The Wordsmith's Forge

We went out bulb shopping today.


The first two places we tried didn't have any. DeBuhr's doesn't carry them anymore, said nobody buys them. It makes me wonder if people are so mobile that they no longer plan even 6 months ahead, just plant things for instant gratification. :( Bloomfield Garden Center didn't have any but might another year.

Rural King in Mattoon had the mixed daffodils I've been wanting. I got a bag of 40 mixed daffodils, 7 'White Emperor' tulips, 7 red-and-yellow 'Mickey Mouse' tulips, and 12 'Delft Blue Mix' grape hyacinths. I also picked up a 3-wick candle in a tiny cast-iron skillet. They had several flavors; I picked the "Mulled Wine" version.

Then we stopped at the mall for lunch. C & C Kettlecorn has a limited edition mushroom and swiss burger, which is what I got, and my partner Doug tried the pulled pork sandwich, both quite good. We got deep-fried oreos for dessert. Must remember this place has generous portions, because we barely managed to finish all that. Also, they had a charity board up where you could prepay for food, pin the receipt on the board, and anyone in need could take one. In Italy that's "cafe sospeso," or "pending coffee." There's one restaurant up north of us that does pending meals too.

Then I wanted to see what Home Depot had, since other places weren't carrying bulbs. There I picked up 5 'Persian Blue' alliums, 10 mixed Iris reticulata, and 15 mixed purple and white tulips (solids in those two colors). On the way to the checkout, I spotted a Battery Daddy storage case. It holds 150 batteries of assorted sizes on both sides of the case, plus a built-in tester to see if they're still good. :D After all the time we've wasted hunting around the house for batteries, this thing ought to pay for itself in a few months. It can be stocked and stashed with the toolbus, easy to find. \o/ Definitely one of those "Why didn't someone think of this sooner?" devices.

It's been a great day. :D