Rhonda Bracey: At Random

After drifting into semi-consicousness early in the monring, I finally woke at 9am! That’s REALLY late for me, so maybe there was still some residual jet lag effect. Suzie had left for work; John had gone to his cardiologist appointment, so I had a shower and a cup of tea. When John returned, we talked geography and maps and history for a while, then we went to Atascadero to the fabric store there (“Sew Fun”).

It was heaven! They had a HUGE range of fabrics and notions, and everything was SO CHEAP. For example, all their quilting fabrics were around the $8-10 a yard mark; in Australia, similar fabrics (and some were the same) start at $20 a metre. Fat quarters were all $2.50; in Australia, the really cheap one start at $3.50, and good ones are up to $7. Even sewing machine needles were cheap – Schmetz Universal were $2.99 (Australia about $6-8); Schmetz Metallic about $6 ($12 in Australia). The quilting books that we pay over $50 for were less than $25.

I could’ve gone crazy if I didn’t have to worry about lugging it back home! Maybe I’ll ship some stuff back…

While I was in the fabric store, John was in the book store in the same strip mall. They were closing down and didn’t have a lot left, but I wandered over to take a look and found two of those $25 quilting books for $5 each. Well, I couldn’t let them stay on the shelf, could I?? More stuff to bring home… And I’m only 3 days in the 3 weeks in the US/Canada.

This afternoon I spent some time trying to figure out what was wrong with Suzie’s computer. I think she has a rash of spyware on it as it basically siezes up when you try and open Control Panel. I could access the internet (she said she couldn’t), but as she’s on dial-up, it was excruciatingly slow. You forget how slow dial-up is when you’ve been using broadband for a while!

Tonight, Suzie’s cooking one of her fabulous meals – I think it’s a Chinese BBQ style pork dish – and she’s having the across-the-road neighbours over too. Some other friends, John and Mary, may pop in late this afternoon as well – they’ve been in San Luis Obispo all day, so we didn’t go out to see them at their property as we’d kinda/sorta planned.

Tomorrow I head out for Monterey. If the weather is as fabulous as today (the fruit tress – plums, apples, etc. – are in FULL bloom), I’ll cut back to the coast and take Highway 1 up to Monterey via Big Sur etc. I’ll stay at David’s tomorrow night, and see Lee in the afternoon, either in Carmel where she works or in Pacific Grove.

Update: Jon and Mary called in, but could only stay long enough for us to knock off a bottle of white. They had icecream in the car that was rapidly melting. Not long after they left, Suzie came home from work, then the neighbours over the road (Susanna and Larry) came over for dinner. Lovely couple. Susanna was born and bred in Tasmania but has been in the US with Larry since 1978. She’s a quilter too! Much red wine was consumed… I think I’ve had more wine the past 2 days than I’ve had in the past 6 months!!

Oh, and Suzie’s meal was as fabulous as ever. She grilled the HUGE pork chops on the BBQ, we had them with some green beans and steamed rice, and LOTS of wine. No-one over indulged – it was just a steady supply from about 5pm on. Of course, it helped that no-one was driving either!

I expect Monterey will be much the same – great food, great wine, and of course, great company.