The Mountain Thymes

Returning home from town yesterday afternoon and rounding a curve on Boulder Creek Rd, we were warmly greeted by  (click on to enlarge) mother doe and her new fawn.  We believe the fawn is about a week to two old.  It's legs were strong and steady.  The white spots indicate how young it is.  When the fawn is curled up in its nest on the forest floor, the spots resemble dappled sun coming through the trees deceiving the eyes of any approaching predators. We won't be setting up at the market today.  Our chance of thunderstorms start with 30% and by noon increase to 40% and 50%.   

This morning I received an email from a dear friend in Florida telling me to update the blog so she can see if I'm behaving myself and to follow the Farmers Market activities.  I know I've been lax.  I haven't felt like blogging.  It's difficult to think when you're brain is in a fog.  Nothing has seemed important enough to write about.  Some days my osteoarthritis keeps me from being me.  Many nights are very restless and sleepless making me fatigued during the days.  I've been obsessed with researching reputable medical sites reading about this autoimmune disease.  I'm not angry that I have it.  There are people younger than me that have arthritis and others who have more debilitating illnesses than this.  Arthritis is on my mother's side of the family.  I don't ever remember anyone on my father's side complaining of joint/muscle aches and pains, but my father's side has depression issues.   I guess I just wasn't expecti...

Cliff had the truck all packed by 7:15 am with my fabric creations, our folding chairs, folded table, and anything else we would need for our long long day.  I brought peaches, cut up cantaloupe, and lots of bottled water.  After my tent was set up, Cliff helped others get their tents up.  The L&N Depot was a bustling place this morning with energy and chatter as vendors displayed their goods in hopes for a very successful day.  Down by the riverwalk there was music, clogging performances, demonstrations, and other activities.  Today's hours were advertised as 9-4 but people started arriving after 8. I met the photographer at this tent.  His work is wonderful.  I fell in love with his abandoned barn scenes framed with old barn wood.  The vendor to my left makes copper jewelry and moves like the energizer bunny.  Her 11-year old daughter spent 15 minutes trying on different hats on my table.  She kept going back to a bright yellow ...

If you checked the weather forecast hourly starting Friday afternoon and again as you poured your morning coffee, you'd never plan any outside activities lately.  We're in a soupy pattern, more like what we experienced when first moving to Florida, where each afternoon we were greeted by thunderstorms that cooled the air and moved on.  I decided to take a gamble on the 40% chance of storms by 1 pm and set up my crafts anyway.  We left the house a few minutes after 8 which the earliest time yet.  A few customers were already wandering around at 8:30 watching vendors display their plants, produce, and crafts.  The Farmers Market hours are advertised 10 -2, but most are set up by 9.  Before I became a vendor, I arrived by 9:30 to buy fresh produce, free-range chicken, and fresh free-range eggs.  Certain vendors sell out quickly.  Right now there are plenty of locally grown herbs, butterfly and hummingbird attracting plants, and other transplants avai...

Zero per cent chance of rain today.  You know how that goes.  As it turned out, today was a zero rain day.  Being the Memorial Day weekend, we headed to town earlier than usual, but not early enough.  Our spot was reserved for us but all the sturdy white tents had been set up for the very early vendors.  We had to set up an older flimsy green one but with no impending rain or winds, it worked out ok today.  Murphy's busy this holiday weekend so we were hoping it would be a profitable market day.                                                                      my tent set-up           ...

My bucket hats have gone international!  Anne, our English pastry lady, bought two hats a few weeks ago and sent them to her grandchild in the UK.  A week ago when we looked at the long-range forecast for our market day, it showed sunny and pleasant.  As the week went on, the forecast became gloomier.  We decided to set up anyway and take a chance that maybe the day would tun out to be mostly drizzly. One of my best days was a drizzle day.  Rain or shine there are the regulars who drop by for the farmers' fresh produce, grass-fed beef, eggs, locally grown flowers, herbs, Donna's goat cheese, and the Pie Guy's quiches.  Cliff brought up the weather app on his iphone around 11 and we started packing up as the radar showed a large mass of green and yellow heading toward us.  It rained all afternoon, all night, and is still raining now at 8am.  I need to get down to the garden and thin out the bok choy, radishes, and beets.  Spinach and lettuce...