A Town Day

Ysterday was a town day for us. We left the house in the early afternoon and drove into Northport, with our first stop at Tractor Supply to pick up a few things and to look at some stuff for a couple of projects we want to do down the road.

Then it was into Tuscaloosa for a stop at Pet Smart. I got a couple of cases of Pedigree mixed flavors of canned dog food for Alli. I try to give her a can of food with her dry food every other day, and on the off days we sometimes supplement the dry food with steamed (and then cooled) squash from the garden, which she loves. I know I would get tired of the same old dry food day after day. We also picked up some kitten food and treats for the dog and kittens. When we got back out to the truck, I told Terry having pets is as expensive as raising kids.

Our dear friends Tom and Diane Owen had sent Terry a Red Lobster gift card for her birthday, so we went there next. The restaurant was busy with the after church crowd, lots of people all dressed up and all very friendly. They have a new item on the menu, a Garlic Seafood Bake, with shrimp, mussels, and scallops over crispy potatoes, and we both decided to order it. I guess we were spoiled by all of the delicious fresh seafood we got when living in Florida, because while our meal was good, it’s hard to compete with those memories.

When we were done eating, we went to Publix to stock up on groceries, and I commented to Terry that maybe I should have waited until then to get the dog food. But as it turns out, the same cases of Pedigree were $2.69 more each at the grocery store than Pet Smart.

With our shopping out of the way, we made a quick stop at the post office in Northport to drop some things in the mail and then one final stop for gas before heading back home. The sky had been dark all day and thunderstorms were predicted, but all we saw was some lighting off in the distance and a few scattered raindrops.

By the time we got everything carried in and put away and I let Alli out of her crate and took her outside to go potty and run off some energy chasing a ball, while Terry tended to the kittens, we had time for an hour or so of television and then the news before it was time to write the blog and call it a day. It took a few days for BeeBee to warm up to Mai Lin, the new kitty that we brought home last week, but they seem to have bonded well and spend their days playing together.

Congratulations Sandie Dixon, winner of our drawing for an audiobook of my friend Suzie O’Connell’s Mountain Angel, the first book in her Northstar Angel’s series. It’s a contemporary Western romance about a woman who returns to her roots, desperate for the tranquility of the secluded valley and plagued by memories of her dead boyfriend and the advances of an obsessive former friend. When her over-protective uncle sends Patrick O’Neil “on vacation” to keep an eye on her she is annoyed, but finds herself irresistibly drawn to the haunted man with a kind smile and sad eyes. He may just be the best thing to ever happen to her…if she can convince him to stay.

We had 30 entries this time around. Stray tuned, a new contest starts soon. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. With price “rollbacks” like this, I’ll keep on shopping.

Thought For The Day – Married couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking.