The Move - Prep Stage

As of this time tomorrow, the house will officially be ours and I will probably be heading over with the first load to help our landlady clean so that we can get stuff into the house. I can't believe that the interminably long wait is finally almost over!! I'm going to miss living with Angel, but I'm really looking forward to it just being Tim and I. I think we've done pretty well with prep. Almost everything is packed, as you can see from the state of the spare room:

Tim is picking up the cargo van from the rental place tonight, so we can load that and the Element, which I'm keeping tomorrow. He can drive my car to work, since it is basically useless for moving. I have a really good start on the insurance inventory. All of the services are set up. We only have to pick up a few more pieces of furniture - a couch, bedside tables, a TV stand. I have all day tomorrow off and Tim took the evening off. I'm even making plans for a special romantic dinner Friday night to celebrate. I'm so excited!!

Good Deeds - Ve Vant Your BLOOOD!

At the beginning of 2012, I finally decided that I wanted to start giving blood regularly. My mother does and I've always really admired people who make an effort to make a regular donation.

My pretty teal dressing and mango juice!

Last Night's Dinner - Shiitake and Asparagus Risotto

I had such a good day yesterday! We got a crazy thunderstorm in the morning and there is nothing that starts a day better than laying in bed listening to the rain coming down. For some reason, work just sped by, which doesn't happen nearly as often as I'd like it to. I finished some really messy spreadsheet work that has been a thorn in my side all month. Unfortunately just in time for the May month end and to do it all over again, but I'll take my victories as they come. I feel like the move is really coming along, too - I'd estimate between 80-90% of my stuff is packed, which is great. Some stuff just can't be packed until Thursday because we need to use it until then. Tim stopped on his way home to pick up wine and we made a wonderful asparagus and shiitake mushroom risotto for dinner with the produce I picked up at the market this weekend.

Rum Night - Riley's Rooftop Patio

Now that the weather has turned nice (a.k.a. SO hot) we've decided to change our rum nights at home into patio drinking nights. I find it rather ironic that Josh, who does nothing but tease Blaire and I about our long standing love affair with Riley's, is now rather infatuated himself with their rooftop patio. Three times in 24 hours, actually.

The Riley's patio is really nice, though - big space, lots of seating. No live music that I've ever seen, although it's something they should probably look into. They have a condensed and edited version of the menu available at the pub downstairs, but the food up here is mostly sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and appetizers.

Bromance!! (You know how they say couples grow to resemble each other? Check this out for proof!)

In the Event Of Tissue Paper Apocalypse

Packing realization: I am prepared if there is ever a tissue paper apocalypse. There is no need for me to ever buy tissue paper again.

Last Night's Dinner - Mexican Pizza

By the time Tim got home last night, he was exhausted from a full weekend of visiting and partying, and I was exhausted from a full weekend of packing and cleaning (and shopping!). I knew we were going to have to go out to get groceries, but I wanted something simple to make for dinner. The grocery store in Chesley used to have these premade Mexican pizzas that you could take home and put in the oven. I loved them so much - I love pizza in general and this is just a fresh way to do it.

Stores I Love - Knock on Wood

The final step in the kitchen replenishment (at least before we move and find more gaps) was for Angel and I to check out Knock on Wood. Knock on Wood is a specialty kitchen, bath, and furniture store in downtown Peterborough. They have absolutely lovely things here. I could spend hours just wandering and daydreaming, but I find it hard to leave without buying anything.

Display of beautiful Denby stone dishware

Almost everything you could possibly want for your kitchen - including some things that even I don't know what to do with.

The Best Boyfriend - Surprise Flowers!

I told Tim when we were camping that he was everything I never knew I wanted, and he just keeps proving it. He's gone to Guelph for the weekend, and this is what I came home to Friday night. Flowers and chocolate - I think I'll keep him!

Semi Impulse Buys - My Kitchen Divorce

I was originally supposed to spend this weekend back in Bruce and Grey Counties celebrating my Mom and nephew's birthdays and going to a training session on value stream mapping. But when the training got cancelled (as last minute as possible), I jumped on the chance to stay home and pack - I can't believe it's only four more sleeps until Tim and I move into our own place! As much as it feels like we signed the lease ages ago (in March, actually) I can't believe how rushed the past couple of weeks have been. This weekend a ton of things have come together.

