Yoder Heritage Day

Saturday was Yoder Heritage Day. A big day in a very small town. Yoder is a settlement of Amish people. Many (probably most) of them drive horse and buggies and are very conservative. Some still do not have electricity. They have a very simple, pure lifestyle.

But once a year they have Yoder Heritage Day. And it's LARGE!!!! The estimate this year that I heard was that there would be over 7,000 people in Yoder. That's about 6,300 more than they usually have.

People come from miles around to set up tents and booths to sell their wares. I attended last year and had a booth right about in the middle of things....and it was good!

This year my booth was third from the end..with no one across from me even. A lot of people kind of looked down that way, decided they were at the end, and turned and went back the other way.

First two pictures show what the pathway looked like going toward Main street, and the third picture is the other direction. Big difference.

However....you won't hear me complaining...as I did nearly 40% better than I did last year even!!!! Great day!!! For a community who main residents sport long dresses and high collars and bonnets, they certainly brought in the people who like sterling silver jewelry!

The crowd was great, the temperatures were perfect, and the wind was "do-able." It could have been a little less windy, but it really wasn't bad at all. It was the first time out for my new E-Z Up canopy, and it withstood the breezes and did very well.

My neighbor to the west of me was selling Joe's Special Blend. A spice blend made originally as a rub for meats, but you can virtually put it on anything. I listened for a couple of hours and all I could think was, "I have to go home and cook something....ribs, steaks, chicken, turkey, pork chops...." Then he started talking about putting it on sliced potatoes and putting them either in the oven or on the grill....and he went on to zucchini in butter sauce with this spice combo on it. Yeah...I bought a bottle. It's WONDERFUL!!!! So far I haven't even cooked with it...but I've used it like pepper (only heavier)(his mantra was "the more the better") on a deli turkey sandwich and even on some potato salad. Did I mention it's WONDERFUL!!!! Joe said he wasn't a salesman, just a "griller".....but listen to him for 10 minutes and you realize he's a great salesman....and/or his product is so good that it just sells itself.

The technique he used was something like this: Potential buyer approaches tent. Joe hands potential buyer the "sample" jar and suggests he smells/tastes it. PB does just that....and as the flavor began to melt into his taste buds, his right hand automatically began to reach for his wallet! Gotta have it!!! Joe's goal was to sell 50 bottles that day. By 4pm he had only one bottle left! Plus he was also selling his own cookbook and some really cute aprons! So...if you run into Joe from El Dorado selling Joe's Special Blend, check it out. It's WONDERFUL!!!!

All in all, a great day all the way around. Lots of fun, interesting people at these events and I absolutely love attending them. The negative people are few and far between and usually I find you get back what you put out there. (The only one that really bugged me was the woman who said, "Who does she think she's kidding?".....and...not to her face...but to her fat ass, I said, "You, Lardo! Mooooooooo") All in all, a fun, fun day...and profitable too!!! What more can you ask for? Count your blessings!!!!

A Note from Carol

Wanted to keep you all posted as to where my friend Carol is and what's she doing. (She's the one touring New York state for a month - by bicycle!) Today I received the following email:

Hi Barbara,
We're in Middlebury, VT, right now waiting for Barbara's bike cable to be replaced. We hadn't planned to come this far east, but she needed a bike shop so here we are, an additional 24 miles with hills added to our day.
It is very hilly here, we were through here in 2008 when we did the northern tier so we knew what we were in for. We will spend the night in Shoreham, VT, at the Shoreham Inn B&B.
Tomorrow it's back to New York to go south toward NYC. We plan to be there by 8-25-10, just seven more riding days.
We've had such a great tour spending much of the time on or near Lake Champlain. We've come across some very helpful and gracious people. It's amazing how the local people love to talk about their home town and area.
Keep in touch.
Carol


And as I've said several times about Carol, WOW!!!! You go, girl! Awesome!!!!!

Day by Day

Well, things are progressing right along!!! Sometimes I get confused what's happening on which house...inspection here, inspection there. Need to fill out paperwork here, answer questions there. Yesterday, for instance, I was upset somewhat because the termite inspection was scheduled for 10 am and the guy didn't show up until 2:45 pm. Then I read my calendar and found he really wasn't due until 1 pm...still late, but not nearly AS late.

