Just Like A Girl.....A Blonde One!

Last Tuesday was an unusual day in the Workman family. All the ladyfolk in the household took a quick trip back up to the farmer's market (an hour-and-a-half's drive) to pick up the apples that were to be there especially for us while the menfolk drove four hours in the opposite direction into Virginia. It was MUCH quieter in the van without Dad and Ray, and believe it or not, we made it home on the first attempt. ; ) How's that for a girl?!? : )
Anyway, as we were just about to leave, we were debating whether or not we should visit the Christmas shop/nursery (which is located just across from the indoor part of the farmer's market). We drove into the parking lot, parked, then decided it really didn't look all that interesting (I know, I know.....just like a girl). As we were pulling out of the parking space, Keisha spied something sitting out front and excitedly said, "Look, Sara! They have a deer blind!"
Sara gazed in the direction in which Keisha was pointing, and politely informed her, "Keisha, that's not a deer blind ~ that's a green house! If it were a deer blind, it would be camo."
At that point, we could only see the concrete benches to the right of it, but as we passed it, we caught a glimpse of some statues on the other side.....and they were of none other but deer! That was too funny! The fact that it was white and sitting in front of the nursery should have been a small hint. But that's O.K.......she's just a girl. : )

We're still not quite sure what this is ~ some said a greenhouse, Mom said it might be a shelter ~ but we are more than persuaded that it is NOT a hunter's luxury (but perhaps it would work in Alaska). : ) If anyone has a clue, we'd love to be edumacated! : )

Once Upon A Wet, Rainy Saturday Morning...

...the Workman family decided to pack up and head to the Asheville Farmer's Market where produce from all over NC is sold. We love to walk around and compare prices, dicker a little bit, and explore all the different nooks and crannies. Sooooooo....with great expectations of the bags and boxes of produce we were going to cart home, Ray and Dad took out the back seat of our van, and we all loaded up.

Can't waste all that precious time!

Musical earplugs....

Ray found his own little nook in the back. He carted along a nice squishy seat cushion, and it turned out to be so comfortable we found him fast asleep when we got there!

Half the fun was seeing the beautiful fall scenery as we drove through the mountains. It isn't quite the peak season for the changing leaves, but the trees had had a fair start.

As the elevation increased, so did the traffic. It seems we weren't the only ones with the novel idea of taking a trip to the mountains. : )

Conversation in the van was like a game of ping pong....going here, there, and yonder. As we were going along, Mom was taking pictures from the best view ~ the front window. : ) Being a little bit distracted, she asked Dad if we would stay on 74 all the way to the farmer's market. He answered in the affirmative, and she went back to taking pictures. Conversation lulled a bit, and Mom, leaning over and in a semi-hushed voice said, "Did I ask you if we stay on 74 the whole way?"
"Yes."
"Did you answer me?"
"Yes."
(pause)
"Do we?"
At this point, the whole van came alive with laughter. What a wonderful set of parents we have with such a wonderful sense of humor!

Reds, yellows, oranges....

...and pink!
Made it through once! Now to repeat and repeat and repeat......
(By the time we made it home, Keisha had finished three times that much! Not bad for her first big project!)

When we got to the Farmer's Market, we found where all the traffic was going. People and cars were everywhere! We parked at the top and walked down to the sheds lined with bulk produce.

Our first stop was the apples. Because we always buy from Moss Farms, we didn't have to look far. They didn't have everything we wanted, but we got 5 and a 1/2 bushels of what they did have (Fuji, Arkansas Black, Red Delicious...per Allison's request, Golden Delicious). A variety of apples always makes the best applesauce, and if you mix the tart apples with the sweet, the flavor is perfect even without any sweeteners!

Mmmmmmmmm.......turnips! (Not a bit sarcastic now, are we?) : )

We discovered a little part of the market we had never visited before. Wholesale bulk eggs, cheese, butter, etc. from the Amish. They even had a selection of raw milk cheeses! The eggs were all free-range (cage free), and they even had raw milk butter! It was a hard decision, but we finally came away with a big chunk of raw milk cheddar cheese and a pound of raw milk butter. A chill ran up and down our spines as we looked through all the goodies,....

...but only because it was 45 degrees in the walk-in refrigerator!


As the purchases were being made, some found a more relaxing occupation.

We made our way back to the sheds of produce in search of local sweet onions, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and a pumpkin. The sweet onions were all from Peru, so there was no success with those. We did, however, get a bag of cabbage and a box of sweet potatoes.
Now to find the pumpkin. And not just any pumpkin. A recipe had suggested Sweet Pie, Baby Bear, or a Cheese Pumpkin, but not being experts in this new, innovative field of knowledge, we had no idea what these varieties looked like. After all, a pumpkin is a pumpkin, is it not? Well, we found that that's what the vendors thought as well. Upon questioning a young man about the varieties of his pumpkins, he informed us that all he had left were the "regular pumpkins". Hmmmm....what a revelation! With no success up top, we headed down to the lower level of buildings. We moseyed along, looking at the different stands of pumpkins and asking the clueless vendors about the "regular pumpkins", when we spied a little old man sitting next to his crop of pumpkins. Aha! He looked like he would know something about the mysterious orange globe he was selling. And sure enough, he did!

For any of you who are as clueless as we were, these in the foreground are the Rhode Island Cheese Pumpkins and the dark reddish orange ones behind him are Cinderellas. (I wonder if they turn into carriages......) : ) : )

We finally made our selection after a thorough examination.

Hmmmmm....what's kitty cat up to???

We've found our pumpkin.....now where? Back up to the top sheds for a few quick purchases...