Friday night I organized the stuff Tim and I had already set aside to move. We're lucky to have a spare bedroom in our current unit that we can store stuff in. After that night, the room looked like this:

Bad Habits - Nail Biting Update: Three Weeks

Three weeks! I haven't been biting at all, but I'm still putting on the No Bite polish at least two or three times a week. Enough to remind me to keep them out of my mouth. I'm also getting back into putting coloured polish on them regularly. I really like this summery orange. Plus I really like this length. It's long enough to scratch and polish, but not so long that I catch them on things or break them easily. Knock on wood, I haven't broken any yet.

I think for every month I last without biting, I'll let myself buy another polish. First I'd like a nice nude shade to wear to work and for all the weddings I have this year!

Book Review - Devil Colony

I was so happy to have my Kobo while we were camping on the weekend - while it's definitely more fragile than a book, it is also much lighter and is like carrying your entire library with you. In my case, over 150 novels. I was excited to start the latest Sigma novel by James Rollins.

To be clear, Rollins is one of my favourite authors. I have read every single one of the Sigma novels and a couple of his others novels besides. This guy is a genius. He writes science fiction based on a group called Sigma. They describe themselves as scientists with guns, and they are. Rollins ties together religion, science, history, military action, and a little bit of romance just to keep it interesting. It's usually about some imminent threat to the world. His writing is just phenomenal. Devil Colony is no different.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read below the jump if you are planning to read this novel and don't want to know details about what happens.

Last Night's Dinner - Raspberry, Pecan, and Chevre Salad with Roasted Chicken

Last night's dinner was pretty simple - just a toss together of a bunch of stuff I regularly keep in the fridge/pantry. But the combination of flavours was so delicious. I find as long as you have some kind of fruit, nut, and cheese, you can throw it with lettuce and mix together a quick vinaigrette. Here's the iteration we made last night.

Nightly Battle

I generally try to make my bed every morning. Back when I used to sleep by myself, this was the easiest task of my day, and it was nice to start the day off with a sense of accomplishment. It was easy because when I go to bed, I pull back the covers, slide in, and fall asleep. One minute. Two minutes tops. When I woke up, I would get out of the bed, flip the covers back into place, and rearrange the pillows. No big deal!

Sleeping with Tim changes the entire ball game. Tim likes to cuddle before going to sleep. But he doesn't like to cuddle while sleeping. We're that couple that sleeps with our backs to one another on the far opposite sides of the bed. For Tim, it's probably because he's worried I'm suddenly going to koala attack him in the middle of the night. For me, it's because I'm scared of his flailing limbs. He moves so much!

The unfortunate (for the state of my bedroom) consequence of this is that the bed is a disaster all the time. The sheet is never tucked in, the duvet is always crumpled up inside the duvet cover, there are pillows all over the bed and all over the floor . . . *sigh* Domesticity at it's finest.

The Local Restaurant Scene - Mainstreet Landing

It seems to be Tim's tradition to go out for breakfast or lunch on the way home from a camping trip. While I'm usually beat and ready to just get home, I was happy to stop at Mainstreet Landing in Buckhorn on our way back to Peterborough. Mostly because winding cottage roads and a predilection towards motion sickness do NOT mix well.

 Tim enjoying a cold caesar after a long weekend

Not So Impulse Buys - GSI Kitchen Kit and Sleeping Bag Update

This weekend's camping trip was the testing ground for my two new pieces of gear. First, the sleeping bag - this bag is so nice. So light, it packs away easily, it doesn't take up very much room. But I bought a 0 degree bag and it was NOT needed on this trip. The temperature probably didn't go below 10 degrees at night and Tim and I were quite toasty in our two man tent. I had the Western Mountaineering bag completely unzipped, just lying on top of me, with one whole leg out the side and both arms out of the top. It was still a bit sweaty. I brought my 7 degree backpacking sleeping bag to use as a possible liner and I would have been better to just use this instead.

As for the GSI Crossover kitchen kit - this thing was the best purchase!! We used every single component of this kit. The spoon for the rice, the spatula for the eggs, the tongs for the chicken. There were complaints about the cutting board being too small, but I put it on my plate and then used it. The plate kept the already cut and not yet cut food off the ground, but with the cutting board I didn't cut into the softer surface of my plate. The spicer held salt, pepper, cajun seasoning, and garam masala for our different meals. Tim didn't like how hard the olive oil bottle was to squeeze, but I think it kept him from putting unnecessary amounts of oil in the pan. The dish soap bottle may seem small, but you only need a couple of drops - it was lots for our weekend long trip. The scrubber and towel were super handy for doing dishes. I even found a component of the kit I hadn't realized was in there - a pot scraper! Perfect!