Moving day is September 3, I guess. I've been trying to get early possession and my realtor seems to be kind of avoiding the issue. Finally I gave up and called a friend and am going to borrow their enclosed trailer (which I've used before) and so the 3rd won't be a problem for me. I haven't bothered to tell my realtor that!

Still riding every morning...and I've seen the mama deer and one baby (or maybe it's a whole 'nother family?!) a couple of times. I've been leaving very early because it's been so very, very hot here. I said this morning to some walkers I see each morning, "It's ridiculous to have to get up in the middle of the night to go exercise just so you don't fry!"

I'm still doing 15 miles...and am usually home well before 8 am. This am I did my miles, edged the back yard, took a quick swim, then a shower, and talked to a friend on the phone....and still made it to an appointment downtown by 6 minutes til 9! Yeah...I could use a nap now, but that'll have to wait.

A couple of weeks ago I thought maybe I was losing weight...just seemed like it. I finally brought my scales upstairs to my bathroom so I'd be reminded to weigh myself first thing in the morning. Sure enough...I've lost 11 pounds! I'm delighted. My diet is outrageous, so it has to be the bicycling. Another reason to continue...that and my knees almost don't hurt at all ever and I'm not limping and I just feel better all over.

The heat here is truly oppresive with most days hitting the three digits. My yard is suffering...as well as everyone elses. It's mid-August so soon we'll be shoveling snow I suppose, but this heat is really bad. I heard the other day if your shadow is shorter than you are, you shouldn't be out in the sun.

Gotta run...boxes to pack..garage sale stuff to find, mark, sort...you know the routine. Count your blessings...it's a beautiful world!

Double News

First an update (a new email) from Carol, my friend who's riding around New York state this month. She writes:
Hi
Wanted to send a quick email from the public library. We're enjoying Lake Placid, NY, seeing the Olympic venues here. They continue to be used for practice, ski jumps into special water pools, ice skating great fun to watch. We took the ski lift and elevator to the top of the ski jump facility - amazing! Our trip is going great with short days and lots of sight seeing. Yesterday we did 15 miles. Tomorrow probably 45 or 50 into Port Henry on Lake Champlain.
We will soon head south along the Hudson River Valley back to NYC. We plan to be there August 25th. We so enjoyed camping on the Lake Champlain Islands - Grand Isle, North and South Hero Islands. So many bicyclists there and great day rides.
Hope all is well with each of you.
Keep in touch.

Love, Carol

I just think that is SOOO AWESOME!!!!! She's incredible!

And then, my big news...I bought a new house and sold my current house and it's all happening very fast. Basics: I found ad for new place online Thursday. I called realtor and we went to look Friday at 2pm. I made offer contingent on my house selling. Saturday morning he came over and we did the paperwork to sell my house. He put sign in yard at 10 am. Second realtor (also someone I've known a long time) showed house at noon. Got offer. At 2:30 pm my realtor came and added a "SOLD" to my sign. Four and a half hours..not bad, huh? I'm moving by September 3! More on the new place later...I'm delighted and really happy about it all.

If I don't blog for awhile, I'm just packing...or pitching stuff out...I'm even going to have a 4 hour moving/garage sale on September 21!!! (I'd do it September 28, but that's the Yoder Heritage Day and I've got a craft booth over there....like I have nothin' to do, huh?)

That's it for now...have to go clean out more STUFF!!!!! Count your blessings!

I TOLD You So....

It was 10-11 days ago..back on July 20 when I first saw the mama deer and her triplets..and only had a cell phone for a camera. But today, Sunday, August 8...first lap of three...and there they were. This morning I only saw two babies and they were much less friendly than last time. Between the flash of my camera and I moved my feet once and my cleat on my shoe "clacked" on the asphalt, they didn't hang around long.

But long enough for me to get a couple of pictures of them.

Deer are "no big deal" around here...but I find it extremely pleasing to see babies right next to the bike path. Just a real treat!

I met my goal and completed July with over 310 bicycle miles...310.55 to be exact! My goal for August is 400 miles. I went back over past years (and I ridden for MANY years)..but in the past few years my miles have really diminished...and that needed to change. In 2007 I rode regularly and fairly good miles...more like what I'm doing now. But 2008 and 2009 were a flop! So...back at it and plan to continue........and I really love the new northeast bike trail...and they're talking about continuing it with "The Medical Mile" that will go down around the hospital and all the clinics. Hurrah!

Well...like the last picture...I'm high-tailing it out of here. Count your blessings!

(Double-click on pictures to see them better.)