Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

The Market and the Farm

Sunday September 30, 2012
Charlottesville, Virginia

 

Carrie comes for the week-end.

Carrie arrives Friday early evening with her boyfriend Matthew.  They left Baltimore about 2:00 and what is usually a 3 hour drive door to door turns into a 4 hour drive since apparently everyone else in Baltimore and DC was also leaving town early.  They are tired.  But it’s always great to see her smiling face.

 

Saturday

Carrie, Matthew and I head out for breakfast at a favorite place in Charlottesville, The Blue Grass Grille.  As usual, it is packed and we have to wait for a table.  Carrie and I are both surprised that the food this time is not as great as in the past.  The “special” red velvet pancakes that Matthew orders are not all that special and the biscuits are far too heavy and dry.  Clearly David’s farm breakfast is back in a solid first place as breakfast of choice.  Maybe Blue Grass got a new chef while we were gone.  That’s too bad.  But it probably accounts for why no one thought to take any pictures here.

The Grille is a block from the Charlottesville Farmer’s Market which is a bustling place on Saturday morning.

Cville Farmers Market

 

Cville Farmers Market (3)

 

 

There is an amazing array of things for sale from fall fruits & veggies, to clothing, to paintings, photography,  plants, pottery and lots of freshly made food. Today is a UVA home football game and lots of folks are sporting their colors of Orange and Blue. 

Cville Farmers Market (4)

 

Cville Farmers Market (5)

 

 

We could have easily eaten breakfast here with all the yummy looking baked goods.  Especially given all these chefs in their hats.  Is it a UVA chef in orange and blue?  But we are stuffed so we pass them by.

 

Cville Farmers Market (6)

 

Cville Farmers Market (1)

 

We stop by my friend Maggie’s pottery display.  I haven’t seen her in quite a while and she has the cheeriest pottery I know of.  She’s a wonderful artist.

Cville Farmers Market (11)

 

 

Cville Farmers Market (8)

 

Cville Farmers Market (10)

 

 

Cville Farmers Market (9)

 

We then head over to Blue Wheel for the main town errand which is to pick up my bike from its tune-up.  Hope I can try it out before I leave in case there are minor adjustments needed.

Bike Tune Up (1)

 

After that it’s out to the farm where we all inspect the progress on repairs and painting.  Work is clearly underway, but things are looking good……..

At the Farm 003

 

 

At the Farm 004

 

 

David takes a nap and we all quietly pursue our interests for an hour.

At the Farm 007

 

After that it’s delicious wraps for dinner.  Boy I’m doing terribly at remembering photos of food.  Too busy scarfing it up apparently.

 

After dinner Carrie makes a cherry pie under the watchful eyes of the men.  Unfortunately her mother forgot to get the pie making essentials out of Winnona in town.  So she has no cinnamon, no rolling pin and no pastry cutter.  Real hardships all.  I’m sorry Carrie!  But she does a good job anyway. 

 

At the Farm 010

 

And the pie as always is delicious.  But again…….too busy eating.  Got no pictures.   I’m getting very slack here in the picture department for everyday life.

 

Although you can see it if you look in front of David in these pictures of the Trivial Pursuit game we played after dinner.  Old Farts vs Young Farts and the OF’s BARELY pulled it out at the last minute.  Did you know Adolf Hitler was Time’s Man of the Year in 1938?  I didn’t, but Matthew did.

 

At the Farm 012

 

Sunday

Sadly they had to leave today but not until after a BIG farm breakfast, helping to take a load of trash to the recycling center and playing several games of Clue and Scattergories.  Not one soul took one picture.  Too busy having a good time I guess.  J

 

And last but not least, on Friday I got another postcard.  This one from our friends Gin & Syl of Wandering Sylville.  It was hilarious but I don’t want to offend anyone without our sense of humor.  I tried taking it out of focus and all other types of ways to “protect the innocent” and this was the best I could come up with.  SO use your imagination (or not) and if you want to see the real thing, it will be on the mirror.  Just drop by in Florida this winter (we hope) and we’ll be happy to show you.

Thanks Gin and Syl – we got a HUGE laugh out of this!! And laughs are ALWAYS welcome however they come.

Gin & Syl

34 comments:

  1. Censored!? Glad we could brighten your day. :-)
    I'm sure the cherry pie was delicious even if it was a challenge to prepare. Great family times!
    Syl and Gin

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  2. Loved the postcard and loved hearing about your visit with Carrie and friend. :-) Great to hear of families still playing games together!

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    1. We MAY have the largest game collection in the country - entire cupboards full of games. We used to get one each year as a holiday gift. But at this point, we have ENOUGH! When you are WAY out in the country, in the dark days of winter, with a woodstove there's not much better than hot chocolate and lots of great games.

