Saturday, August 17, 2019

Harvests and Malls

Kicked off a sunny and hot day with breakfast and the soundtrack from the mid-60's version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. This is the version I grew up with on cable. Leslie Ann Warren is the title servant girl, Stuart Damon is the prince, Celeste Holm is a glamorous and motherly fairy godmother, and Pat Carroll and Barbara Ruick are the very funny stepsisters. There's one additional song that hasn't been heard in any other version, the gorgeous ballad "Loneliness of Evening" as a character song for the Prince. Apparently, it was cut from South Pacific, but it works just as well here, and Damon sounds every inch the romantic prince charming.

My first of many stops today after I headed out was the Collingswood Farm Market. It's the height of the summer produce season, and they were jammed with people buying fruit and vegetables for canning and barbecues. Blueberries are gone, but I saw winter squash, okra, grapes, and gala apples for the first time this year. Since I'm not going to be able to get here next week, I stocked up on peaches, blackberries, tiny sweet green grapes, Chinese beans, a small cantaloupe, mushrooms, and an onion.

After buying a Propel water at a busy WaWa, I strolled down Haddon Avenue to check out Collingswood's craft show. Unlike the May Fair, this is just crafts, food booths, and music. I saw stained glass hangings, glittering beaded mosaics, beautiful hand-made jewelry, creative wooden carvings, fine furniture, photos, and artwork. There was a kid's area on Powell Lane near the All Fired Up pottery shop where little guys learned to make a wooden frame or paint their own masterpiece. I didn't mind browsing, but I couldn't afford most of it or carry it home. I headed off again after about an hour.

Took the long way across Newton Lake Park, past Parkview Apartments, to enjoy the hot, sunny, humid, and windy day. Stopped at what was listed as an estate sale on Newton Avenue in Oaklyn. It wasn't even inside the little pink stucco house. It was just a bunch of items on tables outside, and nothing of real interest. I left quickly.

Since the Oaklyn Library is just down the street from the house, I went there next. They were totally dead when I arrived, with just the librarian doing paperwork. We talked about my vacation next month and the lovely old house taken from part of a mill along a stream her sister owns. They get new releases quicker than Haddon Township does. I grabbed two major hits from the late winter and spring, Shazam! and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, plus the 2014 Annie for review on my musical blog.

Hurried home, put everything away as fast as I could, finished Cinderella, then rushed back out. Despite the heat and killer humidity, I opted to go to Cuthbert on foot. There's no place on Cuthbert for me to stash my bike. I managed to make it there with ten minutes to spare. For once, the bus to Cherry Hill was right on time. There was no traffic and no problems on the road. I got off across from Market Place around 1:30.

I was so hungry and thirsty by that point, my first stop was Chick Fil'A. Despite it being the tail end of the lunch hour, they still had a long line. They also had a lot of registers open. I was quickly able to pick up a messy but tasty BBQ Bacon Chicken Sandwich with waffle fries and a desperately-needed frosted lemonade.

There have been a lot of changes since the last time I went to Market Place. The most obvious was visible as soon as the bus pulled up to the curb. Pei Wei had been painted blue and white and replaced by Land's End. They were my next stop after lunch and a short look around Hallmark. Land's End and I go way back. Mom's been buying clothes from their catalogs for her family since at least the early-mid 90's. Thankfully, they did carry plus sizes. I found a really cute watermelon-summer fruit print tank-top on the clearance rack for $9.99.

I was mainly there for a new backpack. My current one is faded, worn, and the drawstring came out within days of my buying it. I finally settled on a really large kids "classroom" pack with a blue-silver planet theme. The backpacks were half-off; mine came to $25.

It turned out to be very useful for my stroll to Bed Bath and Beyond. I ended up buying new kitchen towels and dishcloths. Some of my kitchen towels are so old, I had them in college. Also grabbed a new brush pick (my current one is over a decade old) and brush picks and new dish brushes.

Was in and out of stores for the next hour. Didn't see any musicals of interest at Best Buy, and their only copy of Sailor Moon was on Blu-Ray. Did better at Barnes & Noble, using a 15 % off coupon to buy the Han/Lando novel Last Shot from last year in paperback. Saw no sneakers for work I liked at DSW Shoes.

It took me a few minutes to figure out where the bus stop was on the Towne Center side, but it finally arrived around 4:30. Though the traffic was slightly heavier, there were no problems getting home. I was still insanely thirsty and stopped to get a much-needed Gatorade from WaWa on my way.

I thought a bath would cool me off after I put my new finds on a hook or in the laundry basket. Ahhh. It felt absolutely wonderful to relax in tepid water under shower gel suds while reading Christmas With Southern Living books and listening to big band and jazz.

Finished the night with leftovers for dinner, then went online while watching Annie. I go into more details on this remake of the 1982 film on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Annie (2014)

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