Shopping in a Winter Wonderland
Had a super fun shopping day with these two ladies today.
Our friend, B (on the right in the photo above), has been planning this shopping day for a while. She had the whole route mapped out, with stops at local handmade artist shops and farms selling their wares and lunch and a surprise stop.
It was a very good, snowy, cold, super fun-filled day.
The snow was falling gently as we headed out in the morning. We got to the first shop about ten minutes before it opened. It gave us time to wander around and take all these outdoor photos. As it got closer to opening time, another car pulled into the lot. Yay! The worker had arrived.
Nope.
It was another shopper waiting for the shop to open.
It was getting cold out so we got back in the car to keep warm. B has seat warmers which are very nice things indeed.
We waited and waited.
Finally, another car pulled into the lot and a woman got out holding a set of keys. She headed to the door and opened up the shop.
"Yay! She's here! She's here!" we sang as a chorus. It was like seeing Santa arrive on his sleigh. Can you tell we were a little excited to get into this shop?
There were so many pretty things inside. But it was kind of packed in and in very close quarters. Rather tight and narrow, if you ask me.
My big tote bag kept coming dangerously close to several displays. The owner saw me maneuvering it to avoid wiping out an earring tree.
"Would you like me to keep your bag behind the counter?" she asked as politely as she could. In other words, would you like me to keep your bag so you don't knock something over and break it and then we willl all be sad because you broke something and I have to make you pay for it?
"Yes, please," I said, promptly giving her my bag. She liked it a lot and kept making comments about how nice it was. I kept a good eye on that bag while I was walking around the shop.
"Oh no, it jumped out and fell behind the display," said M. She had been looking at a small display of something and evidently one of the somethings fell off and landed behind the display and M couldn't reach.
"That's okay. I'll get it later," said the shopkeeper.
A few minutes later, M almost knocked over another display. And a few minutes after that, either M or B knocked into yet another display.
"Get out," said the shopkeeper, smiling. She was joking. I think.
We paid for all the items we had gathered and thanked her profusely for being such a good sport about all the displays we almost wiped out. We chatted for a few minutes and I asked about the history of the building. She told us it was built for a movie that had been shot in town and the owner/landlord had somehow gotten the building and moved it to its present location.
We wished her happy holidays and started to leave the store. My bag hit a display and I heard something fall to the floor.
"Just go. Get out!" the shopkeeper said, laughing at us.
What a good sport she was considering we almost took out her entire shop in one visit.
After we left the shop, B took us to a surprise location.
An alpaca farm! Yay! Yarn!
And although we didn't actually buy any yarn we had a wonderful time looking at all of it. We wandered around and checked out all of the beautiful hand knit items in the store.
I found some dog bone cookies while I was wandering around the store. Brady is getting a treat.
Did I tell you that K got a new dog, Brady? He looks very much like our old dog, Jack. We are all madly in love with him and spoil him rotten.
Hence the dog bone cookies. He's going to love me the most.
The owner was very gracious and let me take as many photos as I wanted.
She had all kinds of pretty little Christmas touches everywhere. I went outside to catch some snow scenes since the snow had started to fall a little heavier while we were in the store. I caught up with M and B and we all walked around to the back of the store, near the barns.
Alpacas were everywhere. There were absolutely adorable. I asked the young man working with them if they spit like llamas. He confirmed they did, but only two of the herd were spitters. He pointed them out to us and thankfully they were in the back of the group and not near us.
I loved the brown one with all the snow on its head. That's how I feel when I'm walking in snow.
Next stop was another farm. This one makes cheese.
Yummy, creamy, stinky, delicious cheese.
We sampled a couple, okay, several, kinds of cheese and picked out pieces we wanted to take home. I'm saving mine for Christmas Day.
A special treat.
We got back on the road and decided it was time to break for lunch.
The snow had picked up a bit and it was starting to look like a winter wonderland. As we were driving along, M looked up from her phone.
"Why are we the only car on this road?" she asked, her voice tinged with a bit of concern.
"Yeah, why ARE we the only car on the road?" I thought to myself. That happened to be a very good question.
"We're not," said B. "There's a couple cars behind us."
Good. It's much better to have company if you find yourself driving on a road that might or might not be closed because of slippery conditions.
I loved taking photos outside the pub. M and B went inside to get a table and I snapped away, happily taking photo after photo.
We had a very tasty lunch in the toasty warm pub. Guinness in front of me. Christmas tree behind me. Very cozy and welcoming but not too busy, with only a few people at the tables around us.
A couple young girls started Irish step dancing in front of the window. I wish I knew how to dance like that. It looks like fun.
Lunch was nice and it was a welcome break from the snow and the cold.
I'll show you what I have planned for it in another post.
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It was starting to get dark and the snow was really starting to come down so it was time to end the day.
Sigh.
A wonderful day filled with {so much} laughter, some trip planning as we talked about our next adventure together, Christmas cookie eating, snow falling, winter wonderland scenery, and lots of love.
Always the love. Thanks, ladies, for such a fine day.
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