Doing dishes in the lake - I hope the fish like bits of egg!

Score! Compact pot scraper!

The Great Outdoors - Kawartha Highlands Wildlife

Most of the wildlife that you're going to see at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park is wildlife that you could see close to home, too. But there's something about being out there in their habitat that just makes you appreciate it so much more. Tim says that he's seen black bears on the shore of Cold Lake. I would have loved that (until we went to bed, that is) but we didn't see any. We did see at least one loon pair on Cold Lake that paddled around our island the entire weekend. There were lots of ducks and lots of rock bass right beside where we pulled up the canoe. Tim found this little guy sunning on a rock right next to where we hung the hammock:

Turtle!

The Great Outdoors - Kawartha Highlands Camping Gourmet

Part of any amazing trip for me is always going to be the moments that revolve around food. Luckily for me, Tim also really appreciates a good meal, even while camping. We had granola bars with us, but we never touched them. Instead we made meals that some people wouldn't even attempt in their kitchen at home.

Lunch on Saturday was a caprese salad with tomato, basil, bocconcini, and balsamic vinaigrette.

The Great Outdoors - Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park Trip

I don't think that we could have asked for a better Victoria Day long weekend for any activities. The weather was in the high 20s/low 30s the whole weekend. The skies were perfectly blue, almost cloudless. It wasn't until late on Monday evening that it clouded over and we got a little rain. 

I'm also pretty sure that Tim picked the best place ever for the two of us to go camping. He booked a site on Cold Lake in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park, only an hour north of Peterborough. 

The view of Cold Lake from our campsite

The parking lot for canoe access is at the Catchacoma Narrows - you go north through Buckhorn on Highway 36 and then turn right going north on Highway 507. At Beaver Lake Road, take a right and stay on this road until you see a little parking lot down and to the right - it's just before the bridge. If you've gone over the bridge, turn back. You can see the canoe launch point just south of the bridge on the west shore. Parking here is pretty adequate - it can probably fit fifteen vehicles. 

Tim packing . . . and packing . . . and more packing . . . stuff into the canoe

Book Review - Pandemonium

Sarah was so anxious for me to read Pandemonium after I finished Delirium. I was pretty excited about it as well, since I really liked Delirium. 

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read below the jump if you are planning to read this novel and don't want to know details about what happens.

Only in Peterborough - Must Have Been A Boy Scout

Now this guy is a thinker. A multitasker. Probably a boy scout when he was younger. Not only has he improvised a storage rack for his bike - a rather unique and fashionable one, I might add - but if there is ever that freak winter snowstorm and the bike just isn't cutting it as a viable mode of transportation? Never fear - he has snowshoes!!

Spotted at the Peterborough Public Library

Random Funny - Canadian Money

When one of the executives of our company was up visiting our plant from the States this week, he asked for fifty loonies. It was thought to be an odd request, and our controller confirmed with him, "5-0? You want fifty loonies?" He said yes, so she relayed the request to the woman in charge of petty cash. 

We were all a bit confused. Did he want them as souvenirs? Or maybe for the vending machines? Doesn't matter - he's the boss, so what he wants he gets. They went to the bank and took out two rolls of loonies. 

When he was presented with the two rolls, however, he looked at them in surprise and said, "What am I supposed to do with these? How am I supposed to carry this around?" He was told that he asked for fifty loonies and we were giving him fifty loonies. His response?

"I wanted fifty loonies - isn't that what your dollar is called up here?"

 . . . Oh, Americans. 

Not So Impulse Buys - The Sleeping Bag Arrives!

I was SOOO excited to get the delivery notice in the mail regarding my MEC order - the original delivery date was May 17th, but then the estimate was bumped back to the 18th. Usually they attempt a delivery but I'm at work, and then I can't go pick up the parcel at the Canada Post depot until the next day because they have to receive and enter it into the computer system. So I was very worried I wouldn't get it in time for our camping trip this weekend. It made me so happy to see that delivery had been attempted on the 16th! Yay for Canada Post!

Carrying the box out to the car, I was pleasantly surprised by how light it was. When I got it home . . . Light doesn't begin to describe this sleeping bag. It weighs nothing. This is what I would picture holding a cloud to feel like. I may have played out this scene (substitute sleeping bag for the unicorn):

Ultimate Frisbee - Brrrrrr . . .

