The sun is still snoozing, it's off in the East tucked into bed. The air all around us is crisp and refreshing and the colors of autumn are just starting to pop. I love this time of year! I have more energy and the desire to just "be" is so strong.
It brings on a sense of nesting. I don't really decorate for most holidays anymore - Christmas being the exception. I don't feel a need to put out Halloween goodies, I much prefer getting out the blankets to cuddle in, maybe a few more candles or a more earthy incense. Things that make you feel that fall comfort factor that I love so much.
Before we headed out the the Farmer's Market, Psychic Fair and craft show yesterday I took an hour to make a batch of soap. It wasn't one that required measuring or anything else. Just a melt and pour kit that I had purchased some time ago. It smells heavenly! Whoever thought of that scent in conjunction with cashmere was pure genius! It's got flecks of pumpkin colored mica sprinkled throughout and smells soft and inviting. Hubs asked if it was a guy soap or a girl soap... hmmm wasn't really sure how to answer that one. Guess I better get the beer soap made soon? Or maybe more of the tobacco scent... although I don't feel that any soap is particularly male or female. Maybe the one I am using right now, that is scented with Lily of the Valley would be a bit more feminine with it's gentle floral over tones. But the smell doesn't last and the creamy healthy lather is what is important.
Soon this day will get busy, I'm not sure what I am making us for breakfast, but I did go to the Farmer's Market and pick up my bread yesterday... toast and coffee sounds perfect! With sliced up juicy pears and crisp apples. I might have spent a good deal of time yesterday selecting just the right ones.
After a nice breakfast, I will probably whip up another batch of soap before we head out today. I wasn't joking when I said I was getting quite low. Not all of the ones on my to make list are melt and pour, and none of the current list is hot processed. Which means that they will need six weeks to cure. We are just barely two months from Christmas and Hubs and I often gift handmade soaps. I figure if I can pull off a batch or two each weekend, I should be stocked up again pretty soon.
The river road is calling, and we must go today. It's going to be mild, perfect motorcycle weather after lunch. Although I am afraid that it is still too early for the beautiful fall colors, we are definitely going to go in search of them. It's such a beautiful ride, we will buzz around Brussels and probably go up through Pere Marquette Park. If our friends decide to meet us, we will definitely stop at our favorite little winery. Share a bottle and some snacks and enjoy the view and the company. That part of the day remains to be seen.
What is definite is that we will start with a visit to VegFest. I am really looking forward to it. I love events like that. They seem very quintessentially autumn to me.
Just like yesterday at the Farmers Market.
The scents, the sounds, the vibrant colors and the conversations. I had a most delightful time speaking to all of the vendors that I purchased from. I might be a sucker, but I prefer the small mom & pop places. I bought my tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini from this sweet older couple. Bundled up against the chill, not really hassling anyone to come to their little tucked away stand. She was working hard, he was catching a quick nap. I felt drawn to spend my dollars on them.
Hubs always stocks up on genuine Cuban black bean soup. The couple make it, she is from Cuba, and sell it at the farmers markets. Usually he and the owner share a cup of hot Cuban coffee and while he chats and sips, I walk over to the bread booth. I had a great conversation with him and now know where I will buy my breads after the market season ends.
Wandering on, Hubs made friends first with the dog, then with the owners and their daughter. He sat and visited, making fast friends as he always does. That is out of my comfort zone, so I was chatting with the delightful couple that have an organic farm just a bit down the road from our house, buying a wide sampling of beautiful vibrant colored radishes and peppers. The husband makes the most beautiful carved prints and the wife wrote a book that I decided I had to have. Their life journey and how they have chosen to raise their family would have been an ideal dream for me a lifetime ago. It was a pure joy to support them.
I'd bought a black bean and sweet potato tamale that was cooling in my baskets beside Hub while he chatted and I shopped. The pup had gone off with mom, but dad and his little princess were happily eating their meat tamales and discussing a variety of things with Hubs as I returned, somehow Hubs had steered the conversation to eating meatless and I ended up sharing my tamale with the group.
I feel so many things that make life memorable and real revolve around a shared meal or food. His sweet little girl was too afraid to try the tamale when presented by Hubs and I, but munched it right down when Dad gave it to her.
I enjoyed every moment of experiences at the market yesterday, I mean I could have lived without "the market master's" rudeness to Hubs, but we've known him for almost 20 years, it is simply who he is. The sad part was when he came over to speak to Hubs later to apologize, his excuse for rudeness - he hadn't realized it was Hubs when he spoke. Reality... no one should be ugly to anyone, and you should speak as kindly to a stranger as to a friend. Like I said, it is simply who he is as a person.
I believe we should live our lives and treat people gently. Not everyone does. Loud, hateful, rude or just plain mean does not make you important, it simply makes you sad.
We also try to always support the craft show at the Y Hubs is based out of. We've been going for over 10 years, in fact I even had a booth one year. I was a bit sad at what it has become after visiting it yesterday. So few true craft people. In fact, it was mostly things like Tupperware, Pampered Chef, LulaRoe, and cheesy bulk purchased items for sale. Not my idea of a craft show at all. And it was so much smaller than it used to be in it's heyday. I guess all things run their course.
There were a few true crafters present.
I bought a gift for Christmas for my mom from the sweetest little elderly woman. It is definitely NOT a manufactured item, she was sitting there as sweet as can be in her Sunday best working on items to put at her table. We talked for a bit about the meaning of the item I was purchasing and how excited I was by the craft she had made with her own two hands. I asked the younger woman if they accepted debit cards, because I rarely have cash (luckily Hubs had cash). She sweetly told me no, they only took cash or checks, it wasn't a business, simply something they did for fun. I took my package and thanked them, her bright smile made my day, her words even more so as she told me that I had just made her day! I don't know if she sold a lot of items. Like I said, they were definitely made with love and her own two hands. They reminded me so much of things my great grandmother made. Not perfect in a technical sense, absolutely perfect in the care and love that went into them.
Hubs got a wreath for my work door, another unique and handmade item. It made me laugh, "the witch is in". Absolutely. Anyone that knows me knows how absolutely accurate that is.
And finally, a big bag of piping hot kettle corn, fresh from the kettle. The sweet couple selling it were not a "resaler" of other items, they were running their own business. They appeared to be old enough to be retired, she was in a wheelchair and he was slaving over the hot kettle. As we waited I listened to her chatting with another woman wearing a sweatshirt from the same school her grandson attends wanting to know if they'd won their football game.
I find pure joy in things like that. In supporting people that are giving it their all. I chose to shop where my dollars do the most good, I eat at local restaurants, I support the small places, not a fan of chains. Because it does make a difference.
Last night after a great event at my Y, enjoying the laughter and smiles, the splashes and mummies, Hubs and I stopped at our favorite sushi spot. I was simply too tired to go home and cook, and playing earlier meant I hadn't prepared for being hungry later.
I noticed the prices had gone up. Not a lot, about fifty cents a roll. I wonder how many folks thought about that being the outcome when they voted to raise the minimum wage so much, so fast. I will still go there, because every time I walk in, I am greeted by the owner, he is truly appreciative that we are there. They are attentive and want the experience to be wonderful. Because we matter to their business. They all thank us for coming as we leave and always wish us a good night.
It is worth it.
Today will be another day filled with adventures. It will have a nice balance of home and self-sustaining activities. Will everything get done, nope. But I won't beat myself up about it either. Because I am definitely coming to learn that life is not a race. It's about learning, growing, creating, being.
Yep, for me, life is about being. And what a beautiful time it is to simply be...
Another great one! Glad you had a good time yesterday. More to come...
ReplyDelete-JW