Memorial Day 2011

Today is Memorial Day if you hadn’t already noticed that. A day that we fill with parties and the “official start of summer”. We have 20 people arriving in…….about 3 hours.

But that isn’t what Memorial Day is really all about. It is to remember those who have paid the “last full measure of devotion” so that we might be free here. And it is to remember and thank those who continue to stand in harms way for us.

This year, as I have done for a number of years, I will spend time praying for our military. I will spend time specifically praying for several servicemen that I know who are putting themselves in harms way so that I can be safe here in my own, weed infested, yarn filled back yard. For my college roommate Susan’s son Matt who is serving in Afghanistan. For my cousin Clint who serves in the Air Force. For Mike, a former Sunday School student of ours and the son of some dear friends. And for my friend Connie’s son who returned, safe and sound, from Afghanistan.

Take the time today, or any day for that matter, and thank a soldier. HHBL will tell you that I do this whenever I see a serviceman or woman in the airport. Or in a store. Or on the street. Or wherever I happen to be. They have earned the right to have my complete gratitude. And they have it.

And I will take the time to read The Gettysburg Address. I couldn’t say it any better than Abraham Lincoln did. And I would probably need more words:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 118)

Well here we are again. And what a week it has been. Remember, after you read my Chinese water torture Quick Takes, click on the pic above to be whisked, at the speed of our rapidly growing and currently unmowable grass, over to Conversion Diary.

Now on with the show.

1.
What a week weather wise! We have twice gone to the basement as the tornado sirens blared. We have lived in this house going on 11 years and I can’t really remember the last time that we had the tornado siren go off. HHBL and I were watching the weather updates, which had preempted Jeopardy! for the love of Pete, and when they said that if you lived in Aurora you should go to the basement RIGHT NOW we looked at each other, looked outside….

And went to the basement.

I sat in the bathroom down there with my fierce dog Max the Magnificent and tweeted. HHBL kept a look out until it was all clear.

That was on Monday night. Then last night, when we happened to have an overnight guest we had to go to the basement again!

I turned to Dan(the guest) and said, “We really know how to show our guests a good time don’t we!”

But of course, our small troubles with rain and pesky tornado sirens pale in comparison to what has gone on in Joplin. If you want to have a first hand account of what is going on you might go over to This Heavenly Life where Sarah is living in the midst of that.

2.
I am dealing with severe “knitting startitis” around here at Chez Knit. I know, I know unless you are a knitter you could care less about the fact that I have a number of projects on the needles but have a bunch more that I want to start.

When I took up knitting again 4 years ago I swore to myself that I would be a monogamous knitter. One project at a time.

Yeah right.

Knitters were not made to be monogamous.

You see I got some of this recently, Knitpicks Chroma

And I am dying to start something with either colorway.

Itching.

Working to restrain myself.

I may fail utterly and cast on this weekend. 

3.
Why is it that when Summer is just around the corner I feel like I want to spend every day, all day reading?

Maybe it is because that is what I used to do every day all day every summer.

Read in bed til 2a.

Read in the hammock.

Read on the couch.

Read on the dock.

Every year when May rolls around I just want to spend hours and hours reading.

As long as the house is clean and the garden weeded I suppose I could occasionally do that.

And I would bet that this is going to end up being a longer blog post because my brain is swirling with ideas about it.

4.

I meant to add this picture to yesterday’s Pictures From The Crypt Ad Infinitum but forgot. Why do I look so pale and ill?

I had just sampled poi for the first time. You can see my fingers clutching the small bowl that was filled with a lump of it.

Oh wow, yummy purple library paste that you eat with a spoon? Sign me right up.

5.
A short P2P Update since my life is otherwise boring.

Miles for this week so far (this actually counts last Saturday’s ride as well): 35.51

And I have decided to name our ride routes. Today we did…

The Ascending Ant Hill of Doom.

I prayed a lot.

I whimpered a bit.

There was much heavy huffing and puffing.

Thankfully I did not ingest any bugs this time.

Tomorrow HHBL tells me that I will be accomplishing 12 miles.

Help me Rhonda

6.
Dang it! The deer have nibbled a hosta. I realized it this morning as I was getting ready to mount Hi Ho Silver for the bike ride ritual.

I am going to have to spray today even though there is still the chance of rain. This cannot and will not be tolerated.

