The Carousel, Fabric, and Some Street Food

Elysian, WS, and I went to Missoula yesterday. As a Navy veteran, she goes through the VA for some of her medical care. She needed to get some dental work done, but being the VA, and this being Montana, the nearest dentist that could/would do the work was in Missoula. They told her to bring someone in case she needed to be sedated. I don’t need much encouragement for a road trip. We left at 8 am for an 11 am appointment just in case we hit tourist traffic on the way down. We arrived in plenty of time. I had planned to drop her off and take WS over to the carousel, but when she checked in, they informed us that if they had to sedate her, I would have to remain on the premises. After a quick scan, though, the dentist said he could do the work under local anesthesia in about an hour.

We left her at the dental office. The carousel didn’t open until noon, and it was still only 11 am, so WS and I headed for Joann Fabrics. WS is used to this part of traveling with me. He likes to look at fabric, too, and we imagine all the things we could make with the different kinds we see. I bought a chunk of cotton/spandex for a T-shirt. We then went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up a tablecloth that DD#1 had asked me to get for her. Just as we were finishing up there, I got a text from his mom that she was all done at the dental office, so we zipped back over and picked her up.

They hadn’t let her eat the night before and I knew she was starving, so we brainstormed possible lunch choices. We decided to go to the carousel, which is downtown, to see what was nearby. We were pleased to discover that on Wednesdays, there are food trucks and live music in the park next to the carousel. She got a cup of ice cream, WS had a taco, and I had a plate of some spectacular Thai chicken peanut curry. I like street food. While they finished eating, I walked up to The Confident Stitch, which is just a block from the carousel, and bought another piece of Kaufman Laguna Cotton, this time in a pretty green and white print.

[I am going to have about two dozen new T-shirts when this serger marathon is over.]

Elysian was starting to feel the effects of the novocaine wearing off, so I offered to take WS on the carousel. I have ridden this carousel many, many times over the past 25 years. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people and all of the outside horses were taken, so we couldn’t try to get the brass ring. We had two inside horses:

The carousel goes fast and they are generous with the length of the rides. By the time we got off the ride, it was after 2 o’clock. Elysian wanted to stop at the Amish store on the way home—she had never been there—so we left Missoula and headed north. WS and I each enjoyed a cup of ice cream while we tried out the Amish-made glider rockers on the porch of the store.

I may go back to Missoula with her in two weeks when she goes in for a followup visit. I can think of two or three other places she and WS would enjoy visiting.

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When I got home, I discovered that the fabric I ordered from Girl Charlee had arrived. This is what I have to add to the pile of T-shirt fabrics:

The top is another double brushed poly/spandex blend. Underneath that is a striped fabric that the Girl Charlee website only describes as a cotton/rayon/spandex blend. The percentages were not given. I like the feel of that one very much. The green vine-y print is the Laguna Cotton from The Confident Stitch. Elysian said it reminded her of peas in the garden. The bottom is the black and multicolor cotton/spandex fabric from Joanns.

I may need to take a break from the knits and make myself some more aprons. I have been hard on my aprons this summer. I almost need one for each day of the week.

The produce tsunami is in full swing. The cucumber plants are producing like crazy, as are the zucchini. I expect to be bringing in tomatoes before too long, which is unheard of. I don’t usually get ripe tomatoes until the end of August. I said to the husband that we may not need to cover them from frost in September to keep them going like we usually have to. It is still hot here, but only in the 80s instead of close to 100. After weeks of excessive heat, mid-80s are almost pleasant.