The Summer's Farmer's Markets...

Thursday we took a chance at the Washington Farmer's market.  Selling soap in the evening, especially when we have been pushing the reputation as the "bakery tent", seemed like it might not work.   But lo and behold! We managed to sell a few bars and make the market seem "ok".   

Mostly, it was a trial run for the new Soaps Cheryl has been working on.   We had to adjust the price for the larger bar.  And we also upgraded out cash intake system with a credit card reader.  It is hard to believe that these things barely existed 15 years ago.  And they were HUGE!  ( Thinking back to the Carving days, we toyed with the idea of investing in a credit card reader.) Our first purchase at the Washington Market was a credit card and it worked easy peasy!

Today,  was Kalona's Farmer's Market.  And the air has finally turned for the better.  A light rain last night helped cool things off with cooler temps hanging out for most of the show. I got to comfortably wear a light jacket the entire show and did not overheat at all.  Cheryl was even a little cold in her short sleeve shirt.  The rain held off and all that was needed was the people. 

But the first several hours were rather slow.  Perhaps folks were enjoying the  cooler temps at home, instead of engaging in a distant farmer's market.   But we did manage to sell a few bars.   18 in total!   And although that is not a HUGE sale day, it is better than zero. 

At least we got to check out the tent set up.  Cheryl was busy fussing with the positioning of the soaps.   I helped move things and reach things.  No one complained about the price and most people that did purchase some,  purchased 3 for $20 rather than the $7 each we had set out originally.  (Another minor discovery.) 

So,  now we get to relax and enjoy the weather hopefully.   The sun is coming out and it may turn things hot again, but right now, I'm trying to recover some of the sleep I lost last night as the cats woke me up every hour.  

Small note:  Yesterday,  Cheryl found a 4 leaf clover.  We are still waiting for the kind of luck it will bestow.   When people say: "luck of the Irish," I tend to think that is mostly bad luck.  But between you, me and the Chinese fortune we got the other day in our cookie,  we are destined for greatness in our future.   I'll hold out for that.  

Thanks for stopping in.  And hopefully,  the temps will get back to a touch more normal in the future where ever you live.

The Unbearable Heat And The Tiniest Of Turtles.

Today we rode our bikes in Muscatine, because running in this "broth" is simply unbearable.   The air is thick with humidity and the sun makes the temps feel 10 degrees hotter than they are.  Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the week.  Tomorrow has a 20 percent chance of rain.   Hopefully cooler weather will follow. 

I suppose 20 percent does not sound like much, but to make sure it would rain, I went out and did a little chalk drawing on the tennis courts.   Nothing brings on the rain better than placing a masterpiece of chalk art on the sidewalk. Or in this case, the tennis courts.   I don't think it will bother anyone as I doubt anyone wanted to play tennis in this heat.   The tennis court was a pretty good canvas for the chalk.  I may have to explore that area later when the heat is not so terrible. 

Keeping things simple, I tried to play around with "perspective".  It is not as easy as you might think.   The main thing is to make the drawing really really long! Then, as you approach the drawing, it looks like it is 3-D.  That is the theory, anyway.   But reality and lack of experience tend to show off a different perspective. 

Perhaps it was not tall enough.   Or the shadow of the sun was a problem.  Or my proportions of the girl were wrong.  Cheryl was not very helpful in this part of the picture taking.  Ah well.   It will all be washed away tomorrow anyway.  Sometimes you have to take a chance. 

Cheryl discovered some pics on her phone we took about a week ago.  There was a small painter turtle on the sidewalk at the Trueblood Trail.   He was VERY small and a rather long distance from the lake.  So,  I decided to help him out and give him a free bike ride to the boat ramp.  It may be the only time he gets to experience flight.  

Cheryl snapped a couple pics of him before I released him.  Wouldn't you know I had left my camera at home.   But we got the pics.   He certainly is colorful.  I'm not certain what his true name is, but he does not have the "Red-eared slider" stripes on his head. 

Yesterday's Moon....  Did I capture the bright orange color?  Um...No!   Even with all the telephoto lenses, it still looks like a white disk in the black sky.   Why do I continue to bother????

Cheryl has finalized her soap display.. for the moment.  I'm sure it will be "improved upon" in the future, but yesterday we spent several hours setting it up in the heat.  Such fun!  I also changed the oil in Subie and repaired my bike's Front Forks. ( water and mud had displaced the seals for the shocks.)  I'm not sure if it is repaired permanently, but it worked today, and that makes me happy.   Cheryl says I will eventually need another bike as this one is getting older and showing signs of use. I'm afraid if I take it to the Bike repair shop, they will quote me a fortune and recommend I purchase a new bike as well.  For now, I will have to continue to patch this one up. 

Hope everyone is staying cool.   The humidity makes it difficult to breathe outside!  ( Well,   perhaps only if you are huffing up a hill with your bike.) And the sweat has no where to go so it makes your skin feel slimy and soaks your clothes.   Perhaps August will be a tad cooler.   OR at least we will be more acclimated to the summer heat.   Thanks for stopping in.

Easy Sunday. With Advice For Vegans...

 A quick post after the BIX.  Today, I just finished cooking up the Chicken of the Woods Mushroom we purchased yesterday from the Farmer's Market.  This is only the second time I have had the opportunity to eat some of this mushroom... And all I have to say is "WOW!"