It is too early in the season for them to have free reign, not that I ever actually “give” them free reign. It is just that I get tired of spraying around September. And since we aren’t even anywhere close to having the day lilly blooms up yet I am going to break their eating habit.

Or break their legs, which I might find more satisfying at the moment.

Deer Rage!!

But I will have to spray during the day so that the smell dissipates somewhat before bed time. We sleep with the windows open for the most part from now until October and if I spray the deer deterrent late in the afternoon then that means that my bedroom will smell like a frat house after a weekend party.

Vomitorium.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

7.
It is amazing what I can find to do when I can’t figure out #7 for Quick Takes.

Look at Facebook.

Look at new knitting patterns book that I got from the Library.

Wander around Ravelry’s pattern files looking at the patterns from the aforementioned book to see what others have done.

Drink some coffee.

Look at the headlines for the day.

Look at my new yarn.

Watch the birds.

Send inane tweets of no merit.

Play a game of Bubble Shooter.

Curse Blogger who won’t let me sign on to my blog and won’t let me comment on other blogs.

Think about cleaning my office (now I KNOW I have writers block).

Finally give up and post.

Pictures From The Crypt Ad Infinitum

Guess what it is doing today…..

Raining.

And sunshine

And rain again.

And we had tornado sirens last night for the second time in a week.

And because I am so discombubulated from all the running to the basement and scanning the skies I think we should look at some pictures from the past.

I apologize in advance. And if I have put any of these pictures up before then I doubly apologize.

I just like to inflict mental pain whenever I can.

I am sorry to say that I seem to have drool on my chin. And I am wearing some sort of sack.

And I have no hair.

I just don’t know what to say about this one. It seems that I have a large red apple sewn onto my shirt above my left boob. Sorry, I said boob.

And of course this picture can also be add to the collection of “Pilot Man’s wild plaid pants” pictures. I will be bringing out a coffee table book of these later next year.

Wow. Can you say awkward teenage phase. Heaven forbid that I should go any place without jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a large purse and what looks to be textbooks. On vacation. In Florida.

Just call me Hermione Granger.

And don’t you love the way that we were artfully arranged to be looking, with GREAT interest I am sure, at the sign.

At first I thought this was a re-enactment of Gone With the Wind, with my parental units reprising the rolls of Rhett and Scarlett.

But for some reason Ben Franklin is also in the picture.

And a very tall Uncle Sam seems to be there as well.

I am so confused.

And it is a good thing that I live so far away cuz Mimi can’t get to me as easily now that I have put this picture up on the internet.

Boy do I look happy in this picture. I was going to crop it a bit closer but I was just too scared.

And get a load of Pilot Man’s pants!!!

That’s right, make the women do all the work.

I have no shame. No shame at all that I would inflict this picture on you.

And I also have no fashion sense at all if I would ever have worn that gosh awful bathing suit.

And what the HECK had I done to my hair.

Why am I on that horse? In shorts? With loafers on?

And obviously I hadn’t brushed my hair that year.

This is my Grandpa Pringle with his momma and several of his siblings. I seriously love this picture. It is just so Grandpa.

Who couldn’t love a man who was so secure in himself that he would wear a white shirt, tie, black socks and good shoes with……..SHORTS!!!

I am so sorry to do this to you. And I have absolutely no explanation for why Mary Beth Reeves and I are dressed up as psycho bunnies.

And I am just plain afraid to ask.

Does This Make Me Odd?

Because it is Tuesday.

Because I managed a 5 mile bike ride this morning on my own without my personal cabana boy trainer.

Because it is nice to see the sun after the tornado warning last night….we actually went to the basement and huddled in the bathroom down there. OK, Max huddled. I spent the time tweeting.

I feel like a list. A list of things that might seem disjointed and without focus.

But what else would you expect from me.

It is just a list of things that I like that might seem…odd to others. Or not. But this is my blog and I can be odd if I want to.

1. Sometimes I like to do things the hard way, the long way around, the old fashioned way.

I swept the deck today with my little old broom. Yes I could have gotten out the leaf blower and gone all nuclear on the oak tree fluff. But it was just nice to get into the rhythm of sweeping with the broom.

2. I cannot STAND to have anyone play with my hair.

And do not even touch the back of my neck or stroke it.

No! Do not do that! NoNoNoNoNo.

Yes that means you Mom.

3. If I really need to concentrate on something then I have to do it in silence. No radio, no TV. Silence. If I am listening to the radio while trying to write in complete and coherent sentences I just can’t focus.

