saturday morning at the market

I don't work at the farmer's market very often, but when I do it is a fun time. I like setting up, and even taking down, and I like weighing tomatoes and squash, and ringing people up on the little black calculator, and counting out change. I also like people-watching, and shopping around at the end of the morning, after I've had a chance to decide on where to spend my money (the flower lady is usually a destination, and if there are any berries left, they will be coming home with me).

The farm I work at specializes in tomatoes in the summer and we grow a huge variety. It's already gotten too hot for some of them (the Cherokee Purple variety, for example, is an annual favorite and it's season sadly ended at the beginning of this heat snap we're having). Down here in Florida, the summer is the quietest time on the farm. After the tomatoes peter out, the squash and peppers and okra will keep on kicking for quite some time, and then the muscadine & scuppernong grapes come in for a few weeks, and so do the figs. There's always basil until the first frost. But that's really about it...the heat brings on this serene quality here, where it seems like even the normally raucous birds are still, and nothing moves during the afternoon.

staying up late and being very hot

This weekend I happily discovered the secret (for me) to staying up late and enjoying it when R's band plays. Normally, I am asleep by 10:30, and when Saturday night rolls around, I don't easily transition to night-owl mode. But this time I took a short afternoon nap, and when I got to the bar, I sipped 2 glasses of iced tea, and zero beers, and then I was good to go. I hardly even noticed when 2:30 AM rolled around. The bands sounded great and I got to catch up with some very lovely ladies.

The Tomato Feastival on Sunday was super fun, and super, super hot. I met lots of friendly new people, R won a lemon pound cake in the cake walk (a large portion is in my lunch box today!), and we helped raise a good chunk of change for Slow Food, and the Damayan Garden Project. Not a bad weekend, looking forward to the next.

Quotable Sunday: on self

When I first read this quote a few years ago, it kind of blew my mind.  

i love how jackie is creeping through the dog door in this picture...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?"

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of god.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

    so that others won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us: it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine 

    we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fears, 

    our presence automatically liberates others.

        - Nelson Mandela

I was in my pajamas and ready to curl up with some knitting (I'm such a novice, but I'm starting easy, with this baby sweater pattern) when we had some unexpected, and totally welcome guests.  A lot of great music ensued.  Also: baked beans, making plans to visit Canada, and a healthy amount of red wine.  My friend K has a beautiful voice, and I got really into her rendition of Red Clay Halo (a Gillian Welch tune).  

Tonight: R's band is playing at a local oyster shack.  

Tomorrow: A tomato feastival (involving a cake walk, tomato tasting, tomato contest, potluck, and a giant amount of paella) and then more music at an irish bar.  

Today: I'm off to the park for a walk, and then home again to make a cake....perhaps this one?

Quotable Sunday-- very late

People need very little to live, and actually it would enhance their lives if they had less.  We camouflage our lives so much.

- George Suyama, architect

little blue gems

R and I picked four gallons of blueberries at our favorite u-pick place this week. He's off to Bonnaroo this weekend, so I have the house to myself and I fully intend to fill my time with:

blueberry jam
making butter (the article in the latest Mother Earth News got me excited to try this)

cleaning

and hopefully some sewing. I've had a whole string of unsuccessful projects lately-- I figure I'm just about due for a smashing success!

I'm just a bit disappointed that I won't get to hear The Boss or any of the other great bands at the music festival, but not disappointed enough to travel all that way and brave those incredible crowds. Luckily, there's lots of fun to be had here too.

Quotable Sunday

We must be willing to get rid of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. 

    - Joseph Campbell

house sitting in central state

I got to spend Memorial Day weekend house-and-child-sitting for my Uncles in Central Florida. My granny and I drove down and had a blast cooking, eating, swimming, painting, and teaching my 8-year old cousin to embroider. It rained most of the weekend, but we kept busy on the screened porch.

Their house is so lovely, and their view is so nice, that it was a hard transition back to my dark, crowded home. Once I was back in my own kitchen (which is approximately the same size as our bathroom closet), I had a mini-meltdown (tantrum?) about the cramped quarters and the abundant clutter (okay, and the lack of lake view-- but that can't be helped). Meltdowns are always unsettling at first, but this one led to the brainstorming of storage solutions and potential wall removal. Let the house remodeling juices start to flow!