Good evening! It's been a perfect July day. 78* and sunny.
Today, to kill time while my car was serviced, my friend and I went out and discovered Walmart! We'd never been to a Walmart before. In fact we didn't know there was a Walmart hiding behind the big Target we go to all the time. LOL.
Interesting! It seems Walmart is HUGE, busy, cheap and chaotic.
It makes Target look like Saks Fifth Avenue.
But fun to explore anyway. Who could pass up tee shirts for less than 6.00.
I ''collect'' white tee shirts for housework, because I am the Queen of Clorox and this way I don't ruin my nice brightly colored or black tees.
And then polka dots, aaawww.
Little square bowl, for ? Just because--salad, ice cream, prep bowl, Mo dish. Love plain white porcelain.
And then! Imagine this--Walmart sells fabric, even in NY. Who knew?
Yes, Mel has gotten me great fabric from her KS Walmart but I was surprised.
Picked up a couple cute souvenir fat quarters.
Oh and aisles of pickling supplies. All kinds of jars and spices and salts, at okay prices. I hope I get to make some pickles this summer.
Walmart---maybe 2 stars, for the pickling supplies and fabric? Also the cashiers were fast but pleasant and the very mixed ethnicity customers were good humored, even friendly. [in NY!! hahaha, home of surly shoppers and rude checkout persons.]
......
We still had to use up another oil change hour so we went on to Joann's. Looking for blues for Bitty.
Can't start a project without a trip to the fabric store, can I?
I picked up a yard of this adorable dot, reminds me of Cotton & Steel's blueberry print that I didn't get a few years ago.
And I never have a good selection of blue threads, so I just chose an assortment.
Most are silk thread, I always like to try new things and I had read somewhere that silk thread is good for needleturn applique?
And I fell in love with this oh so soft squishy pale shell pink ''alpaca'' bulky yarn.
It's lovely and will make a sweet warm scarf or cowl, my purple cowl is almost done and I may soon be able to sit and watch TV and knit, maybe this fall.
BUT the label really is misleading.
The very fine print on the back---which I couldn't see without my reading glasses---admits to 80% acrylic, only 20% aplaca, at 9.98 a skein. (I'm a bit of a yarn snob.). The price should have clued me in, but the label...?
We drove home by the back route, the ocean looks so lovely!
PS I promised Kel I'd show off the fishing floats in the new from Target granite-ware bowl.
I don't love it, the glass doesn't show off like it does in the wire basket.
An aha moment---the floaties and wire basket were fine, but they were too big for my table. Off to the pine bench instead.
.......................
When I got home Mo had ice cream and then we worked on sewing the four million yoyo rosettes onto Summertime. Cute, though, aren't they?
Have a good rest of the week. Tell me--are you a fan of Walmart? Target? Neither or maybe both?
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| ''black'' old fashioned hollyhocks |
love
lizzy
gone to the beach.....
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| "You were gone All. Day, mommy. Ice cream won't fix that." |
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Are those purple Hollyhocks? We have Target. Good range ,not too dear and clean. Your Joan's looks like our Spotlight. Very untidy and sometimes not the cleanest. We don't have Walmart but we have Best and Less, cheap - very cheap. Only Spotlight has fabric. Haven't come across a dirty eating area for years, very strict rules here, so that's good.
ReplyDeleteYes tho we call them ''black'' old fashioned hollyhocks. I wish they were easier to grow!
DeleteLike with all chains, there are great Walmarts and those I'd rather never go into. Depends on the neighborhood, sad to say but true. We have a lovely bright and clean super-Walmart about 25 miles from us (which in the boonies is "close-by" and they have great food prices in a lot of staples that we stock up on occasionally. No Targets near us but I boycotted them several years ago and don't intend to shop there again. We have a very nice JoAnn's near the big Walmart and though small the staff is very personable and helpful. Smaller town living I guess.
ReplyDeleteThis Walmar is in a very nice area but very busy.
DeleteThe big Wal-Mart stores are hard to keep clean because most of them are open 24/7, and it's hard to run the big floor machines, etc, when there are people in there. Ours are pretty clean, though. Seems like every time I need to use the bathroom in one it's being cleaned! And I've seen them running the big floor machine. Some stores are busier and thus dirtier than others, and some managers are better. But think about how many truckloads of merchandise go through the store day in and day out - that's a lot of dirt to keep up with just from the shipping boxes. I don't know about there, but here the cafe spaces are leased and aren't actually part of Wal-Mart.
ReplyDeleteThe closest Target to me is an hour away, and seldom has what I need. They cater to junior sizes (small stuff) and have very little else. The last few shirts I bought there got shorter and wider EVERY time I washed them, so I don't go in there much any more. I don't think we have a Marshalls OR a Home Goods, although there is a tiny TJ Maxx.
Our JoAnns (also an hour away) is HUGE and new (but still occasionally dirty, especially after big weekend sales) and I love looking there. (Ha - I almost always end up buying, too). Ours has a great selection of yarn but I don't think any is 100% alpaca. It leans heavily to the easy-care types of yarn. So does Hobby Lobby, which now carries more of it's own brand of yarns that are nice and less expensive than some of the name brands. The new HL being built closer to me opens next month, I'm excited!