4. Liverwurst+sweet pickles+mayo+toasted bread = a perfect summer lunch.

5. I cannot stand banana flavoring.

It completely stems from the incident with the Banana Punch and  Everclear.

Enough said on that one.

6. I like the smell of the freezer compartments at the grocery store.

If you ever round the corner in the freezer section and encounter some strangely dressed woman with her head in the freezer section just taking big whiffs….

That would be me.

7. I love rain.

8. I cannot stand reality shows.

Dancing With the Stars – no thank you.

The Bachelor – I don’t think so.

Survivor – I would rather have root canal surgery without anesthetic.

OK, OK I have been known to watch shows that start with “The Real Housewives of….”

That is the exception to the rule.

9. I cannot stand flavored coffee.

Sometimes I think I am the only person in the world that doesn’t.

And now, there are people who have served it to me and are getting all, “Oh no! I served Debbie flavored coffee.”

Never fear. If that is all that is available I will drink it. But I am not a fan. 

10. If I could have Kalamata olives for breakfast every morning I would be a happy girl.

I think that is all for the moment.

I am so boring.

 

P2P Update (Vol….The Beginning)

Lets talk biking shall we.

You know you want to. And because I share everything with all three readers who wander over here I thought I might start an occasional update of my training for…..

Bike MS Pedal to the Point 2011

Because I am a crazy 51 year old nut case who has decided to challenge herself.

I don’t like challenges.

I don’t like sweat.

But I just haven’t been able to get it out of my head that I need to do something a bit more challenging in the exercise department. At first I contemplated training to run a marathon….

After I had finished laughing at that thought I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and talked myself out of that one. No thank you. I don’t like running.

And….

Ummmmm…..

I am built a bit sturdier on top (please don’t make me explain that) and so running threatens to give me a black eye……

Let’s just say I will never fall flat on my face.

TMI?

But I digress.

And then I was chatting with HHBL, the man who clocks 1200 miles a year on his bike, about maybe taking nice, leisurely bike rides around the neighborhood in the evening as the sun is slowly setting and all is right with the world.

And he casually mentioned what we will now be referring to as P2P.

And I knew immediately that was it.

And I asked him if he thought that I would be able to train enough to do the ride.

And being the supportive husband that he is he said, SURE! And I can be your trainer.

Oh momma.

Meet my trusty steed Hi Ho Silver. Her swiftness is unmatched. Her sleek lines are such that sonnets are written about her. Or at least the occasional Haiku.

Please ignore some of her flaws. She cannot help it. Perhaps she spent a winter in the shed. I have apologized to her and asked her forgiveness and have sworn on my padded bike shorts that it won’t ever happen again.

We are all about the safety here at Chez Knit. We don’t run with scissors…much. We wear our bike helmets even when riding around the neighborhood.

It is always important to have your water bottle filled and at the ready. HHBL can ride at blinding speeds and drink from his water bottle at the same time and then put it back in it’s holder without difficulty.

I tried that on Saturday during the 10 mile ride that he pushed guided me on.

I won’t be doing that again for a while I can tell you. Oh I reached down and pulled the thing out and took a drink all while zooming down the road without too much difficulty. In fact I spent a brief time mentally patting myself on the back for my Lance Armstrong like qualities. But then I realized that what comes out must go back in and that little maneuver requires me to ride with one hand, grip the bottle firmly and put it back….all without taking my eyes off the road. There was much swerving and bad words and I managed it but it was so sweat and nerves producing that I am not trying it again.

And then there is the coolness factor. You have to have gloves. And you have to have cool glasses.

No really you do need gloves, or at least I do. When I did this ride I didn’t have any gloves and my palms were barking at me for days afterwards. Really barking.

And the glasses, even with all the cool factor are really necessary. Because of bugs.

Rider on bike at fast speed + bug minding it’s own business at lower speed = bug splatter in eyes.

And I already snorted a small gnat up my nose last night as I was laying in bed so I would like not to have any in my eyes. Don’t ask how the whole bug up the nose thing happaned. I have no clue. I just know that all of a sudden he was taking a swift ride up my nasal passages and I could feel him up there so there was much blowing of my nose and trying not to panic.

Now back to our story.

I had to take this picture. You know I did.

So, the only other thing is to decide whether I should keep a running “miles ridden” tally on the blog in the side roll. What do you think? Should I? I have ridden a whopping 22.91 miles so far.

