A post in which I'm in Wilkesboro

I woke up this morning about my usual time. Contrary to the usual mornings I'm experiencing, I didn't feel too bad. I did want to take my Ibuprofen though. The problem was that it was out in the car. Granny's bedroom is downstairs, and she's a very light sleeper. She has hearing so good that flies farting on the screen keep her awake. I lay around for a bit, but it was soon obvious that I wasn't going back to sleep. My book was still in the car too. I finally just got dressed and eased out the door as quietly as possible.

Once I got out, I decided to stay out to keep the disruption to a minimum. I got in the car and headed for the flea market. It's small, but I've kind of been in withdrawal lately. I went to the smaller one I found the last time, and surprisingly it was still locked up (it's a quasi antique mall). I went to the larger one to find almost no one there. I talked to one guy who was setting up to ask what time things got going "I don't know," he said. "Usually I'm here a while before anyone else shows up." "Hmm," I replied. "I thought you had to be up early to sell at a flea market." "That was in the old days." He replied, almost wistfully.

I walked around a bit, but there was really nothing going on yet.

This house is right beside the back of the flea market in Wilkesboro. If you've ever wondered where old Christmas decorations go to die, I think this is it.

I'm not easily deterred. It was too early to go back anyway. There was a little country diner near there, so I ducked in and had some breakfast and coffee. It was a locals place, and it just so happened that I snagged a table right in the middle of the section the regulars apparently sit in. No one said anything, but there were some considerably speculative glances cast my way.

a) I had a book.
b) I had my earrings in.
c) I ordered a vegetable omelet and wheat toast.
d) No one had any idea who I was.

I just pretended to blend in, even though I didn't.

With breakfast, coffee, and Ibuprofen under my belt, I felt better. I haded back to the flea market. There were a few more people there. I went by the dragon lady's booth (I call her that in my head because she has this huge hoard of Depression Glass which she purports to be there to sell, but which is over-priced and lingers in dusty heaps, over which she hovers watchfully) just as she was opening. She seemed more willing to part with some of her treasure today, and I bought four of my Sapphire Blue Fire King ramekins. They are the flare-lipped ones I prefer, and she marked them down from book price of $5 each (I'm quite sure that wasn't the book price when she marked them as such) to $4. Fair enough. So I have a set of six now, which is really all the ramekins a reasonable person needs.

The Dragon Lady's booth - trust me if you collected glass this would so give you wood.

A flare-lipped Fire King Sapphire Blue ramekin (they list these as custard cups - meh, potato/potahtoe)

There wasn't much going on there, although I did make one nice redneck woman quite disproportionately amused by remarking during a discussion about the weather that it couldn't possibly snow in Greenville next week because I wasn't out of coffee. She was still chuckling about that as I left.

I went on over to the small flea market/antique store where I found the Beaded Block bowls last time. It was still pretty early, but they were unlocked at least. When I started looking around, I stumbled back over a selection of Looney Toons glasses that Pepsi had done as a promo during the early 70's. They had a nice Pepe Le Pew glass as one of the issues. I had picked one up for Lisa in Easley while I was out antiquing with Justin the last time, but thought I would have to get the rest of the set on eBay. I had intended to give them to her for Christmas next year, but couldn't wait. I had tucked the one glass in with the Blue Willow for her to find as a surprise. There were exactly five of them at this store. That made an even set of six, and I couldn't resist. I picked them up for her even though I had really already gotten her a gift.

I returned to the house in triumph for find Granny and Mother unsurprisingly lingering over the breakfast table. Breakfast at Granny's is a leisurely and luxuriously protracted affair. I sat down and had some coffee with them and we planned the day.

First we decided what to have for supper, then got cleaned up and ate lunch. After that Mom and I headed out to do the grocery shopping and errand running. We also picked up some white sweet potatoes for us to take home. Yum.

By the time we did all the errands, unloaded the groceries, and rested for a while, it was time to start fixing supper. Mother had asked me to make macaroni and cheese. She doesn't make it from scratch (despite my mother's marked culinary expertise, I was raised on Kraft Dinner), and is very impressed that I can. Rather than make a huge macaroni pie (Granny doesn't like left-overs), I told Mom I would just make some stove top from scratch. Since Granny is down to 122lbs at this point, I spared no calorie. It turned out rich, creamy, and delicious, if I do say so. Granny, a notoriously fussy eater, not only finished what she put on her plate, she ate two small helpings as we talked at the table afterwards. I took that as high praise indeed. Mom loves my mac n cheese. "The secret ingredient is fat." I told her matter-o-factly.

We watched the weather (more snow next week) and talked until bed time. I was on the memory train, and reminded Mom of stories from my childhood. We reminisced, all telling stories until I finally just couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. I had already taken some Ibuprofen for a low-grade fever, which means I over-did it today. Sigh.