Autumn Weekend

 Yesterday I visited the Kosciusko County Farmers' Market. I purchased some zinnias, cookies, and small tomatoes.

So far these zinnia stems have stayed straight, no bending like that one batch I bought earlier this summer. There were fewer vendors than during my last visit. The market supposedly runs through October so I was a bit surprised to see half a dozen absent. 

I had taken my blue Grace Village tote bag to carry my purchases. When I arrived at the tomato booth and went to put them away, I realized I no longer had the bag. I walked back to the zinnia booth and there it lay partway under the table where I had dropped it. Thanks be to God that it was still there for me to retrieve. 

It was cooler yesterday so I made soup for lunch. We enjoyed slices of La Brea Bakery Sunflower Honey bread and finished up with one cookie each.

Today we headed directly from church south on Country Club Road which took us to Indiana Highway 14. There we turned east toward Fort Wayne. My husband has been wanting to try Salvatori's restaurant on Illinois Road (Hwy 14). There isn't much fall foliage yet in our part of Indiana, but it was a pleasant drive. 

The menu displayed two prices. When I asked the waitress she said the less expensive price was for a half portion. I only ate half of my serving and I was full. I can't imagine what a whole portion looks like. We asked for take-home boxes. 

My food (ziti and a side salad) was good, but I don't know that I would drive so far to eat there. If I were in the area, then yes I would stop.

I have started to put out autumn decorations in my house. When I finish doing that this week, I will share with you, especially the new pillow covers I bought. 

We are entering my favorite season of the year. I look forward to the colorful changes.

Holing Up

 We had our carpeting cleaned this morning. To stay out of the way and then off the damp carpet, I holed up in our sunroom.

The cleaners recommended that we not reposition the other furniture until tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long evening with no Lazy Boy chair to sit in.

Earlier this morning I went to the Friends of the Library sale at North Webster. I was a bit disappointed in the selection of books. Hardly any non-fiction. 2 of the 3 novels I bought are secular so may have some scenes/language I'd rather not read, but I will give them a try. I also bought 3 CDs.

We did see Seabiscuit before, but I think I will enjoy watching it again. 

We had placed our loveseat, which was mostly on the area rug,  facing north while we watched Jeopardy. I could see quite a bit of color in the sky after a gray and rainy day.

When I stepped outside to face west toward the sunset I was blown away.

The sky looked like it was on fire. Well worth the effort to go look.

Fall came in with cold rain and winds yesterday. I had to find my flannel sheet (which I use as a blanket during the transition). I also turned the heat on. It is going to warm up some Sunday and early next week. I am glad to have some new books and CDs to while away the cold gloomy weeks coming.

PBS Program About 9/11 at the Pentagon

 Like most people my age, I have lots of memories of the day the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. I know the Pentagon was also attacked by an airplane crashing into the building. But I didn't have many details. 

Friday night my husband and I watched on TV a program titled Inside the Pentagon. Here is a link if you missed it: Inside the Pentagon

I believe the whole program is viewable (about 55 minutes). 

For the first decade, I wore my remembrance pins. Now I only get them out and put them on if I am going to be outside my home. The little Dalmatian was created by the workers of Bank of America. The tag has the names of the 3 workers that died that day in New York. My sister worked for a subsidiary of B of A. She bought one of the memorial dogs and sent it to me.

I still have the sections of the Dallas Morning News with the shocking headlines and photos. I did not get them out this year since there was so much media coverage for the 20th anniversary. 

Those of us who witnessed/experienced this tragedy even if only through the media reports will never forget.

More Fresh Air (At Fort Wayne's Old Fort)

 Sunday we decided to participate in Fort Wayne's special event titled "Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown".

The sites included museums, churches, the botanical conservatory, the new Abraham Lincoln research center at the public library, children's museum Science Central (required reservations), the courthouse and other buildings with interesting interiors which offered self-guided tours.

We had never toured the Old Fort. I thought we would do that and maybe the War Memorial Coliseum.

We parked at the Headwaters Park and walked over to the Old Gas House restaurant. After a nice lunch, we headed toward the pedestrian bridge to cross the Saint Mary's River.

The fort is actually a replica of the 1815 fort which was the last of a succession of forts. It does not sit on the original site; the big apartment building in the background two photos above is where the 1815 fort had stood. 

For Sunday's special event various crafts were demonstrated and some of the people were dressed in period costumes (but not all from the 1815 era). 

The tinsmith had the various pieces to the candleholder light.

A blacksmith, woodwright, chair caner, and pewtersmith were located in the outer buildings, not directly inside the fort.

Inside the fort, a cooking demo, a display of games, a dulcimer player, leather stamper, demo of using flint to light a fire took place.

At 1 p.m. a cannon demonstration took place next to the river.

This gent had a contraption with a lighted wick that was used to ignite the wick placed down into the cannon itself. 

The man in the red coat is not British. He was a musician for the troops (bugler?) and also had the job to retrieve the wounded off of the battle field. I guess the red coat told the fighting troops that he was unarmed and not to be shot.

A French marine had a display outside the fort of his belongings. The French controlled the area for quite some time.

Families apparently participate. Two wives were sewing or knitting while their husbands practiced tinsmithing and making items from wood.

I didn't really get much of a feel for fort life, however. They do have guided tours sometimes, but not at this event. I don't think I would make an effort to take a tour as the fort is so small and not impressive. 

My husband suggested walking over to the downtown buildings offering events, but after being in 88 degree temps I just didn't feel like walking 8-10 blocks. It was not humid, but city centers tend to have even higher temperatures because the skyscrapers block the wind and the concrete reflects heat. He didn't want to try to find parking; he also nixed driving to the Coliseum. I agreed it was time to go home. So we ate the cookies we had bought at the fort bake sale and drank our bottled water sitting inside our car with the air conditioner running. 

I believe this event has taken place annually for several years (not last year). We will try to take in some other buildings another time.

Fresh Air Activity

 This morning I went to the Artisan Market on Teeples Pond. It was delightful to be outside in the fresh air strolling from booth to booth looking at interesting wares. It is on a farm surrounded by soybean fields in Milford, Indiana. This event is held once a year in September.

Our friend who is a woodworker had many items for sale.

The wooded area with a pond is beautiful. We ate a "second" breakfast around 9:30 after greeting our friend. My husband enjoyed the sausage gravy over biscuits; I had a Danish pastry. They also have a lunch menu. There is a restroom attached to the food building. 

Even if a friend or family member has little interest in shopping, there were nice places to sit and enjoy the scenery while waiting for the shopper to finish.

The sticks and brown bags of s'mores ingredients didn't have many takers this morning, but maybe later in the day people might want to snack. 

There was a nice variety of items to buy.

These thunder gourds were unlike anything I had ever seen. The gourds were nicely decorated but had a metal coil that went up into the bottom which had been replaced by drumhead material; when the coil was moved, a loud reverberation was heard.

There were metal decorations, carved birds, jewelry, tie-dyed T-shirts, ink pens turned on a lathe that I didn't take photos of. Tomorrow there will be a few vendors that were not there today. You can read about some of the vendors on the link I provided at the top of this post.