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  3. What adorable pottery! Not sure that's the appropriate adjective for it, but I would probably buy a bowl or something from her. Winnona is not at the farm? Hope David is feeling better..sure he is with Carrie and Matthew there :)

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    1. It is adorable Laurie! No room for Winnona in the barnyard. Too many family and workers vehicles. But she's happily waiting for us.

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  4. You passed up the market bakeries... man oh man ... red velvet pancakes? boy that even sounds too sweet for me. Well... are they served with the cream cheese frosting? doesn't sound as though that would be good with syrup....

    I'd eat it anyway though.... hahaaaa.. the fat lady postcard .. terrible just awful .... hahaa poor ol fat lady... I hope she as paid adequately to expose her self... but I tell you these people going in the pool here almost that size with very scanty bathing suits? man. nice egos if you can get it... ;)

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    1. We only passed them up because we stupidly ate a HUGE breakfast before going to the market. Never fear Carolyn...spudnuts is on my agenda for very soon!!

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  5. I've always suspected that Gin and Syl are evil and now they've proved it. See what awaits those that ignore the vegan lifestyle... ;c)

    You are forgiven for the lack of food photos, when your lovely daughter comes to visit, the time is special but too short, so of course you make the most of it.

    Nice to see the great big smile on David's face. Carrie's visit was just what the doctor ordered! :c)

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    1. Great vegan comment Paul! That Gin and Syl are just always into some kind of funnin'

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  6. I love the bumble bee pottery! Wish I was there...or maybe not! Anyway, if we meet up this winter in Florida, since you like playing games, we'll teach you a new one we learned this summer...Marbles Cards and Jokers. Its a lot of fun, and our summer project was making the game pieces so everyone could have their own game to take on the road and spread the cheer!

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    1. Maggie wishes you were here Karen. :-) Would love to learn the new game. Came we make pieces too??

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  7. A nice family weekend. You can't get much better than that.
    The card is a hoot :)

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  8. I love my Sunday forays to the local farmer's market.

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    1. It's nice being back at the market we know so well. Wish it were easier finding them on the road.

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  9. My Brother-In-Law owns the Baja Bean Company Restaurant in Charlottesville, we love going there.

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    1. Welcome to the blog. It's a small world isn't it. When I worked at the University I used to lunch at Baja Bean. Maybe we'll see you on the road or at the restaurant. Hope we'll see you here again. Thanks for the comment

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  10. Do you get cold and snowy weather at your farm? Do you plan on staying in Florida for the winter after seeing the Dr.? It the weather is good, the farm may be a good place for David to recuperate and rest.

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    1. Teri, we do get cold and snowy weather which is why we'll hopefully be in Florida for the winter. It's hard to rest at the farm, there is always something needing doing.

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  11. Always skip breakfast if we're heading to a farmer's market ... too many goodies to pass up.

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  12. Carrie is always good medicine. Glad you got to spend some time with her.

    Love the postcard. LOL

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    1. You can see the postcard in person in just a few days!!

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  13. Sweet family time, games, baking, and what a perfect market! What could be any better!

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    1. You've done a great summary of the good times. Thanks for the comment.

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  14. It was lovely to see you all - I missed the boyfriend though!! Sounds like he fit in nicely with everyone! Thank you for posting the pics of my work too! Hope to see you again before you take off. All the best to you guys!!

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    1. Your work is wonderful Maggie. I'm happy to post it. Thanks for your good wishes. Hope to see your comments around here often!

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  15. I am a new visitor to your blog. I have seen so many comments from you on other blogs so here I am.
    I will catch up soon. But for now I hope David gets well soon. As others have mentioned Carrie's visit had to do Dave a world of good.

    I love your friends pottery. Good thing I am to far away or I would be broke. haha I have lots of pottery but nothing like that and I love it.

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    1. Welcome JoJo. It's good to hear from you. I'm sure Maggie wishes you lived closer. Aren't her things just wonderful! Hope to see you around here more often. Thanks for commenting.

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  16. Well, it is nice to see myself show up in the blogs - it was a great, fall weekend in VA. I love our 'farm breakfast' and game playing 'traditions' - that cannot be denied. The time went too fast though - always does. You captured our weekend quite well in this blog! Well done :)

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    1. Thank you my darling for your compliment. It was definitely too short a visit. "I miss you when you gooooooo". :-)

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  17. I'm surprised you're not living in Winona, parked at the farm. When we went back to Georgia after getting a contract on the house, we never bothered moving back into the house. One reason was because all our stuff was in the motor home.

    I'll bet it's getting pretty there...how about some pictures?

    When do you expect to head back to Florida? Have you decided where to stay? I know you've about used up your annual time at some of the parks.

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  18. I absolutely love Farmer's Markets! The postcard is a keeper! :-)

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