I will always be happy that Tim is athletic. I'll be the first to admit - I have a weakness for muscles. Tim's muscles aren't so much the bulky kind as the I-have-as-much-energy-as-a-cocker-spaniel-puppy kind. There is not a spare ounce on the kid. To keep it that way, he runs, he bikes, he teaches (apparently a big calorie burner), he canoes, and he plays ultimate frisbee. Ultimate frisbee is two nights a week all through the summer and it has started already. Like he doesn't already have enough on his plate, but it makes him happy. 

The Great Outdoors - The Prep Stage

When this post goes live, I'm hoping Tim and I will either still be in bed sleeping (it has been a LONG week) or we'll have calmly packed all our necessary camping items into the Element and be on our way either camping, or to Tim's parents' house for tea and to pick up the canoe. If this happens, it will be because we've (I've) planned out where we're going, what the weather is going to be like, what food we'll be eating, what equipment/clothing we need to pack, etc. As I've mentioned before, Tim is not a planner but is getting better, most likely to save me from an imminent mental breakdown. Because when I think about going camping, it goes something like this:

When are we going? For how many days? Is anyone coming with us? Where are we going? Do we need to book a campsite? Are we car camping, hiking in, or canoeing in?  Will there be water? If there is water, can we go fishing? What is the weather going to be like? What equipment do I have? What equipment do I need? What equipment do I want? What equipment does Tim have that I can borrow? What are we going to eat? Who is going to get the groceries? When I am going to pack?

Favourite Shows - Smash

Tim likes to say that for someone who barely watches TV, I certainly am in love with a lot of shows. It's true - I rarely have time in the evenings to sit down and watch (although I'm hoping that changes once Tim and I move in together and he's done evenings at Lakefield College that will change), but I'm really good at using my work lunches to download an episode and get caught up.

This season, one of the shows that really caught my attention was Smash, featuring Katherine McPhee and Debra Messing.

Photo courtesy of GossipBoy.ca

Book Review - Delirium

I like my drama or pop fiction set in modern times. I love romance best when it's historical. But when we're talking sci-fi, I like futuristic stuff best. Give me a good post-apocalyptic page-turner any day in that genre and I'm a happy camper.

Sarah has been buying books on our Kobo account lately to use the Chapters gift cards she got for Christmas. Two of the books she bought are Delirium and Pandemonium, the first two books in a trilogy by Lauren Oliver. I absolutely recommend this book for anyone who likes the recent rash of teen books - Twilight, Hunger Games, Cassandra Clare's City books, etc.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read below the jump if you are planning to read this novel and don't want to know details about what happens.

The Local Restaurant Scene - Brio Gusto

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Tim and I took his family out for dinner on Mother's Day to Brio Gusto. It was a wonderful evening.

Happy Mother's Day!

Not So Impulse Buys - Grown Up Furniture - TV Arrives!

Tim went and picked up the new TV from The Brick . . . It's massive. Seriously large - where is this going to live in our teeny tiny house?!

Just a little bit excited!

The Local Restaurant Scene - Reggie's Hot Grill

By the time Tim got home from cleaning up the yard sale on Saturday, he wasn't in any mood to cook anything. And after studying most of the day, I certainly didn't want to either. So while I kept reviewing, Tim ran over to Reggie's Hot Grill in East City and picked us up burgers. I would put in a strong argument that these are the best burgers in Peterborough. They might be facing stiff competition some from Canteen of Kawartha this summer, though. Canteen of Kawartha outbid them on the chip truck up by Trent University - there will have to be a burger throwdown at some point this summer!

The same guys who own Reggie's also own El Caminos on George, which is a little taco/burrito place. They make some of the best post-bar food in Peterborough. Even if you aren't drunk and stumbly, it's pretty delicious. They're also opening a new sit-down restaurant at the corner of Hunter St and Aylmer St. I can't wait to try the food!

The insides of my drop out burger (bacon and cheddar) - yum.

Tim's poutine - so messy!

Just as a side note: While the burgers are delicious and I've heard great things about the chicken sandwiches and Tim seemed to enjoy the poutine, their fries are really nothing special. I find them to be overcooked and generally soggy. They also don't seem to have enough seasoning. Other than that, Reggie's is a great local place to check out! Plus the service there is amazing. Not too fast since they're making all the burgers to order, but always super friendly. 

Book Review - Fifty Shades Freed

I'm so glad I'm done my CMA exam so that I can relax and read! I got through the third book in the Fifty Shades series just as quickly as the second one. These are FAST reads.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read below the picture if you are planning to read this novel and don't want to know details about what happens.

