So gloomy today, fits my mood. Don’t know if it is the endless weekends of rain or my impending birthday but more (and heavy) rain is predicted for the next 3-4 days and my birthday gets closer with each, so I need to shake it off!
This morning was the first in the past few weekends we have not been shaken awake by a 5:30 AM alarm. Such luxury to be able to sleep late yet we still woke a bit past 7:00 AM. I guess the concept of sleeping late is relevant. John was out the door early for a bike ride, with plans to make it home in time to go to the Market Square Farmer’s Market with Sonya and me. He didn’t, the chance to get out for a longer ride was too tempting.
I met Sonya just west of the World’s Fair Park for a brisk 7-8 block walk to Market Square. The Farmer’s Market opened for the season this week though vendor participation is low at this time. It has been a cold spring and only lettuces, onions and some carrots are pick able.
I grabbed a nice head of red leaf lettuce, a few spring onions, some baked goods and a small miniature rose named “Sweet Diana” after Princess Diana. The smell is sweet and citrusy, similar to the scent of the magnolia. The flower is heavy on a petite plant so I am not sure how well it will hold up. I am going to plant the rose in a pot, leave it in a sunny spot in the garden and hope for the best!
After the market, we poked in and out of a few stores, lingering, because we could. We could have stopped for lunch but it was beginning to rain so we pulled up our hoods and made the wet trek back to our cars. We talked a lot about our upcoming trip to Abingdon and plans to ride the VA Creeper Trail. It will be a lot of fun for John and me to get out of our routine and spend some time with friends.
The afternoon has been spend running errands in the rain, things to return, other things to buy. We are helping the economy with our recent spending. Among our stops, Trader Joe’s for a bag of falafels and The Holy Lands Deli for an assortment of middle eastern salads, a container of kalamata olives and block of incredibly fresh feta cheese. We have been grocery store purchasers of olives and feta, but are now ruined by the heady flavor of the dark olives we dug out of buckets in the deli and the fresh, crumbly feta still dripping with brine from the deli frig. Dinner was delicious!
