I'm Slipping!

When we got to Sligo the other day we spent half an hour or so in the bus station, using the bathrooms and the seats to comfortably eat our lunch of cheese and crackers. Then we ventured forth in search of the hospital where Bill had an appointment with the eye doctor. We had taken an early bus so we would get there in plenty of time and we were not rushed. Still, one never knows how these things will go. We had a general idea about which direction we should go, so we set out with Google directions in hand. Lack of signage made these pretty useless, so Bill ducked into a shop on the main road and asked where the hospital is--he was told to just keep walking up the street we were on and we would come to it. Simple. We proceeded towards the goal.

When we are in a new place and wandering around I always pay attention to certain parts of my surroundings and not others. I watch the sidewalk for cracks, uneven bits that could lead to tripping, and dog poop. I keep an eye out for things that strike me as unusual in some way--landmarks that will seem familiar if I need to find my way back from somewhere. The other day I learned how, in these circumstances, I do not pay attention to stuff like shop windows. My mistake, because in such places, landmarks may be found!

We were marching in the direction of the hospital when Bill nudged me and pointed to my left. 'Uh-oh,' he said. I stopped on a dime and gazed at the yarn in the window. My eyes moved upward and rested upon a rack of embroidery floss. On top of that was size 10 cotton thread. Variegated. 'They have variegated crochet cotton!' I exclaimed as I rushed through the shop door. I have never seen this kind of thread for sale in any shop I have visited in Ireland. I have found shops with a few skeins of yarn.  A place in Belfast had lots of yarn and a few balls of solid colour thread. I have gotten some from an online shop and another sells a few colours of variegated, but I do not remember seeing the grey/green colourway (pictured on the right) and I was drawn to it.

I looked at the yarn but it was the thread I walked out with. He only had a few balls and only one of each colourway. A couple of those I did not like as much, but I got the grey/green, blues, and of course I was not going to leave the purple on the rack!

I am still shaking my head in disbelief that I almost walked right by a shop window filled with yarn and thread without even noticing!! Such a thing would have been unthinkable before this! Really glad I have an enabling husband who caught this error before it became a big problem. He saved the day. In future I shall have to pay better attention and leave a bit of extra room in the backpack. And now I know one shop that must be visited whenever we go back to Sligo. It is a landmark.

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