South Bend Farmers Market

In  Edible Michiana magazine I saw an ad for the South Bend Farmers Market and decided to visit. The market is open Monday thru Saturday during the summer, though Saturday is the big day all year round. Friday turned out to be not a very good day. Less than one third of the 80 stalls were open and active. 

This market is under roof. It has existed since the 1920's; the current building was constructed in the 1970's. A lot of the vendors are family operations that have been in the market for decades.

Most of the baked goods and non-food booths were closed today. Even several large produce stands were shuttered. The cheese market, tea /coffee/spices booth, weaver, were open. The lavender lady was closed. 

It is over an hour from where I live. I doubt I will go back. I find the Goshen and especially the Plymouth farmers markets are better for me and half the drive time. I have been disappointed in the local Warsaw market this year.

We ate breakfast at the restaurant (3 counters with stools). The food was meh and rather pricy.

The Michigan peaches won't be ripe for several days. The tomatoes were beauties. Egg plants, peppers, onions plentiful. The one item that I have noticed is scarce at farmers markets this year is zucchini. I will have to buy a few in the grocery store to grate and freeze so I have a supply to bake bread this fall. 

On the way home we stopped at The Farm to buy sweet corn. They are about done for the season. The corn available has worms she said and was sold to me for half price. We will cut out the wormy parts and eat it tonight. Our last batch for the summer.

Costco Newbie

My husband and I went to Costco in Fort Wayne today. It is the closest store to us, about 45-50 minutes away. He was to have his hearing tested. His sister also went with us and had her hearing tested. We traveled in a lot of rain this morning, but it turned into a mist around 11 a.m., then stopped by noon. 

Though the test showed my husband's hearing has deteriorated some more, the audiologist was not pushy at all. He did recommend a different kind of plastic tip for hubby's current aids. We also bought a little drier/sanitizer box to keep the aids in good working order. For now, he will continue with the audiologist in Warsaw.

While they were engaged at the hearing center, I went to Kohl's. Then when I returned to Costco, I started shopping. I didn't take the insulated bag and blue ice packs with me this time as we would be eating lunch after the tests. I had been reading what products and buys were recommended for Costco members.

I bought a huge 170-oz. Downy container; my plan is to transfer from this big container to my current small container. That way I won't be trying to pour out of a heavy container most of the time.

I was pleased at the croissants in the bakery area. 12 croissants for less than a dollar more than what I had been paying for 4 at my local grocery store. I froze most of them; we will see how they hold up once frozen and thawed. They had the most enticing aroma when I took them from the plastic case.

 I am going to try Kirkland dishwasher pods. I bought ink for my Canon printer at a good price though it is packaged 2 black, 1 color cartridge. 152 gallon-sized Ziploc gallon freezer bags. Instant oatmeal. I ventured into a few unknowns: some Meyer lemon cookies; St. Elmo seasoning; some black leggings by Hue. 

I wanted to buy a big mum in a pot, but decided that with 3 of us in the car, there really wasn't enough room for it. I need to return to Fort Wayne around the middle of September. I will stop at Costco before heading home, stocking up on a few frozen products, and if they still have them, I will buy a mum. I spent plenty of money today, but I think I have "gained back" about half of my membership fee with the price savings. Too bad there isn't a closer store as I think we would use the gas station.

Everybody was helpful to this newbie with negotiating the checkout, etc. So far, a good experience.

Flower Power

 

 Sunflowers from the local farmers' market.

Bloom of the month for August from Martin's.

Shower curtain from Carson's store that is going out of business.

About Ready

Just as there is a point when I am tired of my winter wardrobe, I am now tiring of my summer clothes. The kids are back at school this week. The maple I can see out my Western windows has tinges of color in the green leaves. It is always the first to change in my neighborhood. Actually, the foliage changes appeared about 10 days ago which is about 2 weeks earlier than last year. I am about ready for fall-like changes. Maybe they will be early?

The little white house dwarfed by the maple, red maple, and blue spruce is empty. The for-sale sign is gone though and there has been a little bit of activity trimming bushes, taking down the shredded drapes in the living room. We may soon have new neighbors. 

I am still enjoying the rudbeckia at the corner of my house. I haven't soured on summer, just ready for a change. 

I haven't posted on the blog because other than spending time in the air-conditioned house and going thru our usual routines, we haven't done much interesting. We did have my husband's two sisters over to play Upwards on Saturday, followed by snacking on watermelon. That was fun.

I recently finished  Across Islands and Oceans by James Baldwin. This man solo circumnavigated the globe about 30 years ago (1984-1986). He self-published? this book in 2012. (I bought it at the Episcopalian rummage sale). His used fiberglass sailboat was minimally equipped. No GPS in those days and he had a simple radio to communicate and radar alert to avoid collisions. He relied on a sextant and celestial navigation. 

His plan was to sail from Florida thru the Panama Canal, across the Pacific Ocean, stop in New Guinea for about 6 months during cyclone season, then cross the Indian Ocean to Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope, then cross the Atlantic.

He was disgruntled with modern civilization and wanted to interact with natives on small islands. He skipped Samoa for example because too much like American culture. His goal also was to trek on foot (hike) across small islands and climb the highest peak if possible. He certainly had adventures that I wouldn't choose, but I enjoyed his narrative and the descriptions of the tribes and islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. His longest sailing segment was the trans-Pacific crossing of over 4,000 miles and 45 days alone. 

Warsaw First Friday

The first Friday of every month (except January) downtown Warsaw Indiana has a special event on the streets around the courthouse (or at nearby Central Park in December amid the Christmas decorations). The August event was a classic car show.

From well-known cars like corvettes and camaros to rarer models, there were over 100 cars in the show.

I'm not sure I've seen a Kaiser before. Interesting futuristic hood ornament.

I don't remember what the sign said this midget was.

There were some vintage early autos as well.

It looked like it would be such fun to hop into this car and take a ride through the country, the wind blowing across your face and in your hair.

Seeing the carburetor and air filter brought back memories of Big Bear where because of the high altitude thin air, we had to poke a stick in so the choke could get enough oxygen for the engine to start.

Most of the cars had signs asking browsers not to touch the car, but only one crude and rude sign. Seems to me if you didn't have clothes on you would leave more prints and smears, but I didn't give it a test run.

There were trucks and motor bikes and motorcycles besides cars.

Don't want the paperwork to blow away from your bike, do you?

You could see how autos have evolved thru the years; this hood seems to have gone extinct though. Maybe because not much room for anything or for anyone to reach parts.

At the same time as First Friday, there was a family festival going on over at Central Park. Lots of bounce houses and a big wheel race for the kids.

Glad it was last night and not tonight. Almost 90 outside and muggy this evening.

Blogland Tentacles

I stopped by Good Will Wednesday to drop off some donations. I decided I would browse the books in the store. I was so pleased to find Christie Purifoy's book. I read her blog regularly though she isn't posting much right now because she is busy writing another book. For 79 cents I have a devotional book by a writer I really like. Thank you Father.

For the views of my own blog, I can see the referring source. I was surprised to see Pinterest. This is a first for me. Somebody had pinned my photo of my husband's mesquite stool. 


With the internet we become inter-related in ways we don't always anticipate.