Wow, I don't think I've ever seen hollyhocks such a dark purple color! They're so pretty. I love that first picture of the water, too - from a bridge?
Mo's grumpy face cracks me up. You are SO in trouble for leaving for so long!
Good luck with all those yo-yos, just thinking about sewing them all on makes my fingers hurt in sympathy! But it will be so beautiful when you get it all done!!
Hi! You re right, the cafe was a Subway...but open to the sore si I blamed Walmart. And also correct about why things look so dingy/ dirty---plus the store is so crammed with stuff it'd be hard to clean around.
DeleteThe cashiers wore blue sterile gloves too, like a blood draw tech, which I found icky too.
We got a Hobby Lobby! But far far away. A Fall daytrip, we hope.
Yes photos taken from the bridge, only that little railing! I hate being stuck on it when it opens. But nice views.
r
PS I expected the yarn to have some wool or acrylic but not 80%! I may get a couple other colors for you to make me winter mitts and Mo-scarfs. Really lovely yarn.
DeleteWe have a Target and a Walmart 8 miles from home. They are almost next door to each other. The Walmart went through a huge remodel...and it's never recovered since. They do have a fairly large fabric section for the island. That's where I get the muslin for the back of the ravioli.
ReplyDeleteThe Target is OK. No craft department.
Please keep sharing your adventures. I enjoy them so much since I don't get out much. ;-)
An Mo sure knows how to pout!
Hugs.
Hunter
I love the tedious yo-yo's! They are going to be great on the quilt!!
ReplyDeleteI used to shop at Target, then ours (1 hour away) went through a remodel and it hasn't been the same. I avoid Walmart like the plague, (for business reasons) but do go in periodically when looking for something specific.
If you are ever interested in WalMart's business practices you can check out the documentary "The High Cost of Low Price"
Oh my stars! That first pic of the water is beautiful! I can almost feel the weather you described.
ReplyDeleteIn not much for Wal-Mart myself. I think my first time going there was maybe five or so years ago. I used to go there to buy big bags of cat food when I was feeding the ferals. Once a bag was rancid, so I returned it. You haven't truly experienced Wal-Mart until you've spent some time in the returns line. There was a woman returning groceries! Frozen pizzas, salad dressing, all sorts of food! A cart full! The woman right in front of me was returning a belt. She was sooo pissed because we had to wait forever because of the food returner. Belt lady was muttering and cursing Wal-Mart, saying derogatory things about it, lol. My feeling was, hey, you knew what you were getting into. I only go now if I'm trying to find something specific. I develope an attitude just pulling into the parking lot. Oh,and chocolate Twizzlers, I used to get them there too! Hard to find out here. And once, there was a fella napping.
Yeah, that's a no on the floats in the bowl. Thanks for showing me.
Oh, giving you the stink eye, is he. The pathway is looking pretty.
Thanks for sharing!
Kel
Walmart return line--hilarious! I never knew you could return FOOD! Eeew, I suppose they put it back in stock then?
ReplyDeleteDo you still feed the ferals? You adopted the momma and two babies, right?
Apparently you can return anything at Wal-Mart, lol. NO, the food can't be restocked. Wal-Mart has to eat it, pun intended. I felt kind of bad for them.
DeleteWell, I feed them, but they live in my house now! Yes, Momma and her daughters. Three and a half years they've been with us now. They're good girls. No more feral cats at the restaurant.
Oh this cracked me up! Really? Your first trip to Wally World? I do the bulk of my shopping at our super Walmart. But I have to say, our store is run by a wonderful woman and it is very clean. I love their prices. When I want to boutique shop, I love our Target. Where else can you find dinosaur salt shakers...LOL And their holiday displays are amazing. Enjoy your great weather! We are still hot and dry here :) Kit
ReplyDeleteMaybe someday I ll get to a different Walmart!
DeleteYo yos! They look great on your beautiful quilt and I feel that I am part of history in the life of same. Must admit that I am a Walmart fan; that being said, geographics and demographics seem to dictate the cleanliness and orderliness of locations. Our's only stocks a small selection of fat quarters and notions. Same location seems to remodel often which proves frustrating when you finally get to know the layout. Prices are good for staples. ((((Hugs))))
ReplyDeleteYour yo yos are darling and beautifully made. I love how we did a selection of pinks thru rose red. It s fun to sort and choose them, and they actually aren t as hard to sew on as I excpected.
DeleteI would go back to this Walmart only for fabric or sewing supplies---tho the tee shirts I got were also nice quality. But the store made my skin crawl/ itch/ I kept looking for bugs! And the check out counters--ugh, eeew.
Congratulations on your initial trip to WalMart! If nothing else, there's always something you never knew you needed but can't leave the store without available at WalMart!
ReplyDeleteSomehow I'm 1.5 miles between both a Target and WalMart ... I prefer Target, but there are things that they just don't carry! (JoAnn's is 12 miles away - it used to be 1.5 miles - shopping heaven?)
Hoping you can find more things you can't live without!
~Lisa