New Drapes

Whew, quite a day. Ellen called to suggest I get the drapes and hardware I wanted for my bedroom and I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Finally, after much digging, I found two side panels (which is what I wanted) in a dark red. Not sure what the material is, but it's heavy. They're room-darkening, but for now, I indifferent about that, as I've had no problem sleeping. I just wanted the tiny side opening in the blinds covered.
B B & B cost an arm and a leg, and I decided to look also in Target. Did and found a nice rod that didn't need to be screwed in--it had a kind of spring mechanism. Bought it, had lunch, then took all to Ellen's at 2:00. While she dusted and so on, I ironed the drapes, which were very creased. We then took off in separate cars for my place.
Wouldn't you know, the rods I had bought didn't fit, as the end of the window is very near the wall. El needed a few things in BB & B and we got better rods and finials there.
Back to put them up, which took several hours because Ellen had to remove the valances, which are part of the vertical blinds; otherwise, the drapes wouldn't--well, drape properly. What a job! And I was having fits and conniptions about it, while Ellen calmly tried this and that, and finally, after a great deal of work, got the rods up and the drapes on. The window looks great and really finishes off the room beautifully--yay!