The book opens into Ana and Christian's honeymoon, which makes me want to win lots of money and go on a European vacation on a gigantic yacht with Tim. Their honeymoon gets interrupted by Jack, who has started a fire in one of Christian's server rooms. It's when they're playing back security footage that Ana recognizes Jack. To make matters worse, now that they know someone is stalking them and possibly trying to kill them, Ana's stepdad gets in a car accident and is in an induced coma for three days. Then Ana finds out she's pregnant and Christian goes ballistic. Finally, Jack kidnaps Christian's sister and Ana makes a hero play to get her back, going in alone to take him $5 million dollars. Ana shoots Jack just as Christian and his security team are getting there. She winds up in the hospital and everything winds up being okay. The book finishes with a nice little vision of Ana and Christian at their new place playing with their son with another child on the way. It's all very tidily wrapped up. 

The one thing I really didn't like about this book was the jumpiness. They would be in one storyline, and then they'd jump back. They'd come back to the present, then jump back again. I don't like choppy scene writing like this. The occasional flashback, or putting the first part of the climax at the beginning and then unraveling the story towards that, I'm okay with. But with this book it was every few chapters they were mauling the timeline.

Other than that it was good. Enough sex to keep your heart racing, enough action to keep it interesting and not just about the sex. I found this trilogy really entertaining!

Last Night's Dinner - Steak, Potatoes, and Asparagus

Last night after work Tim asked me to go running. In spite of being in a bit of a grump, I agreed, and I'm so glad I did. Or I am now, at least. I upped the intervals to 4&1s and I was HURTING by the time we finished. Even today, my right knee is a little sore. I only find it slightly annoying that Tim was loving his life the entire run. It was just so gorgeous out!

Tim picked up steaks on our way back home and we had market asparagus and potatoes already at the house.  He basically just coated everything in olive oil, salt, and pepper and grilled it all. It was so good - I don't think I do simple meat and veggies often enough. Probably because I'm terrified of using the BBQ.

Mmmm, yummy steak!!

Book Review - Fifty Shades Darker

I love quick reads. Even better are books that take a long time to read but you can't put them down. The second book in the Fifty Shades series was really good, but didn't take very long to read. Four or five hours at most.


SPOILER ALERT: Do not read below the picture if you are planning to read this novel and don't want to know details about what happens.

I was pretty excited to get into this book and see where it led. I was right - obviously - Ana and Christian get back together almost immediately in the second book. I believe in normal time that six days go by.

Once they're back together, you realize that Ana's leaving has scared most of the deviant right out of Christian, and he's very serious about them making their relationship work however he needs to. You find out more about his mother - she sat by and watched as her pimp physically abused Christian as a child, snuffing out cigarettes on his body. Then she committed suicide and Christian was locked in with her body for four days. When his adoptive mother (who is a doctor) received him at the hospital, he was severely malnourished and dehydrated and wouldn't speak for almost two years.

One of his past submissives, Leila, comes back to haunt him in this book and stalks Christian and Ana. They eventually catch her in Ana's apartment and take her into custody of his psychiatrist. Ana gets to see him as his true dominant self here and she worries that she can't be enough for him still. Then Ana gets propositioned/blackmailed by her boss, but she defends herself and Christian has him fired (he bought the company). Christian asks Ana to marry him and she says she needs time to think about it. While she's thinking about it, his helicopter - the safest in it's class - suspiciously goes down and everyone thinks he's dead. He's alive - another obviously - and when Ana finds out, she says yes. When they're telling his family and friends, his past dominant/submissive freaks out. This would be Mrs. Robinson, the woman who initially made him a submissive, also known as Elena. He tells her to get out of his life, but his mother finds out about the relationship and confronts both Elena and Christian about it.

At the end of the book, there is an aside from Ana's boss, Jack, watching the house and musing about his failed attempt to kill Christian in the helicopter accident. Looks like I know what the third book will be about!!

All in all, another highly entertaining book. More action in this one, MUCH less BDSM. Still lots of sex, but it doesn't seem as extreme as the first book, probably because they've removed a lot of the BDSM stuff. It gets really mushy-type lovey at parts. I'm reminded of Twilight, when Bella and Edward talk about how they can't live without each other. It's a little nauseating at times, but I can get past that. I'm really looking forward to reading the third!

Sunday Recap - Exam day!

