Trade days, lawn care, back in church

Mama and I went to Trade Day’s Saturday morning. I have not been to Trade Day’s in several months, but Mama makes it a regular monthly outing. From what I saw, I have not missed much by my absence. This time Mama and I focused on the vendors that have permanent stations at the market, most of whom sell older stuff. Some people loosely refer to their wares as antiques. I do not see them that way. Mama was specifically looking for spools to use in her crafting. We were not having much luck until I veered out of the flow of pedestrian traffic and into a booth to look at a Conestoga wagon miniature. It was not in particularly great shape, but it had caught my eye.

Tucked behind that wagon were a couple of large antique spools. I did not recognize them, but Mama did. She bought them for $4 each. That was a bargain because of all the old junk we looked through, those were truly antiques. Most of the other things that we looked at had prices that were too high to even consider making a reasonable offer. Something I find particularly frustrating about people selling low quality items at prices that are unreasonably high is the hallmark of such flea markets. If it eventually works for them, good for them. I will not indulge them in their quest to gouge customers. Mama also bought two doilies for $1 each. I came home empty handed.

While at Trade Day’s we spent some time visiting with the Wycoff’s. They were in their reserved spot selling crafts and candles. I do not think they were doing very well. In fact, in the time we were there only a couple people stopped to smell the candles or peruse the wares being offered. Daniel was a little worried about the temperatures. The candles do not do well in the heat and the temperatures were forecast to be in the mid-nineties. At least there was a breeze blowing – hard enough that Brittany was having difficulty keeping some of her craft items on the table and shelves she had set up. Mama and I did not stay long but when we got back home, both of us took a short nap. We are still not functioning at full capacity and tend to wear out very quickly.

It had rained a little overnight Friday night, so Mama and I had decided to let the grass dry a bit before she fired up the mower. That was the one reason I decided to visit Trade Day’s that morning. Once our naps were over, I got the edger attachment on the combo unit I use and edged the patio and sidewalks. I had not done any edging for months, so it was a mess, but I slowly cut away at the overgrowth around the edge of the patio. That done, I got out the weed eater and trimmed around some of the obstacles Mama has to avoid when she mows. I cannot last very long with the weed eater so I did what I could before she started mowing. By that time, I was thoroughly soaked. The temperature had not topped out yet, but it was above 90°, so it was quite warm. Doing the yard work was about as far as Mama and I got other than the cooking I did on the grill – smoked meatloaf and beef cutlets with vegetables. Both of which turned out well.

Sunday Mama and I finally got the chance to go back to church and we got to get Cheyenne and Aubrey as well. We had missed two complete weeks of services due to our illnesses, so it was very nice to be back in the services again. I lead the singing and even sang a special for the morning service. Pastor let me know that we could start the choir again, so next Sunday I will get to see who wants to sing in the choir. We will start regular practices the following Sunday evening. At some point we will be back to the order of service we used to keep. Tat will be a refreshing return to normal. A statement that we are comfortable enough to do things the way we used to. That has been a long time coming.

We ate lunch at the restaurant after church. We had to leave the girls at the restaurant because Grandma was helping out at the restaurant. The girls were not overjoyed at spending the day sitting in a corner at the restaurant, but Mama was not prepared to bring them home with us. As a reprieve, we picked up the girls for church Sunday evening and they sat through the service with us only to be dropped off at the restaurant after the service.

It was a good day overall.