Most of the time, it doesn’t take much to delight me. I’m happy with grand gestures, as most women are, of course, but I really enjoy little things that just add bright spots to any regular day. Saturday had quite a few of those bright spots, and I enjoyed each one. 

First I awakened to my husband and son doing some chores outside that I had been really wanting done. I didn’t even have to ask; they just got up and got busy.  That’s always nice, right ladies? 🙂

Next, I got up and went to the Mineola Farmer’s Market.  I love going to any farmer’s market; it’s gratifying to go there and walk around with people from your own community buying food that was made or grown in your own area.  I love supporting local folks!  Not only is it good for our economy locally, but also the fruits and vegetables that are grown locally have more time on the vine and little time in transit, so they have more nutritional value and flavor.  This makes a real difference, trust me.

My friend Carrie, who is a morning DJ on KVNE Christian radio and who, with her super-nice husband Keith, owns Nutty’s Peanut Butter in Grand Saline, Texas, had a table at the market with a nice selection of her peanut butters there; of course, I had to buy a jar of butterscotch.  It is incredible, y’all.  If you don’t live close enough to buy some at their shop in Grand Saline or at Sweet Gourmet in Tyler, go to their website and order some.  The white chocolate is great, too, but all the flavors are excellent, and they now even offer a sugar free peanut butter.  It’s great!

At the table beside Carrie was a farmer named Richard who had lots of Noonday onions, banana peppers, potatoes, and the like.  I got some onions and peppers from him, and some blueberries from a rather young boy who said he picked them with his mom.  I got fresh eggs from a lady who has, she said, 92 Rhode Island Red chickens; the eggs are great. (I had one for brunch when I got home from the market.)

I also got a small container of goat cheese from a lady who runs her own small goat farm. She had soaps and other things, as well as the cheese.  It’s very soft and good!

When I returned home after my trip to the market, I found that the Fire King bowls I’d bid on and won at shopgoodwill.com a few weeks ago had arrived in the mail! I could hardly wait to rip into it!

Here is what I got (if you know me at all, you know this thrilled me):

I love Fire King; my favorite pattern is “swirl,” and my favorite colors are white and the green above, called “jadeite.”  I already owned the bowl in the back in the above picture; it was found by my mother-in-law at an estate sale for about $3.  That was just short of a miracle, as they are quite expensive ever since Martha Stewart declared her affection for them.  The two that I won in the auction were somewhat more expensive than that, but still far beneath their market value.  This makes me happy; don’t you love a great deal? 

The rest of the day was spent cleaning my house while waiting on Sears to deliver my awesome new washing machine, then doing lots of laundry, taking a nap, then making dinner and homemade ice cream. I love days like that.  

I don’t know exactly what this week holds; at the moment I’m writing this I’m enjoying the mild breeze in the shade on the patio at Starbucks, sipping my sugar free caramel frappuccino. I’m hoping to go to the peach orchard this week, and will share with you some peach recipes that I’ll work on.  I’d also like to learn how to make pickled banana peppers. (Anyone have a good recipe to share? I’ve only done jalapenos in the past.)

Anyway, I just wanted to remind myself and you guys that it’s important to keep interested in what’s going on around you, and to appreciate the little things that life brings.  Learn something new, eat something new, and have a great week, friends!

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” ~Robert Brault