Whew! What a Weekend!


Gi just went down for her am nap, and I'm cleaning up the detritus from a busy, but great, weekend. Friday my mom and I puttered around the house till my dad got off work and picked up their new pup! I found her in the classifieds - her owners were giving her away - and after my mom went and interviewed at their house, this beautiful 6 month old Golden joined their family. Isn't she cute?

On Friday, E surprised me with dinner and a Margaret Cho concert for our anniversary. She was amazing as always, and then we went out to my brother's fondue place for dessert. It was the first time we've ever gone, and it was pretty tasty. Saturday we had a busy day at market, selling red and yellow tomaotes, sweet million cherry tomatoes, frying and bell peppers, spring onions, lots of basil, both purple and green, purple and green snap beans, all-blue potatoes, and lots of summer squash and cukes. I was hoping to bring edamame, but I'm giving them another week so the pods fill out a bit more.

Saturday night we went to our friends' engagement party, and while I was out shopping for their engagement gift I found a great batik tablecloth on the clearance rack. After some thought, I snagged it, and I think it'll be great either as the back of a quilt or a quilt top alternating with a MUCH more subdued color. Gi was great at the party - she loved the pool, and then fell asleep once we started playing board games.

Yesterday we headed out to the NJ State Fair . We don't really eat fast food, but man, can this little family eat a lot of fair food. Who could resist? Funnel cake, pizza, cheese fries, fresh squeezed lemonade, and I even got a "church spud" from this little church sponsored baked potato stand - it was great. :) We'd never been to this particular fair, but we'll be going every year from now on - it's huge, and focused on NJ agriculture. After seeing all the exhibits, I'm hoping to enter the market basket and blueberry contests next year. Their livestock shows are open (as opposed to the shows around here, which are limited to 4-H members), so there were TONS of entries in each division.

We wandered through the poultry tent - where I saw bantam ducks for the first time - maybe I can convince Gi to show those when she starts 4-H, lol. We didn't buy anything since most of the birds for sale would start laying in late September and we'll be winding down our off farm sales by then. At the goat tent we did MUCH better. We had gone in looking for a Togg , since we'd love a large breed milker (we realized milking our three Nigerians to get enough milk for our growing family was probably a very inefficient enterprise). No toggs at the fair, but we started talking to a very nice family manning the dairy goat booth, and they offered to sell us a four year old in milk Nubian , since they're switching over to Nigerians. She's a sweetheart, and at a gallon of milk a day, it'll be a LOT easier to milk every night. We're thrilled, and pick her up at the end of the month once her babies are weaned.

I just reprocessed this one jar of tomatoes and it STILL didn't seal...frustrating. Edited to add - I just heard it pop, guess it needed a bit longer. Hooray! Once I get off the computer and start the laundry, Gi and I are going to can the peaches we bartered for at market this week, and make a few small hand pies out of the rest. I also owe Angel-Iris an entry on our hens, as she's been dying to see her girls' new digs, so I'll have to do that this evening. See you then. :)

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Posted: Mon - August 7, 2006 at 12:16 PM        

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