Try to contain the excitement.

Like I said….

I am crazycrazycrazycrazy.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 117)

Here we are again, another week older. And time for another edition of 7 Quick Takes. Hope that you week was good. Just remember, after you have read my blatherings, to click on the pic above to be whisked, at the speed of my rising water table, over to Conversion Diary to see what everyone else has been doing.

Now, without further ado, the blathering.

1.
We have a new mattress.

And the angels sang!

We bought it on Saturday, after our jaunt to the West Side Market. So Saturday was a very good day.

Our old mattress was just that, old, 11 years old to be exact. It was tired. We were tired when we slept on it because we didn’t sleep well. It was time to retire it.

And this new mattress……it is as different from the old mattress as concrete is different from fluffy clouds. And that is what it is like to sleep on this baby, like sleeping on fluffy clouds.

We had intended to get a mattress that was, perhaps, a pillow top. But what we ended up getting was something that is a combo of a pillow top and some other cushy thing. The sales woman had me at, “Well if you like that one you might like this one even better.” She was wily alright. Upsold us successfully. The mattress itself is about 16 inches thick and I feel like I am climbing up onto it when I go to bed. Oh but when I get in bed it just wraps around me and welcomes me home.

Sigh.

2.
Can I just tell you that I am sick of rain. I might have mentioned it before. And when I say something like that then you know it has been bad because I  generally love rainy days.

BUT

When you have had rain 53 of the last 62 days then rain gets to be a bit old. Just a bit.

I am beginning to have great sympathy for Noah. And I am very glad that my house sits way up high.

So today we are supposed to have some sunshine. And tomorrow too which is good because we have company coming for dinner and I would actually like to eat out on the deck.

But then the rain comes back on Sunday.

3.
I finished my momma’s birthday present yesterday. I made her……….

You didn’t really think that I would tell you what I made did you? Hello, she reads the blog.

Hi Mom.

I will show you what I made later. Until then you will just have to be content with me telling you that it turned out fabulously and now I need one for myself.

4.
I am waiting this morning for Volunteers of America to come and empty out my garage of a boatload of stuff that I have been accumulating to donate. And then we will have that garage bay back. It has been gradually filling with stuff for about 6 months and I am tired of seeing all of it. And then we can move the bikes into that space so that I am not constantly moving them to get out the side door or down to the basement.

And it will just feel really good to get rid of more stuff.

But there is still too much stuff.

5.
All my landscape beds now have a lovely new layer of mulch. They are happy. I am happy. And for the first time someone else spread all the mulch.

And that makes me VERY happy.

Oh and they edged all the beds which makes me even more happy because….I am really, really bad at edging beds. I will get half way through one and go….

FORGET THIS! These beds can just look raggedy.

However, they seemed to have avoided the poison ivy in the front bed.

But that is what Roundup is for.

6.
I am trying to build more time into my schedule for reading. I have a hard time just sitting down for hours in the middle of the day to read. Something about my brain thinking that I should be doing something else that is more “constructive”. But I am now just telling my brain to shut up and go with the reading flow.

And I am plowing through books. 50 so far this year.

And I am happy.

7.
I am in training.

Training for what you might ask.

For THIS.

I am crazy. I am crazy. I am crazy.

I didn’t ride my bike at all last year. Not one mile. Not even one half mile.

And I am adverse to pain and sweat and anything that takes me aweay from sitting on my big fat bahookie all day eating bon bons and watching my “stories”.

But HHBL is my trainer and he thinks I can do this. Or at least he hasn’t laughed in my face and walked away when I expressed interest.

I did 5 miles yesterday. And I am doing 10 miles tomorrow.

I am crazy.

26 Years Is Pretty Good I Think.

I have now been married longer than I was single.

I will let that soak in for a minute so that you can comprehend.

Today is my 26th anniversary.

And so, in honor of the day, I thought I might just shoot out to the bloggysphere 26 things that I like about HHBL. These are in no particular order of importance. Just whatever shoots out of my poor, feeble, 51 year old, 26 years married brain.

1. HHBL can make me laugh at just about anything. I won’t relate all the things here. Just know that I laugh…a lot.

2. He is pleasant to ride behind when taking a bike ride.

                                                            Ummmmm Hmmmmmm

3. He is a man of integrity. Even when that is really, really hard

4. He puts up with my unique sense of humor.

5. He listens…..most of the time.

6. He is a fabulous father. And sometimes it is tough to be the father of three rather opinionated girls. I have NO IDEA how they got to be that way.

