Saturday, September 20, 2014

Abundance


God bless all the farmers out there! I got up early this morning and went to the Carrboro Farmers Market for some veggies. The air was crisp and cool, and apparently everyone slept in, because I got an easy parking spot and there were no lines at the stands. It pays to get up early. You get to experience the cool morning air and the quietness of the market. When I got there a couple of musicians had set up and were playing some really nice music, sort of Buena Vista Social Club.... congas and guitar, great way to start the day.

Our little garden space is in transition from summer to fall garden. Gerry absorbed so much information at the winter gardening workshop he took and we already have arugula, lettuces, white radishes, chard, kale and tatsoi coming up. We are so limited with our sun space, but Gerry worked hard to make it happen this year and we had a steady flow of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and even a tiny bit of okra. I grew a bunch of herbs and I have dried and ground some of them up and I'm using them in some soap balls.


Yesterday I made a bunch of these soap balls from trimmings. I had so much fun experimenting with ingredients. I threw in cinnamon, cardamon pods, poppy seed, thai basil, fennel seed, coriander seed, ground up black beans, nutmeg. Just grabbed things from the spice drawer and threw them in the chopper. My kitchen smelled amazing. The soap was already fragranced with lemon and rosemary and basil and the herbs and spice just added color, texture and aroma that was over the top. So fun!


I love the rustic look of these soap balls, soap rocks, what to call them. Dang, I struggle with naming things.....


This should be the week we get eggs from my girls. My birthday is this week so it would be lovely if they would gift me with their first eggs. They are in serious PMS mode, I'll tell ya that. Quite the little bitches this past couple of weeks!


The farmers market is just a feast for the senses. My senses have been on overload this week with fragrance and soap making anyway and the farm stands just added to it. A honey seller had some of his bees in his stall today. Work, work, work little bees! This honey making business is beyond understanding..... look at the perfect comb, how DO they DO that?!


This gentleman is one of my favorites. Every week he talks me into buying more than I intend to. If I pick up one pack of purple hull peas, he tells me how good they are and he offers me a dollar off if I buy two. Last week I just went ahead and picked up two because I knew what was coming, and what do you think? I ended up with THREE! He gives you this big ol' grin you can't resist, a pretty toothless grin I might add. Adorable.....


Last night I had one of my weekly insomnia nights and sometime around 3:30am I was thinking about my life and the waste of it right now. I'm doing next to nothing, inertia..... perhaps. I used to get on a plane every Monday and go somewhere, or get in a car and go somewhere. I did stuff. I went places. Now I do nothing. Its not that I'm unhappy, but I would still like to go places. I sure do lack motivation to do anything about it. Also lack funding. It was nice to travel and get paid for it.

Anyway, I was looking at this picture a moment ago, and thought about last night and my thinking about my lack of doing. Look at this dude. He is just there, tossing his roasting peppers about for his customers and he could not be more happy if he tried. So friendly and just enjoying the morning and the smell of those roasting peppers. So what if I'm not traveling all over the place anymore. Yes, I miss it, but I walk out in my backyard with a cup of fresh coffee in the morning, say hello to my chickens and check out the vegetables that are growing at my back door. I have good friends, an amazing family, and I don't really have a bunch of stress like I used to. I have abundance in my life....... its good.



We had good tomatoes this year, but they were for sandwiches and salads. I like to wait until late in the tomato season to buy a bunch of the ugly tomatoes in the boxes for canning. The prices are good and they don't have to really look good for canning. I found this one with a rather long nose at the bottom of the box. It just needs some eyeballs :)

I got 12 pints of tomatoes from a box this morning, so I canned some, ran out of jars, and froze the rest. The kitchen, once again smelled amazing. I'm gonna miss summer. It has been a rough one, but the fresh vegetables have been plentiful and we have eaten some good meals. Thinking now of cooler weather and the soups to come with these tomatoes.....

So that's my weekend, Gerry is shooting football at NC State, also working tomorrow. Wesley is at school but maybe coming home..... wishy washy child. I do have some exciting news to share about her but I'll save it for its very own post after I ask her if its ok. I like to ask.....

Have a great weekend
peace y'all

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your soaps (& dish idea), veggies, photos, & thoughts are all delicious.

oldgreymareprimitives said...

uh turn that one tomato upside down..hehe

You are not "doing nothing" You are living your good life. There is a societal glamorization to "BUSY" that I abhor.

Reading a good book is a good useful life.
Preparing food is a good useful life.
Making soap and tending a garden is a good useful life
Enjoying your loved ones, taking a walk, having gratitude is purposeful and a good life my friend.

June Perry said...

Tracey, I hope you read your own blog post today. You talked about doing nothing and your ost if full of things you do!

You are going through that empty nest syndrome at the moment as well as trying to figure out where your passion lies. So many of us are going through this kind of transition right now, even the insomnia you experience last night seems to be part of what's happening in the universe right now.Some say we're tired so much becsuse we are going through physical changes - going from carbon based ot crystalline based beings. Who know, but everyone I know is going through stuff, and feeling tired, napping (even those of us like me who never could nap are napping now!). I read recently that we're all headed to similar changes in or sleep patterns. I and our kids have been dealing with this for several years.
So honor your need to pull back and let it take you where it takes you. Hope those hens will give you that birthday present of fresh eggs! There's nothing better than picking those freshly laid warm eggs. The chickens are also a never ending source of humor as well. i never stopped missing mine!

Tracey Broome said...

Hi Cindy, I did have a good batch of photos to share this week, glad you enjoyed!
Hi Suzan, of course you are right, I just feel unproductive when my bank acount is empty. Having once had a career makes it hard to transition to a slower life with no income... Getting there!
Hi June, I think you are right, we are all going through some odd things these days. Too much electromagnetic energy on this planet. I am indeed still trying to come to terms with my empty nest, no one tells you how to get through this, you just have to find your way..... I realize I am doing stuff, I just feel like there is more........ How to get there..... That's the search.

cookingwithgas said...

We are always wondering if what we do is enough, too busy, not busy enough, wasting time, time is a wasting, good lord some days it is all about the nothingness, other days we are over whelmed.
The thing I noticed is we are always planning, always.
Speaking of..... one day we will have a lunch again, one day.

Tracey Broome said...

Planning..... Ain't that the damn truth?! Yes, let's plan Lunch! Most important :-)
We need a day, don't we......