Your Dreams, Your Dreams

1. It's that time again at the Farmers Market.
Fresh Peaches
YUM

I've also been getting fresh picked strawberries.
Amazing how different they taste from the store bought berries.

I'm on the look out for tomatoes, blueberries and blackberries, too.

I also came home with Blue Heron Farms new flavored chèvre
cinnamon roll.
Just the thought makes my mouth water!

2. It's also the time for an iced chai from Starbucks. 

3. I love my morning walks.
I love listening to the birds.
The doves are always in the background cooing to each other.
This morning, I heard a something I hadn't noticed before.
It was as if the bird was saying "Your Dreams, Your Dreams".
Imagination is a great thing.

4. This weekend is the last home stand for the Rice U. Baseball team .. the Owls.
And, summer temps will be here ... hot and humid to end the regular season.

5. Empty Bowls Houston is this weekend.
A great way to support the local food bank.
The bowls make great gifts, too.

Empty Bowls is a grassroots effort by artists and craftspeople in cities and towns across the country to feed the hungry in their communities. Empty Bowls Houston is presented by Whole Food Market and implemented locally by Houston-area ceramists and artists working in various media, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Houston Food Bank.

For a minimum $25 donation, attendees have the pleasure of selecting a bowl from hundreds of one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted bowls donated by Houston area ceramists and craft artists, then receive a simple lunch of soup donated by Whole Foods Market and freshly prepared by Houston Food Bank Community Kitchen. Pottery and woodturning demonstrations and live music will be featured.

The empty bowls serve as a reminder of all the empty bowls in our community and around the world.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Willy Nilly Friday

Five on Friday

Random Five Friday with Nancy

I Swooned!

I went to the Farmer's Market this morning.

I went with a list.

I had to buy black pepper chevre from Blue Heron and

I've been noticing that farmers in the area have been showing off the tomatoes in their gardens on FB. So I added tomatoes to the list.
I skipped the large farms that had tomatoes and went straight to the little farmers
and the heirlooms.
YUM!

If I found tomatoes, then I wanted bread to go with them and the chevre.

A loaf of wild rice, onion and sage bread was definitely in order.

Then I decided I needed a treat.

The cinnamon roll will last me all week!

I was still walking and looking and my sack of goodies was getting heavy when I saw them.

I think I swooned!

Peaches!

They smell so good.

I love this time of year!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Thank you to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday.

This and That

It's Friday and that means time for Random Things.

Thank you, Nancy for hosting.

*

I made a quick stop at Michael's early this week.

I was looking for a couple of sheets of 22 x 30 water color paper.

As I was dashing through the store on my way to the cashier, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I could not believe what I was seeing.

The FALL decorations were out.

Pumpkins and all.

Ack!

**

It is too hot to cook.

So, I've been having a slice of wonderful rosemary/thyme bread

 with black peppercorn chevre and tomatoes all from the Farmer's Market.

My Farmer's Market Meal.

Oh, my -- sinfully delicious.

I think I'm going to add some wine!

***

Hard to believe that the 4th of July is just around the corner.

My fingers have been itching to do a quick crochet project.

Last year I made red, white and blue placemats.

While I was cleaning out a closet,

I found a Leisure Art leaflet with holiday hot pads.

I thought the watermelon and star patterns were perfect for the summer festivities.

The watermelon was easy, 

but the star has a few glitches I need to work out.

****

My basil was ready for picking so I made pesto yesterday.

Yum! 

*****

I don't think my Japanese Maple is going to survive.

I've babied it through the long hot summers and our drought,

but it looks pretty sad this year. 

I had to trim some dead branches. 

I'll keep trying.

I talk to it every day.

Telling it how pretty it is and how much I'd like it to stay around.

I guess I could start playing music outside.

I wonder what it would like to hear??

The sound of rain, I bet!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Enjoy the weekend. 

Happy Summer Solstice

Postcard Friendship Friday

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by the lovely Beth at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy.
Be sure to visit!

This is a postcard from one of my postcard blogging buddies.
I LOVE zinnias and it also reminded me of the wonderful farmer's markets --
all the wonderful produce and flowers and goodies that you find there.

Here's an extra HooRay for Farmer's Markets and organic produce.
Happy PFF!

Tuesday Tribute

Last week was my first Tuesday Tribute. This week I would like to pay Tribute to my local farmer's market that just happens to be open on Tuesday. Today I will venture out a few blocks from my home, over to Rice University, where I will pick up a dozen fresh eggs from Dustin. His hens are free range, no drugs and delicious. Last week I picked up fresh strawberries and a small bouquet of flowers -- fresh picked, all with no insecticides ... no drugs! This market and the other four in town, have more than veggies ... cheese of all types, handmade soaps, grass fed beef, chicken. There is even a nice gentleman who shows up in his RV who will sharpen knifes. One stop shopping! Here's a look and a little history about "my" farmers market.

The Houston Farmers Market at Onion Creek on Saturday mornings was the first to open in Houston. Dedicated to providing a meeting place where farmer could meet consumer, the market has been a landmark in the Heights and the inspiration for the growth of markets around the Houston area. In 2007, Rice University invited the Houston Farmers Market to move its second location, a Tuesday afternoon market in Rice Village, to the more spacious and easily accessible parking lot adjacent to Rice Stadium on Rice campus.

Throughout the years the goal of the markets has remained the same: to make locally grown food available to as many consumers as possible, thereby providing a growing marketplace for local farmers and producers and a thriving meeting place for the community. Almost all of the food sold at the Houston Farmers Market has been done so sustainably, maintaining all the nutritional benefits (not to mention the flavor) without the health and environmental costs of artificial fertilizers and pesticides.

How's this? A Bakery just for dogs! It must be good.

There are always dogs here with wagging tails.

These are the flowers I bought last week.

Still going strong.

Sorry! The strawberries are long gone. Delish!

If anyone needs convincing as to why shopping at a farmers market is a good thing, here are a few of the reasons:

1. Local food tastes better. It is fresher and has been ripened in the field rather than in a shipping container.

2. Local food is better for you. The shorter the time between field and table, the fewer the nutrients lost.

3. Local food preserves bio-diversity. Large scale farming uses a limited number of varieties of plants and animals to maximize uniformity and shelf life. Local farms often grow a greater variety of plants and animals that are well suited to local conditions.

4. Local food has a smaller carbon footprint. Buying organic produce may seem like it would be better for the environment but it can actually have a negative impact due to the use of diesel fuels in hauling it long distances. Local farmers and ranchers travel relatively short distances to bring what they grow to you.

5. Local food supports local families. Local farmers sell directly to their customers, cutting out the middleman and enabling them to support themselves by what they grow. It also means that local dollars stay within the community and have three times the impact on the local economy.

(Source: "With an Ear to the Ground", Vern Grubinger)

That's my Tuesday Tribute.
Here's to my local farmers market.
A great big thank you to everyone who takes part.
I bet there's one in your area.
Try it, you'll like it!