7. He takes me on fabulous trips where I can do things like tramp in the jungle looking for Golden Monkeys and fall in the mud (Rwanda) and fly on really small planes (Uganda) and see the butt end of the Taj Mahal (India) and marvel at the way people drive (Peru) and take bike rides down mountains (Hawaii, Alaska) and be attacked by big black beetles (Uganda).

8. He puts time and effort into finding me just the right gift for Christmas. And I don’t think that there has been a year that he hasn’t hit it right on the mark.

9. He is a follower of Christ.

10. He is a blogger. Now just how cool is that.

11. He is a damn fine specimen of man. Sorry, I said damn.

12. Even though he is not fond of broccoli or asparagus he will eat them if I make them. And he won’t complain about it. Now if I could just get him to eat beets.

13. He is a loving and caring friend who goes the extra mile.

14. He doesn’t necessarily get why I take pictures of odd things, like people’s feet or food, but he goes along with it.

15. He puts his socks in the hamper every single time. And he brings his hamper downstairs when it is full.

16. Baseball. Oh yes, baseball. I would never have come to love baseball without HHBL

17. He goes to the symphony with me. Now that is a nice husband.

18. If I need ice cream he gets me ice cream.

19. He pushes me to do things that are outside my comfort zone. Of course he is all about the change and I am all about the staying home but we compromise.
 
20. He loves and respects his parents and in-laws.

21. He has a mind like a sponge and if he needs to learn about something he learns all that he can.

22. He is my best friend.
 
23. He doesn’t have any trouble telling me when I am wrong. Not that I am wrong very often and not that I want to hear if I am but….
 
24. He helps with the dishes. Man I love that! It is the little things you know.
 
25. He is secure enough in himself that he doesn’t mind doing things like this….
                           Of course, right after he did that then I was forced to do this…
 
26. And there are lots of other benefits that I can’t tell you about. Move along. There is nothing to see here!

So, Happy Anniversary to my HHBL. I can hardly wait to see what the next 26 years will bring.

Peyton Place Turkey Style

I love the things I see as I go about my daily, boring routine.

Finished ironing HHBL’s shirts.

Taking shirts upstairs.

Look out the windows as I go by. Hey! There are some turkeys out there.

And no, Congress wasn’t on my lawn. If they were then I have some things to say to them.

No turkeys. REAL turkeys. You know we have them around here. I have, perhaps, mentioned it before once or twice.

But little did I know, when I threw down the freshly ironed shirts and ran for my camera, that I was about to witness our own turkey version of Peyton Place.

Hey Girls! Whatcha doing? I’m new here. My name is Lola.

Hey who is that! What is she doing here? She is on our turf!

The nerve of some turkeys!

Come on girls! We are going to take care of this RIGHT NOW. No one comes onto our turf and talks turkey to us!

You get out of here Lola! We don’t want your kind around here.

Oh yeah! Whose going to make me? You and those other skraggly lookin’ hens?

GET HER GIRLS!!!

There then proceeded to be screeching and pulling of feathers and invectives. It was not a pretty sight.

But then………

(cue Temptations music)

The males arrived. And the whole dynamic changed.

Ladies! Laaaaaaadies. No need to fight. There are enough of us to go around.

And then there was much strutting and shakin’ of tail feathers and gobbling. And those ladies……..

Well lets just say that they seemed to be a sucker for a pretty set of tail feathers.

Hey is that crazy lady taking pictures of us?

Move it along girls we have things to do and eggs to lay and chicks to make.

Chica wow, chica wow, chica wow wow!

The Westside Market

I love Cleveland. I love it’s diversity. I love it’s landscapes. I love it’s weather.

You didn’t really believe that last one did you? I mean we have had rain, rain, rain and it is supposed to rain all week. And then there is that snow issue.

But I digress.

OK, so one of the places that I love the most around here is The Westside Market….over on the West side. Did you know that Cleveland has very distinct East side and West side? Well we do. And so that means that The Westside Market is over there. On the west side. Not the east side where I reside.

This is the most fabulously cool place. And I should probably warn you now that I might be using the word “fabulous” more than once in this post. I seemed to say it a lot on Saturday morning when HHBL and I spent a pleasant hour wandering the aisles and sampling. And taking pictures. And being parted from our money.

