Just Call Me, "Old Scabby Hands"

I finally gave up with home remedies, and went to a dermatologist. Hives are no joke, and what started out as a few welts progressed to many more welts, and a roaring case of eczema as well. Cortisone cream and antihistamines should have worked, but what can I say? I moved from the farm where I had no allergies to the city where well, I seem to be allergic to everything. Madness, huh? They gave me another steroid ointment that stings like hell when it goes on (got hives, might as well have stings?) but at least the itching seems to have subsided. It may take weeks to get under control which means (deep breath) no jewelry on my wrists and fingers until it heals. The horror! I feel completely naked without my arms clanking with bangles. I went thrifting this afternoon and couldn't even bear to look at bracelets-so I bought a bunch of other cool shit instead.

 Art glass is always a good consolation.

 This will make a nifty pencil holder.

 Delft-ish tiles. I have a thing for Delft.

I need more candy dishes like a hole in my head. Did that stop me purchasing it for .98 cents?

 

So that was productive. I adore Thrift World because they do colour tags and each week they put two on sale for .98 cents. This week they had an additional colour tag for 1/2 off, so it was an opportune time to stop by. They had tons of terrifying wall art by Homeco (god, I love that name) but I resisted. Tomorrow is another day, and I'm sure it will still be sitting there if I go back.

Here's a local pub I haven't been to, but I love the fact that there's a Daytime drinking headquarters. We had places like this where I grew up (they were called taverns), that opened at 7 AM and there'd be a bunch of retirees sitting there working on the same beer all morning.

If I ever take up drinking in a meaningful way, I know where I'm going to pursue it.

Not far from Beer City is Charlie Graham's garage. The sign is a rare for this area neon, and the architecture is also a somewhat scarce style around here.

Oh, who is that young man with the fancy new bike? Danny was too tall for children's bikes (he's only nine, but he's a giant!) so he came home with an adult model. I rarely buy anything new, so I experienced a bit of sticker shock at the price of bikes today. Once I got past that, I had to admit it is a well made bike that should withstand the abuse he's likely to inflict on it. Trek makes good bikes, but damn, I was not prepared for the pricetag. I am currently driving a 94 Ford Tempo that we bought a few years ago for about the same price as the bike.

 

 

 

They can't put training wheels on an adult bike (not this model anyway) so there is a bit of practise needed until he gets the hang of it. We live next to a small college that was completely abandoned over the long holiday weekend, so we took advantage of the empty lot to ride. We live on the other side of the fence in the townhouses. This is a beautifully wooded area of the city tucked away behind a busy major street. You would never know the school and homes are there if you weren't looking for them. There's a park not far away with ball fields, tennis courts, and a trail system for hiking and biking. You would also never know there are college students in dorms just adjacent to here. The place is very quiet, and the young people well behaved (mostly). It is a nursing school, with a limited scope (that was unintentional scope and nursing, but I'm leaving it), so maybe that just doesn't encourage the wild parties you get at a university. Speaking for myself, I never attended drunken parties at school. I was too busy studying. Ahem, I walked ten miles to class uphill each way, twice daily, and my marks were always excellent.

 

This is the trail by the ball fields. There had been a substantial rain just prior to our arrival, and we saw several families of ducks (and ducklings) making the most of the flooded drainage ditch.

 

Well, I'm off to slather more ointment on my arms. No bakelite?! Gasp, I don't know how I'll survive.