Gray, dreary, rainy

That's what it looks like here today. It must have rained most of the night, because the paths in my herb garden are flooded and Lake Whenever has reappeared in my neighbor's field across the road. It's a great day to stay in and knit or weave. After being out and about for three days in a row, staying home is nice.

Metropolis schools were out on Monday, so Alyssa brought Lexi over late Sunday afternoon to spend the night. When they walked in , Alyssa announced that she was bring me an unfed child. As Alyssa went out the door, I started the whats-for-supper conversation.

"Do you want chicken or fish?"
"Fish."
I open the freezer door. "Tilapia or Salmon?"
"Salmon. Wow. Looks like you have a lot of tilapia. And we can have couscous and maybe peas." She walks away.
"OK. I have some couscous already cooked, in the refrigerator. Oh, I also have spinach."
"Oh, SPINACH!."

She loves spinach. The package says four servings, but I cooked the whole thing, sauteing it with garlic in olive oil. I took one serving and she took half of the remainder. After she finished that, she put the rest of it on her plate. When she announced that she couldn't eat any more, there was still some of everything on her plate. We covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Monday morning, she heated it in the microwave, and ate it for breakfast.

She asked what I was going to do that day. I didn't have any plans, and neither of us wanted to stay home, so I suggested that we go to Murray and look around. We stopped in Mayfield to cash a check and to fill the gas tank. She's not familiar with Murray and I rarely go there. I drove around a little, pointing out different things. She commented that there were a lot of people walking. I told her they were mainly the university students. We went into a store called The Book Mark, but it was more of a gift shop. The books were used ones; we each selected one. She discovered an alcove filled with Hello Kitty! stuff, and said we need to tell her Aunt Sara about it. Sara plans to decorate the nursery with a Hello Kitty! theme.

By then, Lexi was ready for lunch, so we went to McDonalds, (I would have preferred something else.) and after that to Big Lots. I was glad that they had some of the blueberry preserves that the Mayfield store no longer had last time I was there.

Lexi had noticed the Calloway County Library, and wanted to go there. I had never been to that one before. She found a book and read a bit of it, while I just sat. We were in the area near the computers. She wanted to use one, but neither of us has a library card there, so I suggested that we head back to Mayfield to the Graves County Library. I let her use my card to get on a computer, and I sat at the next one (they were not busy) knitting.

A little after four o'clock, we went to the Senior Citizens Center. They were having a bean supper fund raiser. We were early, but that was fine. I can always find someone to talk to there, and I also had my knitting with me. Lexi is also very familiar with the place, so she found a deck of cards and tried to build 'houses' with them. There were door prizes - mostly from local restaurants, but I had donated one of my handwoven throw rugs for that purpose. The MC had Lexi and other children who were there pull the tickets out of the box. We didn't win anything.

After that we called Alyssa to find out where she was. We met her near the mall in Paducah, Lexi went with her, and I came home. All in all, a pleasant day with an almost-eleven year old.

Tuesday, I took the car to the mechanic for an oil change and lube. I also got a new bulb in the headlight that had been damaged when I ran into a deer last fall, and two new tires. After that, I did my normal knitting at the Mayfield Art Guild with Mary. She pointed out that, with the braids on the ends, the Wingspan shawl can be crossed in front and tied in back. That will keep it from falling off the shoulders. Great suggestion! I'll be sure I put a note about it with the shawl when I give it to a teacher or the church shawl ministry.

Yesterday, after going around the corner to pay my water bill, and visiting a post office in Paducah, I went to church and then to the coffee shop for lunch and knitting. I was greeted heartily when I walked into the shop because someone wanted information about sewing a zipper into a sweater. They were sure I'd have done it several times (I am the oldest one in the group, after all.)  But I've only done it once, and didn't really have any words of wisdom.

So now I need to go to my knitting nest and select a project to work on.