We had Chick-fil-A yesterday after the race. ( They were a sponsor and were handing out free sandwiches and coupons.) It was good as always.   But the chicken of the woods sandwich was almost identical!  ( Less spicy) The texture and flavor of the mushroom is so dead on for the actually meat, I would recommend that Vegan keep their integrity and stop purchasing that Fake  "Vegan Meat".  Instead,  Simply fry up a Chicken of the woods on a bun and you will discover the wonders of  a Chick fil A Sandwich.   I will have to look up when the last time I had Chicken of the Woods . ( Ok, September of 2019)  It was good then, but I had forgotten just how awesome.  Possibly the best tasting mushroom of all time...  Though morels are up there. ( they taste like a really great hamburger to me... ) 

The recipes are endless, but it is safe to say you simply cook it as if it were a chicken.  A little olive oil, fried in a pan until tender.   Add some mayo and a tomato to the bun and you have a mushroom sandwich that tastes like chicken.  Easy!  

The vendor from the Farmer's Market said that they were just coming out.  Usually, they are late fall bloomers. If you have the tree that sprouts them on your watch list, it would be easy to check on it daily to see if anything is happening.  Similar to all of our Golden Oyster Trees that we know of.   However, if you have only one spot... and it is not convenient to visit every day... then you are back to ground zero. 

I sweated out in the weather for three hours this afternoon drawing a couple of Winnie's on the Daycare Steps.  Hopefully the kids will like it.  It rained last night and all of the previous chalk drawings have mostly washed away.  This is a good thing as I have big plans for the areas I had previously chalked up.  Now that they are clear, I can begin again with some new material. 

Hope everyone is staying cool.   And if you see any BRIGHT ORANGE polypore mushrooms growing from a tree, I would highly recommend harvesting some and giving it a go.  ( There are not many look-a-like mushrooms that are not also a subspecies of Chicken of the woods.  Also edible, also tasty...) Just remember Chickens do not have gills!  Thanks for stopping in.

Cheryl Runs The BIX Without Dying.

91 degrees with extreme humidity.   Perfect weather for the BIX!  Personally, I think the BIX is Supposed to be one of those "Tough, Un-fun Runs."  It is what draws so many people.   And there were certainly a lot of people today.   As much as I found the weather disagreeable, I did like seeing all of the people doing their thing.   Running in the hot weather with fellow runners side by side.  It brings on a sense of nostalgia. 

We arrived in Davenport around 7 AM and hit the bathrooms, found the start line, and planned out spectator strategy. This is one of those races where Cheryl is whisked away behind a color gate and I have to wait for her to arrive on the course before I get to see her next.   Thankfully,  this is the third time doing this and I knew right where to catch her. 

Live coverage from Patio!

My Spot by the Station.

Up on "Heart Break Hill."   Right across from the news station.  The local news must be featuring the race live, because this is the second time I heard and watched them broadcast from the small patio deck near the back of the building.  I climbed up on a wall near the chiropractic college and waited for Cheryl to arrive. 

After the National Anthem, The Biker Parade rolled by, 

Followed by the Elites.   Meb was not there this year.   So basically, I knew no one in the front ranks. But it was not long before the rest of the swarm was upon me.  I began to snap pictures of Random Crowd shots trying to see if I could capture Cheryl as she ran by. 

I got her!  Though I was positive I had missed her.   Normally, she is on the other side of the road or buried in the middle of a pack of tall men.  But this time she ran right under where I was standing.   Obviously, she did not see me either. 

Lots and LOTS of people ran by.   15 minutes of folks until the Spine finally showed up.   The Spine usually does a little dance and I always seem to miss it.  But not this year!   They stopped right at the top of the hill and hung out for a while.  Granted,  the entire Ordeal looked about as coordinated as a first grade musical dance routine.  You could say that the students of the Chiropractic college want to demonstrate why your back hurts.   In fact, one of the vertebrates seems oddly more compressed than the other ones.   I know first hand that a compressed vertebrate is a painful ordeal.  Almost as bad as watching this routine.  

But it is all great fun.  Why not have a laugh while enduring the heat.  I was also able to capture the Marylin-es and the Elvis-es.  ( What is the Plural for Elvis and Marylin?   Spell Check hates them all!) 

Finally,  Cheryl was spotted coming back.  The entire course is an "out and back" so I did not have to move to catch her near the finish. At least this time we saw each other.   I told her to wait for me at the Finish and I would pick her up.   She was waiting for me on the other side of the fence. 

She did not win any awards this race.   She said she walked a few times and happened upon a woman who had passed out.   The EMT's were loading her onto a stretcher.  Seasoned Veteran Runners know how to avoid heat stroke... So walking , as embarrassing as it may be, is preferred to collapsing and being carried off the street. I think there is a Heat Casualty every year... somewhere on the course. 

We headed back to The Subie and wanted to check out the Farmer's Market in Davenport.   Cheryl thinks the heat keeps people from shopping.  I know I did not wan to hang around much outside.  In the "Inside" section, we found a guy who was selling mushrooms.   He had found some Chicken of the Woods already!   Cheryl had to buy a couple of pieces.   We will have to eat them later  once we get some buns and mayo. 

And lastly,  we capped things off at Tee's.  Cheryl had her Sundae and I had my 2 burgers.   It has been a while since we poked our head in at Tee's, and I'm happy to say they did not mess up our order this time.   Possibly because the "Older Lady"  OR one of the teenagers was not the one taking our order. For the rest of the day..  We plan on recovering, staying cool and relaxing.    We have been up since 4 AM, so both of us are a little tired anyway. 

No age group award, no stunning time, no ground breaking achievement,  Not even a Medal!  Only survival...  And somehow, that seems good enough for this race and this time of year.  I'm happy.   Got my blog post and pictures and I don't have to pick Cheryl up from the Med Tent.  AND we got some really great Chicken of the Woods to look forward to.