Shopped Till We Dropped

Thank-goodness we canceled the trip to Gatlinburg. We started out around 0930 this morning and didn't get home till after 1600. The three (yes Sadie always goes with me) of us piled in the Subaru. First stop was Hobby Lobby in Spartanburg. Jeff told me if I didn't hang some pictures on the walls before Thanksgiving he was going to go around the house and start putting pictures up with scotch tape. Last week we gathered up all the large prints we've collected over the years and the four oil paintings we bought in Paris (in May of 06) and I took them to be framed.

Today only the horse pictures are ready, imagine that! But, it will please Jeff to have a few things on the wall. One horse picture is going above the black wrought iron bed in the guest room. The other one is a picture done by Orren Mixer, called Legends of the Breed. Orren Mixer has been known for his paintings of American Quarter Horses. I got this print from AQHA many years ago. It has three horses (just the heads) on it: King, Wimpy and Leo. Leo is Skipper's great-great-great grandpa and Peanut goes back to Leo and Wimpy. This one is going to hang in at the end entry hall where you come in the back door.

The Secretariat picture is going in the living room, to hang above an old antique table I found somewhere along the way. The photo was taken after he won the Belmont Stakes and thus the Triple Crown in 1973. The race is also know as The Final Jewel of the Triple Crown series. (The Derby is The Run for the Roses, the Preakness is the Middle Jewel). Only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown and Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths. I get chills and tears whenever I listen to the live radio broadcast of that race, unbelievable!! In 1973 he was featured on the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week. A few years ago I read an article about Secretariat and it said a group of MIT scientists entered his vital statistics into a computer and it told them he was not possible! I've been in love with him since I was 12 years old and he captured the hearts of Americans and horse lovers throughout the world.

While we were over near the mall trying to find a place to get a replacement battery we made the mistake of asking some guys sitting at a bus stop for directions and the next thing we know the crazy man is walking up to the car asking us for money. Sadie did not like it and told him about it! He didn't come much closer, I threw two dollars out the window and we got out of there.

Last stop of the day was to get stuff so Sherrie could teach me how she makes her meatloaf and it was great!