Madison Farmers' Market

On Saturday morning we went to the farmers' market on the Capitol Square in downtown Madison (see here).  The market is open year round.  However, the outdoor market runs every Wednesday and Saturday mornings from mid April until the first week of November.  On Saturdays it is held on the inner ring around the State Capitol.  During the winter, it is held indoors nearby.  The market begun in 1972 is billed as the largest producer only farmers market in the country.  There are no resales allowed--the person behind the stand is the producer of the product.  Vendors are members of a co-op and elect members to sit on the Board of Directors.  There is a currently a 5 year waiting list for vendors to sell at the market.  Though it is a market, it is also an must see experience.

On Saturday vendors offered meats including bison emu, ostrich, chicken, beef and pork.  One could purchase fresh cuts, prepared meats and even smoked and fresh trout.  Vegetables included the usual spring mix of leafy greens, rhubarb, tomatoes, onions, etc.  And of course artisan cheese (and curds!) flowers, bedding plants and baked goods (Amish pies).   Don't forget mushrooms, popcorn, honey and maple syrup!  Many of the vendors are certified organic and others advertise "no sprays." 

Literally thousands of shoppers take advantage of the market and most follow the unwritten rule and walk counter clockwise around the square.

But with all the concern about walking in the appropriate direction with the flow of the crowd and trying to remember which vendor had the best deal on what, where would one find Donna and her sister Dianne lurking?  Squeezing the tomatoes perhaps?  Perusing the spinach?  Checking the squeakiness of the cheese curds, maybe?  Not even close.

Whoopie Pie anyone?

May 24

Well it came as no surprise.  I should have known better.  The rapture came and went and passed us by.  Oh well.  Life continues and so do birthdays.

Speaking of birthdays, the better half of our team celebrated her birthday on the 24th.  She continues to be 39.  It was a special day starting with a spinach and bacon souffle at Panera Bread.  After digesting both our breakfast and the daily paper, we went to the Olbrich  Botanical Gardens in Madison here  The gardens lie on a 16 acre tract along Starkweather Creek and across from Lake Monona.

It was a rather cool and overcast day and the gardens were abuzz with volunteers removing bulbs, planting annuals and providing a general clean up.  Signs of spring (finally) were in the air and the blossoms were still evident even after the recent storms.

The jewel known as the Thai pavilion seemed out of place with the spring colors.

There were far more volunteers in the gardens than visitors though a bus load of school children from Mount Horeb were evident. 

It was a ducky day (or turtle-y?)

We were almost enraptured. 

The Great Horse Race

Yesterday, we participated in a horse race for the ages.  Jockeys Easton, Chezney, Grandma and Great Aunt Dianne braved the cold rain (not a whine but merely a statement of fact) donned their jockey duds and mounted their assigned steeds.  Hearts were aflutter with the anticipation of racing out of the starting gates and galloping into the winners circle. Bets were laid awaiting the start signal.  And then after an eternity of waiting, the race was on.  But there was some confusion at the gate resulting in downed horses and jockeys:

Three jockeys and their brave steeds hit the dirt!  No one was hurt.  They were able to right themselves and the race continued:

But one fearless jockey was not involved in the three-fall.  Easton managed to hang on and steer his horse into the lead.  Steady and sure he rode:

And he rode into the victory circle where he collected his pirate-loot winnings:

As the winner, Easton recieved a real pirate's pistol, an eye patch and a hook to attach to his arm if he ever lost a hand in combat with fierce deep sea denizens.  Chezney in second place earned a photo shoot with the winner.  The excitement of the race lasted throughout the day.



Water Softener

As I have been accused of being a weather whiner, I won't discuss the weather.  Instead, I'll discuss water.

We decided to add a water softener to our system to help prevent water heater failure and other hard water issues.  Water softeners for RVs are different from those for stick houses.  Most stick house softeners are of a large capacity and have electronic controls.  Those for RVs do not.  Ours also uses regular table salt instead of the rock or solar type salt used in homes and some RV softeners.

We bought the Mark 8000 from Flo Pur.  It has an 8000 grain capacity which means if the water is tested at 10 grain hardness, the softener can condition 800 gallons of water before recharging is needed.  It attaches to our water hook up with a garden hose.  I also added an adjustable water pressure gauge.  So far so good.