Monday, July 25, 2016

There are Herbs and Then There are Herb's



On Sunday my daughter and I went to the local Farmers’ Market. My first stop was a bakery counter where I bought the last five pieces of chocolate rugulah. Big surprise, huh? After that I had to stop and purchase some Royal Jelly because it’s supposed to be excellent for your skin. (Royal Jelly comes for queen bees, in case you didn’t know that little fact.)

After that it was on to check out the veggie displays. My favorite? Apricots, and I bought a few. They’ve become quite expensive.

I saw a young man making a delivery. He had a dolly with about six containers stacked on it. I laughed to myself because initially he couldn’t untangle his clipboard from the top of the stack. He then lifted about four of the containers and tripped on the dolly. He stacked the containers and turned for more, at which time he tripped on his own shoelace. The containers were emptied and he replaced them on the dolly. Lastly, when he was ready to leave he couldn’t get the clipboard to stay put on the stack. Okay, first of all he acted like this was his standard for deliveries. Maybe, like me, he’s a klutz. I could relate to his actions. Secondly, he reminded me of Stanley, from the Sandi Webster mysteries. It happens, and honestly, it lightened my mood.
 
 There were two more booths that grabbed my attention. My favorite color is yellow, and sunflowers seem so cheerful. Well, one booth had a very large (enlarged) photo of sunflowers. It cost over four hundred dollars. Not in my budget. The other booth had an eight by ten picture of part of a sunflower for forty dollars. Also not in my budget. I don’t mean to sound cheap, but I’ll grab my camera and take my own picture of a sunflower the next time I see one. Maybe I’ll grow some.

     

             Did someone call my name?

We were driving home when we passed a business I’d never seen before. The sign said, “Herb’s Acupuncture”, which struck me as an odd name for a business, but if Herb could do acupuncture, that was fine by me. I happen to believe acupuncture is great. It’s worked for me before with a shoulder problem I had for a long time. No more shoulder pain. It helped my dog, Sugar, with arthritis in her hip. Who knew it could be used on pets? However, here’s the rub. I mentioned “Herb’s Acupuncture” to my daughter, who’d also seen the sign. Uh, it was actually “Herbs and Acupuncture” – you know, like herbal plants. Herbs that are used for all kinds of purposes.

And, of course, that made me remember an episode on a long ago sitcom where (as I recall) a janitor saw a jar with herbs in it and thought it was Herb’s remains. Funny how one thought leads you to another.

We stopped at a large store where they offer mostly organic products. They carry some delicious frozen waffles that are gluten and wheat free. Now I’ve never had a problem with gluten or wheat, but these are better than any frozen waffle I’ve ever had before.

I stopped in the bakery. They had some fantastic looking unsliced cinnamon bread. Does anyone remember how in the “old days” when you bought a loaf of cinnamon bread it had a light frosting on it? It’s been years since I found a frosted loaf. I talked to the young woman in the bakery and requested she slice the bread. While she was doing that, I asked if they ever put frosting on their cinnamon bread. Nope. So, bless her heart, she gave me a container of the frosting they use on cinnamon rolls.

Yes, it was a good day and had nothing to do with writing, unless you count this post.

I love good days!

Until next time, visit a Farmers’ Market if there’s one near you. If not, try a store that’s new to you. Have an apricot, but make sure it was picked when it was ripe so it has all the wonderful flavor it should.

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16 comments:

  1. Marja,
    It sounds like you had a great day. It's always fun to get out and about, isn't it? And, the more we experience, the more we have to write about. :)

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    1. So true, Pat. We had a good time and met all kinds of people. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  2. What is a chocolate rugulah?????? Fun post, Marja, very enjoyable.

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  3. Pat, Rugulah is a thin rolled pastry with a light filling. Not a great description, but it works. : ) Thank you so much for commenting!

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  4. Nice post, Marja. Sounds like you had a good day. I love rugulah of all kinds, especially raspberry.

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    1. Thank you, Amy! Light pastries are pretty good. I love anything that has blackberry in it.

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  5. There's always so much to see and buy in a Farmers' Market. I'm glad you have one near you. I agree with you about sunflowers. I love them.

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    1. Both the farmers' market and the sunflowers brightened my day, Dorothy. Fun had by all. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  6. Going to a farmers' market is always fun. And, consider how many characters and story ideas you may pick up on such an outing.

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    1. Very true, John. There's so much to see and so many different types of people. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  7. Fun post even though I don't even know if we have a farmer's market where I live. Getting out with groups of others is always fun and like John said, a way of researching types of characters and story ideas.

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    1. Thank you, Linda! You and John are exactly right. Fun and research combined. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  8. We have many farmers' markets in our tourist area all summer long. I've been to only one so far this month. Your post makes me want to go to more! I agree with John and Linda - good characters and ideas are part of the fun.

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    1. Right again, Eileen. I think my daughter and I will have to make another trip soon. There's so much to pick from at the farmers' market. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  9. OK we are now officially jealous. Will be looking for yellow flowers to photo and send along. Outstanding blog. Appreciate your sharing.

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    1. Thank you, Jake! Fun day, and I wish you could have been there. Thank you so much for commenting!

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