This Sunday, unfortunately, was not nearly as relaxed as last Sunday. I'm going through for my Certified Managerial Accountant designation and I had a (rewrite) exam in Oshawa Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. I am NOT enjoying the process. I know lots of people manage to hold down a full time job while studying as well - Angel did an amazing job at it - but I just find myself to be hardly motivated. So I was fairly stressed about the exam. Didn't sleep much Saturday night. Woke up well before 5:00 AM because I couldn't sleep. The drive down to Oshawa wasn't too bad, just a little rain. I was glad to get into the examination room and actually start writing. I almost took the entire four hours and left one question (on foreign currency and cumulative translation adjustments) completely blank. Tim wanted to know whether I was excited or relieved when I finished - I think I'm more just overwhelmed by the whole process. I'm not even close to the end.

The weather had cleared up by the time I was heading home and it was absolutely beautiful. It was good to get to hang out with Tim for the afternoon. We spent a few hours outside cleaning and washing our cars - the G6 and the Element both look pretty spiffy! Wouldn't you know, though - as soon as I pulled the G6 out of the parking lot to take it around to park it, a bird pooped on it. Angel and Tim were both laughing at me about it - stupid bird!!

To celebrate Mother's Day, Tim and I took Dean, Wendy, and Tim's aunt Jill out for dinner at Brio Gusto on Charlotte St. We popped over to Dean and Wendy's first for a glass of wine. It was such a beautiful day to be sitting on the patio! Dinner was wonderful as well - I'll have a separate post about this later!

After dinner we went back to Dean and Wendy's to watch the Survivor finale! The past few years I haven't watched Survivor at all - I just couldn't seem to get into it. But this season has been amazing! The people were great and the way they interacted was just amazing. I was so pleased that Kim chose to take Sabrina and Chelsea to the final three. I really like when they stay with their original alliances and don't backstab each other. There were lots of blindsides this season! I was really pleased that Kim won - I felt she played the best game. She was really working on everyone all the time and instigated most of the big moves.

Go all women's alliance!! Photo courtesy of CBS Entertainment - Jeffrey R. Staab

Garage Sale for Heart and Stroke

Even though I was supposed to spend all Friday and Saturday reviewing for my exam, I couldn't help but get pulled into Tim's Heart and Stroke yard sale just the teeniest bit. I donated a lot of stuff that I didn't need anymore. Tim's friends and family members did a lot of the same. Not-so-strangely, we all seemed to take home a few of each others' things!! I got a pizza stone and peel of Wendy and Dean's and a pot rack lid from Dawn and Mark. Dean took a big coffee table book on volcanoes from Tim. Dawn grabbed a copy of Eat, Pray, Love. 

Tim couldn't have asked for better weather, and he was steadily busy from 7:00 AM all the way until the early afternoon. People were very generous when they learned that it was a fundraiser for Heart and Stroke. Between purchases and donations, Tim raised almost $550!! This takes him almost up to $2,000 in his fundraising efforts for the ride on June 3rd. I know he still has $2,500 in mind as a final goal, so if you're reading this and haven't donated and can part with a few dollars, head here: Tim's Ride for Heart donation page. 

Lots of yard salers checking out the deals and steals!

This fine, fine fur jacket could have been yours for the low, low price of offering Tim whatever change you had in your pocket!

Jackie kept a close eye on things so that no one wandered off without paying.

Tim and Dean counting money and rolling change after the sale finished. (We celebrated with the tarts I bought at the market!)

Relaxing after a long day of schmoozing.

I'm so proud of him - I wasn't sure if he could pull it off last minute, but I should have had more faith! What a success!

Farmer's Market - Study Break!

Sorry about the weekend hiatus! One of my CMA exams was on Sunday morning, so I was a little swamped with last minute review and stress from that. I spent most of Friday night and Saturday studying, but I managed to take a little break Saturday morning and head to the market. I had hit one of those points where I was reading the same sentence over and over and still not understanding what I was reading, so it was time to not be staring at accounting text books.

I don't know if these pictures do justice to how incredibly gorgeous it was out. I went to the market around 10:00 AM and I was already hot in shorts and a tube top. I didn't put sunscreen on either, and wound up with my shoulders a little bit burned. Pale is the new tan, but pale is a lot of work and worry!

Honey, beeswax, and other bee-related products from Otonabee Apiary

Various kinds of sprouts at The Sprouthouse

Delicious natural energy bars and seeds from Danielle Weinrich

 

Handmade hula hoops for adults and children

The Squirrel Hunters! Great music for the market - love that banjo!

Finally! Asparagus from McLean Berry Farm

I bought some cherry cheese tarts for Tim, Dean, and Wendy, as well as soon asparagus for home. I love the market!