Market and Hardware Store Outing

I'm experiencing many strange moments of realizing anew that, "Mom is dead!" It's very disconcerting to be trying to go about my business and keep getting hit with it. (What is "it"? Grief, properly named, I think.) I guess that is why traditionally when one is grieving, one is not supposed to be doing a whole lot of "business."

So, I'm finding myself too scatter brained to do much actually productive (thus: frozen waffles and fried eggs for dinner! kids loved it), but I am filling my hours with distractions as best I can. I'd been trying to get to the farmers' market for a few weeks, so we went today. John seems perhaps to be developing pollen allergies, so we bought some raw local honey and will be trying a teaspoon per day of that.

I grew up with my mom taking me to our small town farmers' market many a Saturday morning and Wednesday evening, so taking my kids this morning felt very much a way of fondly connecting with her.

Eating fresh pastries at the farmers' market--just like my mom used to buy for me as a Big Treat on our Small Budget

Then we stepped next door to the most amazing old-fashioned general store. The shelving behind the children shows many glass jars filled with interesting, local, non-GMO seeds. Here is where I bought my heirloom tomato plants and a few cucumber plants. The farmer-fellow who sold me the plants told me that we're expecting an unusual late freeze in about one week, so I have to baby my plants until after then, at which point I can plant them in the ground. But no way was I going to drive back the 20 miles to this neat store to buy my heirloom tomatoes next week, so I bought them and baby them I will. John has been assigned to take them outdoors each morning and bring them back in each evening, with my reminders.

Viewing the baby chicks--which reminded me of how my mom used to take me often to our small town ACE hardware store back in the days when children were allowed to reach in and play with animals for sale