Quilt Through It.

I left the mountains yesterday with fingers crossed.

I had less than 1/4 tank of gas.

There was a gas shortage going on that I really hadn’t paid attention to because of other things going on within my family.

I mean, how bad could it be?  Surely there was gas SOMEWHERE?

And then I got worried.

The cabin is about 20 minutes from town, pretty much on the outskirts of nowhere.  There is not a mini-mart or ANYTHING for a 20 minute drive.

And the first station gave me THIS:

YIKES.

I was in the east-bound lane headed toward Wilkesboro.  In the west-bound  side, I passed an OLD station with really vintage pumps, as in NO PAY AT THE PUMP option.  I had always driven past this place on the way UP to the cabin, wondering how this little place even stays in business.  Bad judgement, Bonnie.  Very bad judgement!

The little station also has a car repair, so it stays in business and I pulled up to the pump.  The ONLY vehicle pulling up to the pump in this little throw-back-in-time station.  The only available gas was Extra Supreme at $3.09 a gallon and I didn’t care.  I filled up.  My 1/4 tank had already been driven on another 20 minutes from cabin to station and I needed gas.

I went inside the dark little mini-mart to find a spry older gentleman in crisp, white uniform shirt complete with the embroidered name badge letting me know his name was Ralph.

Not quite this far back!  But close!

I think I have stepped WAY back in time by now!  When was the last time you saw an automotive guy in a uniform shirt (White none the less, and spotless!) with his name embroidered on it?

We had a nice little chat.  This station also provides FULL SERVICE fill ups, and I will be stopping there in the dead of winter when I don’t want to have to get out of my car to pump in the cold.  Come to think of it, I may just do it on a regular basis just to help keep this place open. Shop local.  And bring a smile to an old-timer who should have been retired long ago, but loves what he does.

I want to know his story.  How long has he had this station?  This little chance encounter during a crazy gas shortage made me smile.

Especially once Ralph told me that I was the LAST customer of the day.  They were officially closing shop until they could get more shipments of fuel in.  “No point in keeping us open now” he said.

He told me the only reason they had ANY gas at all is because they are closed Sundays, which gave them an extra day of fuel that other stations in the area didn’t have.  Many sold OUT on Sunday.

Goodness.  Thank heavens for small favors in the bible belt.

As I neared Winston Salem and home, some stations had gas, others did not.  According to the news, things will be returning to normal in the next couple days if not sooner, and I should be fine to drive to Delaware on Sunday.

This got worked on a bit last night.

And so did this:

I got the next neutral round on!

Next up…GREEN!

These units piled up while working on this year’s mystery.

Are you playing along with this year’s Hourglass Leader & Ender challenge?  These simple units work up really quickly in between the lines of chain piecing other things.  My goal is to get the green/neutral units cut and baggied so they are ready to go.

Tumbler on the guestroom bed!

So much scrap happiness!

I really love our Leader & Ender challenges and hope that you do too!

This morning Moby has his first maintenance appointment at the dealer.  I can’t believe I’ve put on 5,000 miles already.  But it needs to be ready for Delaware on Sunday.

After that, I’m driving down to Charlotte to meet Jason and spend some time together.  We feel the need to see each other. We’ve both got Chinese food on the brain and then we’ll spend the afternoon wandering around and visiting.

There may be an antique mall run.  And a vintage machine check-out.  I’ve already emailed a guy about something really cool.

**UPDATE**  Jason just called and said that we should avoid Charlotte with all that is going on right now with the riots. Our lunch date out for copious amounts of yummy Chinese food has been given a rain-check. As sad as I am about not seeing my son, I'm even sadder with the state of things in North Carolina.

More details to follow.

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Every single day.

Scrappy nine patch quilt made many years ago as a table topper.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

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