I slept in today! I think I slept until 9:30!
Nice to wake up in bed and just relax.
Now that I'm up and moving, I'm realizing that I have the unique opportunity of having transportation and not having things scheduled. Which means that today is going to be about shopping! I've been running low on some of the "heavier" staples that I use, things I don't want to carry on a bus. This is a great chance to stock up!
I've been wanting to check out some farmer's markets, too. I generally buy my vegetables from Mother's Market. I buy only organic. I think we are hurting our bodies and our planet with pesticides and GMOs and could give you a long blog just about that. So, the fact that there is no grocery near where I live that offers organic vegetables is a bit frustrating! Trader Joe's is the closest. They are about 5 miles away. They don't have a large selection of organic produce, but they do have some. Back around Thanksgiving I started getting boxes of fresh, organic vegetables from "Farm Fresh For You." I had a 50% off Groupon to try them. The first box thrilled me, and they even had an awesome recipe in the box for summer squash. The other boxes I've gotten from them haven't thrilled me as much. The following recipes haven't been vegetarian, and I can't seem to keep it in my head when they are coming. So, I've generally just stocked up on vegetables when their box arrives! I'm ready to cancel my subscription with them. I don't think the vegetables I get from them are worth the $31.50 the box costs. However, they do seem to be better looking than the vegetables I get from Mother's Market. Which is why I wanted to check out Farmer's Markets. I want to see what the going price of the same vegetables is, and if I can match the health and freshness of the vegetables and also get organic.
I researched on the web for Farmer's markets that happen on Sunday and decided to go to one at the Great Park. It's too far away for me to go to on a regular basis, unless it is a extra fantastic market, but I've never been to the Great Park. So, I'll not only get to see what their Farmer's market is like, I'll find out where the Great Park is, and get to learn a bit about it! It's noon now and the Farmer's Market ends at 2! I better get myself moving!
Driving back to the Great Park, you wouldn't know it's there. I wonder if they have a lot of people who come. It's tucked away and the entrance looks more like a military entrance than a park. It looks like they are still building the park. There are a lot of trees sitting around in planters.
At the entrance to the Farmer's Market there is a park representative with several fliers. I tell him I haven't been to the park before. So, he helps me pick out a few fliers. I had been avoiding going to the park because I figured that there would be an entrance fee and a fee for each of the things they had there. It turns out that it's all free! There is no entrance fee! They also have a Merry-go-Round and a hot air balloon ride (they take you up and then back down) and he says that is all free too! I'm going to bring my grandkids here sometime soon! We'll have a blast on the Merry-go-round!
It's now almost 1pm and the Farmer's Market closes at 2. I want to look over the whole market while I'm here, to get a feel for what this one is like. I go up one side, planning to come back down the other, and it just keeps winding around and around. The funny part is that I'm really only interested in vegetables, and am only desperate for lemons and all of the vegetable shops are on the other side of the aisle... the one I'm not going down right now and soon there aren't any vegetable shops at all. I'm starting to get a bit worried that I won't make it back to the vegetables before the shops close.
Part of it seems more like a swap meet than what I think of as a Farmer's Market and it just keeps going! Finally, I figure out there isn't just a Farmer's Market here, that they also have a Antiques Market and that is part of where I've been walking! I'm really proud of myself that I didn't get drawn in and spend money on any of that!
I finally made it back to the vegetables! They all definitely look good, and are a lot cheaper than what I've been paying. I'm going to have to find a way to shop regularly at a Farmer's Market. There is even a group of musicians playing. It's really lovely being here on this gorgeous sunny day! Now that I'm done with my purchases, the market is closing and the musicians are packing up. I wish I had come earlier so I could have spent time just sitting and listening to them! I'll remember next time!
Now, it's on to shopping for items to sell on eBay. I found a few things! (yay!) I actually have a large back-up of items to list, but sometimes you find something really special and it's going to be harder for me to shop for items without a car. So, I figure when I do have a vehicle and the timing works, I should look!
The truck uses a lot of gas! I'm not sure I'm saving money on gas, but the alternative would be to occasionally rent a car and that would definitely be as expensive. I think it's too soon to know about the $$ savings (or not) on gas. I'm just tracking it for now and I'm VERY grateful that there is a vehicle I can borrow when I need to!
On to Mother's Market and then Trader Joe's. I picked up extras of a lot of the staples I use (frozen veggies, canned tomatoes, canned olives, flour, etc...) None of these things will go bad and this way I won't have to do this kind of shopping again for awhile! I bought 3 non-necessary items; two candy bars and a thing of wheat grass. I think I'm doing good, and I definitely feel that I'm prepared for once!
I had a wedding dress sell on eBay today. I'd like to drive that to a post office, but can't drop it off today because the box is too big to use the Post Office's drop box. I called Charles and he said it was fine to keep his truck for another day, so that I can drop it off at the post office tomorrow. Today has definitely been a good day!
No comments:
Post a Comment