A Trip To The Farmer's Market

 Shirley and I are riding along after coming through that road construction I told you about in last post. She sees a sign Farmer's Market and wants to go but I am thinking about the farmer markets we have around my place and they are only open on Sat. So, I say 'no, it won't be open'.

Good thing she overrode me. (She always was a head-strong girl). We found it and had the best time. They are open year round, 7 days a week.

Join me as Shirley and I stroll around enjoying everything! 

Yes, I bought apples. Tried two new kind - lemonade and ambrosia. 

I got me some turnips. Love them but seldom cook them. 

I got some squash, also some green beans. 

I bought two of the biggest, tastiest tomatoes. How I missed taking a picture of them I'll never know.

The candy was tempting but I passed that up. Aren't you proud of me!!

Pickled eggs? I've never eaten any. I should have bought one jar just to say I had tried them.

Wouldn't you love to have a Farmer's Market near you just like this one?

Hot Peppers and Lovely Flowers

 My son is quite the gardener.. plus a lot of other things. We took a stroll out to his square foot garden and I was amazed to see a healthy crop of peppers still there even though it is late October. 

The weather has been gorgeous this week... been nice just for me, I am thinking. But, next week. Look out. We'll even have some frost perhaps and those peppers will have to come inside. 

And, if it does frost all these beautiful flowers will be gone. Well, that's just life's cycle, is it not?

I told you my son had a lot of talent. 

Just kidding.

He did get these peppers to stack but as soon as the picture was taken they fell over. 

On a Healthy Kick

 At this late date in my life I am so much more aware of being healthy. Up to now I guess it would just take care of itself.

But, the more I hear about the 'bad for you' things that are being sold in stores, it scares the beegees outta me. 

They say ignorance is bliss.... 

I sure was full of bliss!! 

I loved salt... still do but having that scare recently with my blood pressure shooting up to over 220 put the thing in perspective. I use Mrs. Dash or lemon juice instead of salt most of the time now. 

And, then we had a wellness coach come talk to us one day and I started thinking about how we all are killing ourselves with what we put in our mouths. 

I've had tummy problems for years so this week I went on a week's diet to try to heal some of the damage that inflammation has caused in my gut. The diet is not bad but I am glad I only have to do it for one week. 

My breakfast this morning was yogurt topped with fresh fruit. Later on during the day I can have some chicken, some veggies but no grains, no sugar, no processed foods. Man, I am gonna miss that sweetened cereal I ate every morning. 

As far as sugar goes... that has to be cut way back. Everything I read and hear says that sugar feeds cancer. I definately do not want a recurrance of my breast cancer. I'm gonna miss my sugar, too. 

Where There's a Will, There's a Way

 I want to brag on my granddaughter, Brittany, this morning.

A single mom with a 7 year-old son, she married a man with two daughters, similar in ages as her son. 

She became a mother of three overnight. Had to give up her job due to the logistics of transporting all those kiddies back and forth to school, to their other parents etc, etc. 

So, she opened up her own business at home. She had access to plenty of figs so she started out making little jars of fig preserves. (by the way, her last name is Bice... nice take on the sugar and spice thing, right?)

Then, she did jars of pepper jelly from the hottest of hot to the mildest. 

Next she added cheesecake in a jar. 

Her clientele was growing so she branched out to some shops who now carry her products. 

She has planted more fig trees,

grows her own jalepeno peppers for the pepper jelly plus other veggies for the family. 

As the saying goes, 'Where there is a will, there's a way.' and she has found a way to make that happen. 

Drizzles in Cape Charles, eastern shore Virginia, carries her products. And, on one trip to the shop to  resupply her merchandise she bought me a gift... a bottle of butter-flavored olive oil. I love it. 

Preparing For The Winter!

 I've been....

I want to share with you what has kept me busy. I'm like a squirrel getting ready for the winter! 

The other day I cleaned out my freezer. This being an apartment, all I have in the way of freezer space is that area above my fridge. Not much, but enough I guess. 

Anyway, my packages would get all scrambled around and I couldn't find anything!

Since a lot of my food is frozen in those quart (or pint, just depending) ziplock bags, I got this idea that if I could keep them in a box, just maybe they'd stay put. Couldn't find a blooming thing in this apartment that they'd fit into..... except an empty shoe box. Hey, if it works....

And, I froze some veggies that I had in the crisper. Heaven only knows I let a lot of food go to waste... 'cause I can't eat it all before it goes bad. 

I froze some carrots, celery and red peppers. 

I'd get so upset when I would buy lemons... I never had any when I needed them! 

So, I buy a bag now. Juice them all. Pour some juice into small freezer bags and when I want some juice to add to tea, put in a dish, sprinkle over avacado or other fruit, I just pop the bag against the countertop and the juice breaks into pieces. I reach in and get what i want and put the rest back in the freezer for later. 

Let's see. Oh, this morning I got a lot of Christmas cards addressed and stamped. They are lying on the entry table ready to be mailed. 

and, I reorganized my pantry! 

We had our family Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday so tomorrow I plan on watching the Macy's Day Parade. Maybe I'll follow that up with the Dog Show from Madison Square Garden. Elbert and I used to watch that! 

Life is good. It's what you make it! 

A Walk Through the Garden

 The weather has not been nice since I have been in Alabama. Every day it has been gloomy, raining one minute, sunshining the next, and then rain the next. Enough to make you want to crawl under the covers!

I've been reading a lot! Yesterday was a good day. We actually got out and went to Cracker Barrel and had lunch! But, more rain is scheduled for today. I swear!! And, next week the heat index is gonna be over 100. Can't win for losing!

After we came back from Cracker Barrel, I finally got a chance to check out Michael's garden. He's so good at gardening! He does the square foot type. Just look at what's happening there!

                    The Cowhorn peppers are ripe enough to pick.

The Jalapenos are getting big. 

He has dwarf marigolds planted to help with the insects and his cucumbers are blooming.

There are blackberries just beginning to ripen, 

I picked one and popped it in my mouth. I got a surprise!

Until they have totally ripened and been on the vine a bit, those things are SOUR!

Maybe there will be enough for us to make a blackberry cobbler before I go home.

He has grape vines as well as muscadine and scuppernong. 

This Korean dogwood sits by his back walk. All the other dogwoods have long since blooming so it was nice to see this one. 

So, that's a small portion of his garden and yard. More to come! if it ever stops raining!

Toodle-oo