So I am on a mission today – need beads! Needs a specific color of beads of which I am not sure what that is until I see it. I take off to the closest bead shop – one that I have never been to before and really not worth mentioning aside from the adorable shop dog there! Not enough inventory to even spark the littlest bit of inspiration in me. And the antique store right next door was closed. This should have been a sign to just stop and go home right then and there.
So I head up the road to a bead shop I was so overwhelmed with last year in Chadd’s Ford, PA. GPS says 20 minutes. On the way, I drive past several music stores and pull in quickly to one to pick up some guitar strings for the loving hubby who complains that his strings are worn out but never takes the time to go get some himself. Since I find his ability to make music one of his most charming attributes, I buy two sets.
On the road again and I’m thinking that today is Wednesday so the quilt shop next to the bead shop should be open. I am thinking this is going to be a good day!
40 minutes later I arrive at the shopping center that houses both beads and fabric – Imagine my dismay when the bead shop is not only closed but is closed for inventory because it is going out of business. The next day it will open is Friday – ugh! But okay – I can deal with this because there is still a quilt shop here.
And the quilt shop is very very nice! Of course, the first thing I do is check it out to see if they are carrying my ruler. Boo – they are not. But they do have great fabric. I decide that I deserve to get a few yards since I drove all the way up there. I pick up a bolt and am floored! $13.50 a yard!!!! Ack!!! Granted it was Dr. Suess fabric but still – $13.50, really?!
The whole experience has been soured for me. I can no longer get into buying fabric. I introduce myself to the very busy ladies working there, drop my card and leave. I’m guessing it would have been a better sales call for me if I had just bought a yard or two…
I get back in the car – I still need beads! IPhone says there is a bead shop just 20 minutes up the road. I plug the address into my navigator and keep on heading north. 20 minutes turns into 40 minutes and GPS takes me to a residential address – I am not knocking on the door in that lovely subdivision to ask if there is a bead shop in the basement. Thanks, IPhone.
So south I head again and stop for lunch. Guilt is starting to get to me as I have left my Mother-In-Law home alone with no explanation as to my where-abouts. She sleeps late most times and I was hoping to be back before she woke up – not working out for me but I decide to get over it. Lunch time is a great opportunity to multi-task when one is eating alone – I eat my salad, agree to go out to dinner with my hubby tomorrow night, check my email – only Canadian Viagra messages and surf Facebook, make a few moves on scrabble (I am open to new opponents, by the way – send me a game via Facebook!) AND look for more bead shops.
Okay – IPhone says there’s one in old town New Castle, Delaware – I go to the website and there’s a picture of the store front that also has a sign out front for “Quilts”. Carousel Beads of Delaware. GPS says its 25 minutes. I debate. By this time the MIL is up and about – probably let a dog go swimming by now, left trash on the counter because she can’t find the trash can, that is if she ate any thing healthy or just had cookies for breakfast (Hey, she’s 83. She can have cookies any time she wants too.) and probably taken an hike or two up and down the road which provokes the dry dog to bark his head off and annoy the neighbors. I opt for the bead shop and possible quilts too.
It is 45 minutes or more to get there. I arrive somewhat bewildered as to whether or not I am in the right place. GPS is off by a block but I find it! Whew! What a nice shop – she’s got beads in just the right color and she’s helpful! I like her immediately. Then she tells me there is a quilt shop in the back – it really is true. The sign in the picture didn’t lie! I leave my pile of beads and trek to the back of the store. To my amazement, its really not a store, but a quilting studio. The Quilter-in-residence sells her quilts as well as fabric. AND the fabric is on SALE!!! $6.00 a yard! I buy 20 yards! Woo-hoo!
I leave an hour later – happy! Set GPS to go home. It says 25 minutes. I get home in 45 minutes. Nothing has changed since I left the house – all is quite. Dog is dry. No trash on the counter. Its 4:00 in the afternoon. I take a deep breath and go upstairs to check on the MIL. She answers at my second knock – sigh of relief. I open the door – she is still in her nightgown… She has just gotten up!!! Oh boy, its going to be a long night… good thing I’ve got my beads!
