a Comment