...then up to the buildings where the canned goods, meats, crafts, novelties, and smaller quantities are sold. This part is more for sightseeing to us than an actual necessity. We did come away with a jar of herbal tea, a cookbook, a jar of sorghum syrup, and a big paper lunch bag of hot roasted peanuts ~ compliments of Ray, Jr. : )

The displays are beautifully arranged, each trying to catch your attention.

Would you care for a cup of hot apple cider????

The bees sure would!

Do they always follow instructions that well????? : )

Well, we've had a wonderful day at the farmer's market, but good times must always come to an end...or at least there comes a comma where you take a short breath and get ready to begin again. : )

Readin' a cookbook and eatin' goobers.....what could be more heavenly?!?

We were a little unsure of the way to get there, but now it was time to find our way back. Dad thought he had figured it out, but then he took the wrong turn and we ended up back where we had started...the farmer's market. His next attempt was a little more successful, and we were happily and hungrily on our way home. It was now after 3:00, and we had had no lunch. Finally, we came upon an exit that had a suitable restaurant where we could grab a quick bite before rushing on homeward. Within a short time, we were on our way again. Everyone was preoccupied with different things, whether it be a project or a good nap, when, wait! there's exit 33! Isn't that the farmer's market?!? Oh, no! When getting back on 74, Dad had gotten a little turned around and had headed back the way we had come! A few questions popped up such as "Did we leave something here???" Then Allison queried, "How long does it take to get home from Asheville?" There were a few chuckles as we pondered.

The answer?

It depends on who's driving!!!

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

Tires, Tents, and Tootsie Toes

We have been taking trips to the eastern part of the state quite often lately. If you've been following the blog for any length of time at all, you'll have noticed that we have been gone nearly every weekend since July ~ sometimes even a week or more at a time ~ either to different churches or to our land. Quite a bit has been accomplished. We are purchasing a 50' strip of land to the rear of the property so we can put a driveway to the back half without having to cross the creek. (It would cost about 5 times more to cross the creek than to buy the little strip of land!) The DOT has approved the placement of the driveway, and all we're waiting for right now is the survey on the new property and the signing of the deed. After that is taken care of, everything should run fairly smoothly.

This past weekend (Thurs. thru Sat.), we decided to give the apartment complex a test run. It was wonderful weather to test whether something leaks or not. It passed although we found about 14 places (all of them right below the zippers) that we need to use sealant on. Not bad leaks, but leaks nonetheless. : )

Thursday, we took Allison to her doctor in Charlotte and then headed straight to the campground. About halfway there, we began discussing a few things we needed to get. It "just so happened" we were passing a Wal-Mart. There was a short debate as to whether we should stop there or not, but since it had a gas station with cheap gas, we decided to stop. We picked up the few things we needed, but when Dad picked us up at the door, he notified us that one of the trailer tires was having some problems and would need to be changed. He pulled to the other end of the parking lot, and there they began the grueling task of changing a tire in the rain.

Our Pit Crew

Our Pitted Tire

This summer, a good friend of ours gave us a Michelin emergency tire kit. What a blessing! Way back in the hot summer months, God knew about this cold, wet October day, and had prepared us beforehand. It came with several very handy gadgets, including...

...a small air compressor...

...and VERY specific instructions. : )


Dad thought it was just the one tire, but upon closer inspection, he found the other tire to be in just as bad of shape. Here goes tire #2! The only problem was that we only had one spare tire. That's where Wal-Mart came into play. There are so many "just-so-happened"s that you might begin to wonder if it really did "just-so-happen". Even though it is not pleasant changing tires in the rain, we could have been stuck along the side of the road changing tires (with only one spare, mind you), but we "just-so-happened" to decide to stop in at Wal-Mart because it had cheaper gas. Praise the Lord! He guides us each step of the way! Dad ran in and bought a tire, and soon they were changing the second tire.

The official umbrella holder...

...was a blessing!

Finishing up....

Thankfully, we didn't have any more delays. When we got to the campground, everyone jumped out and got busy setting up camp.

It looks like they're doing the two-step, but they're actually leveling out the sand and getting everything ready to set up the tent.

Putting the poles together...

Ready?

One...

Two...

Three!

But wait!...there's more!

That's better! : )

Now it's time for a late-night game of Trouble!
Some were a little more intelligent, and opted out. : )

Friday morning, we had breakfast catered in.

~The Chef~

It was fun doing the cooking outside, washing the dishes outside,...and even taking the long hike to the bath house in the freezing cold! : )

Saturday morning, most of the girls went to a class about bears. The park ranger shared some interesting facts (such as the cubs are born hairless and weigh only 8-12 ounces!) as well as some safety precautions to avoid bear attacks (such as don't feed them and don't sleep in your tent with a candy bar under your pillow). He taught us about all 8 species of bear, ending with the American Black Bear ~ the only species of bear that lives in that area......the kind of bear that lives on our land. We're gonna have to find some way to lock up our trash because they're gonna be a worse problem than the kitty cats!

We started home at about 5:30, but not before getting some shots of the mushrooms!

This is Mom's mushroom. She wanted to see how hardy a mushroom really is, so...

...she fried it with hot bacon grease, boiled it with boiling water, poured ice water on it and as you can see, it stood strong! We too, as Christians, should stand strong as we go through the fiery trials of this life, knowing that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble". (Psalm 46:1)

"Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might."

Jeremiah 11:4

The dark crept up on us as we made our way home. Everyone was exhausted. Dad was driving, and most of the passengers in the back were asleep. All was quiet as we passed through town after town. Dad saw Mom's hand lying on the cooler that was positioned between the two front seats for easy access when someone got thirsty. He reached over to hold her hand, but let out a startled laugh when it jerked. What he thought was Mom's hand turned out to be Ray's foot! What a surprise! : )