Cheryl Almost Fixed, Muscatine Farmer's Market, Cute Little Girl, And Ripening Tomatoes.

Cheryl testing the waters.... or trails.  

Happier times!    Today I will focus on the good things and not the inevitable demise of humanity.  (Do I usually do that?)
Today Cheryl decided to give running a try.   In case you missed it a month ago,  Cheryl broke herself and has been kind of insane ever since.  But it has been about 6 weeks since that injury and she is willing to test the waters one mile at a time.  So now I once again have a job.   Not one that pays, mind you.   But the self esteem I gain is worth so much more than a simple paycheck.  (Or so it was explained to me.)

Still in one piece.   Horray!

The goal is to eventually run to the HOPS that grow wild along the trail.   It is about three miles down  from West Chester...so I'm hoping she does not break herself again until then.  The hops should be in season now... or at least visible from the trail.  I'm not sure what I will do when we find them.   Maybe I'll harvest a few and show them off to total strangers.   Adding to my "mystique"  ( or creepiness...)

Back view.  

The "Pre-Marathon" legs

So Cheryl is ready to get her sexy, hardcore legs back.   I snapped this picture as a reference in a few months to show her the progress.   Who knows,  there is a possibility she may still run in the Quad Cities Marathon in some capacity.  We shall see how things go.

Muscatine Farmer's Market.   With Gray skies...

Cheryl evaluates her Display

In other news,  a slight recap of the Muscatine farmer's market.   A fairly consistent show,  and nothing more.   But the people are getting used to us now and sometimes come to visit.  They buy our stuff and we buy theirs...  (Usually to break larger bills for change.)

Heirloom does NOT always mean Tasty

Heirloom Melon.

 But sometimes  we discover something cool...  Like this heirloom melon!    So cute and aromatic! As far as flavor goes..kind of bland.   But two out of three is not bad.

Cute little kid with a rock.

A "Muscatine" rock.  Hidden for people to find and blog about. 

One of the vendor's kids found a Muscatine painted rock.   I guess there is a long standing tradition where people paint rocks and hide them.   And people are supposed to find them and post them on their Facebook page.. or something like that.  Either way,   Easter egg hunts are always fun.  And I'm blogging about it...so I guess it works!

Finally a red tomato!

And finally!   Our tomatoes are finally changing color!    I may give this a few more days before picking it.   Looks like they will all ripen around the same time.   This is great because I will no longer have to beg the neighbor for any extra tomatoes.   (I don't beg.  He offers them to me.

A few more hidden ones turning. 

Looks like They will all ripen at once.

And I accept them...   But I make sure I'm always  available in case he has to "get rid" of  any.)  I may have to keep a few of the seeds and see if I can start them earlier next year.   Last time I started them in February inside.   And I had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. Perhaps six plants was a little too much.

So that is all for now.    Later this week I'll have to show off my latest Origami creations.   And the utterly senseless amount of time I spend on each one.  If anyone thinks being an artist is "cool"... they are wrong.  I would highly not recommend this "occupation" or anyone.  But that is just me, I guess.