Parted willingly, in cash, without a receipt in site.

We started off in the Fruits and Veggies building….

Why is this picture so long and skinny you are asking yourself. No, I wasn’t going for a landscape sort of effect although it is kind of cool. It is because this is what the original picture looked like….

Now back to our story. I am telling you I could have just hung around in this place for a bunch of years. I didn’t see any produce that didn’t look fabulous. And it was hard to make a decision as to what I wanted to get. That is until I saw…..

Asparagus. And not just any Asparagus. This stuff was skinny and brand spanking new and tender and just screamed that it needed to come home with us. So I bought a bunch of it. And the guy also had some decent looking green beans so I bought a pound of those. And then there were the two bags of baby spinach that I also purchased.

And then, when I thought I was done there, the fellow skillfully turned my eyes towards the mushrooms…

And then skillfully “up sold” me a pound. They were paid for and in the bag before I knew what hit me. But I love mushrooms. I am secretly a Hobbit.

What is this Lou Holtz look alike going to fill this basket with? And how is he going to even put his purchases in that thing.? Does he buy stuff and then just throw it over his shoulder and hope that he makes the basket? Or does he take the basket off his shoulders every time and put his produce loving into it’s recesses. And really, why does he even have a basket the size of Outer Mongolia on his back. The mind boggles.

After we finally extricated ourselves from the fresh produce it was on to the “main” building where you can find all manner of meat, fish, cheese, coffee, candy, ethnic foods, bread, tea…the list of stuff is amazing.

We didn’t buy any sausages this time around but we are doing that next time. And the time after that….and the time after THAT.

Hey you know, I bet we could dig a pit in the back yard and roast that pig! What do you think?

Liver! A tool of Satan if there ever was one. We quickly moved on.

And we didn’t buy any Beef tongue either. HHBL had a traumatic experience with beef tongue when we were first married. Auntie Jane cooked it for Sunday lunch and then slipped it past him by disguising it with BBQ sauce. And besides you have to peel it after cooking it and I just think not.

See that fettuccini right there. That is Lemon Pepper Fettuccini and we bought it for dinner. And it was fabulous (there is that word again). I cooked up some of the asparagus and mushrooms and added some shrimp, a bit of butter, some white wine and a touch of heavy cream. Oh momma. There is nothing like fresh Ohio City Pasta. We also bought some of the Angel Hair pasta for another time.

Mother of All That’s Holy! We found Fritter Mountain.

I cannot tell you how good these things looked and smelled. It is amazing to me that we didn’t buy any……but we will next time. I will not be denied.

Oh be still my fast hardening arteries. Veal liverwurst with herbs. This stuff was…..FABULOUS. He gave me several “tastes” of different “wursts” and this is the one that I chose to take home with me. And then lunch was Veal Liverwurst with herbs on homemade bread with mayo and homemade sweet pickles. Sweet Mother of Life it was good!

We wandered some more and briefly thought about buying some fish but we had other errands to run and so didn’t think we wanted to have the fish sitting in the car. And darn it, the Halibut was $18.99/lb here too. I paid that price last week but I just can’t do it every week. So I walked away with a heavy heart…and heavy bags.

We continued to wander here and there looking at the cheese and meats and poultry, wishing that it was late enough in the day that the gyros place was open.

And then HHBL said…

POPCORN!

Sure enough there is a place that sells popcorn. With free samples

The Dichotomy Corn is…..FABULOUS. It is a mixture of Carmel popcorn and cheddar cheese popcorn. We bought a bag. We finished it in 24 hours. I want more.

This was not as good an idea as I had hoped. Not good at all as a matter of fact. Sad. I had such high hopes for it. So we moved on.

We bought some of these….

And then there was the loaf of bread…..
 

And there was also the 1/2 pound of freshly roasted coffee that we also purchased. I have no picture of that because I was busy drinking coffee at the time. You will have to trust me when I say that the coffee beans……FABULOUS.

And finally, when it looked like we were done and were making our way out of the building I looked up and saw people up on this little balcony and at that moment it became my mission in life to find the stairway so that we could go up there for a bit. I would not be denied.

I will show you what I saw.

And then, FINALLY, we were done and decided that it was time to go home.

So my pack mule HHBL and I made our way back to the car, in the rain, stowed our purchases in the back of Coco the Subaru and made our way home, with one other stop that I will tell you about at another time.

Oh…Yum.