Summer Harvest Time

Began today with cereal and cherries for breakfast while watching a country music-themed episode of The Muppet Show from the 3rd season. Country performers did turn up on the show from time to time, and none were more beloved than big and small screen veterans Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the King and Queen of the Cowboys. The two sang their hits (including favorites like "Deep In the Heart of Texas," "Happy Trails to You," and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds") while the Muppets tried to figure out what to do with the cows they ordered for the finale.

I hit the Collingswood Farm Market pretty late, around 11. While the produce was fairly picked-over, they did still have some good stock left. The summer harvest season is in full swing - I saw peaches, eggplants, Chinese (long) beans, peppers, and celery for the first time today. I ended up buying peaches, blueberries, a green and a yellow pepper, two ears of corn, and two spring onions with their tops still on. You'd never know it was so late. The lines were still pretty deep in a few places.

Rode around for a while, looking for yard sales. I finally gave up and headed home. I still had things to do, anyway. The topping for the cupcakes for work was first. I made Cocoa Whipped Cream Frosting with cocoa, heavy cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar. When I finished that, I swept the porch. I haven't done it in ages. It's not as bad as in the fall, but we are in the midst of pepper nut season, and the occasional branch or leaves or sticker ball leftover from the winter do end up there.

Ran An American Tail: Fivel Goes West while I worked. Fivel Mouskawitz and his family head to the wild west for what they think will be greener pastures, goaded by a seemingly-sophisticated cat who claims mice and cats are friends in the rugged new country. Fivel discovers the truth - the land is barren and difficult to conquer, and the cats are hatching a scheme that'll end with the mice all being killed at once. Meanwhile, Fivel's sister Tanya wishes her singing was more appreciated. The cats' rough saloon ends up being the chance she's been looking for. Tiger the Cat is upset that his girlfriend Miss Kitty has also gone west, looking for a tougher breed of cat. It's up to legendary law dog Wylie Burp to turn Tiger into the strongest law cat around in order to help Fivel save the day!

I'm far fonder of this follow-up to the original An American Tail than I am of the overwrought first film. This musical western has all the humor and charm that much of the depressing first movie lacks. It's also a bit of history - this was James Stewart's last onscreen performance as the voice of Wylie Burp. If you love westerns or want to see the lighter side of 80's-early 90's animation or Fivel and his family, this is highly recommended.

I left for work a little early to enjoy our Summer Barbecue. There was tons of food when I arrived. I saw deviled eggs, two kinds of pasta salad (one with vegetables and a vinegar-based dressing, one with a mayo-based dressing), potato salad from the deli, Waldorf (apple-celery) Salad, a broccoli-cauliflower salad with dried cranberries and sunflower seeds, grilled hot dogs, ambrosia, chili, baked beans, and shredded barbecue chicken. Desserts included two cakes (one chocolate, one carrot cake), thumbprint cookies, cheesecake, and my cupcakes. I had the deviled eggs, vinegar veggie pasta salad, broccoli-cauliflower salad, and shredded barbecue chicken on a roll for a late lunch. Dinner included more of the tasty veggie salad, ambrosia, and two hot dogs. Had two slices of carrot cake and a slice of chocolate cake for dessert.

Work was the same it's been all week - on-and-off busy but mostly dead. I did agree to stay an extra hour because several of the just-hired high school kids called out sick. I spent most of that hour standing around, until they finally let me do returns. Needless to say, there were no major problems, and I got in and out just fine.

When I got home, I had time for a nice, relaxing bath before I went online. Lauren's not going to be online until late - she went to see a Weird Al Yankovitz concert in Albany. (She's a big Weird Al fan.) That felt sooo nice. I listened to George Winston's piano versions of Vince Guaraldi's music (including many from the Peanuts specials) and read books on musicals.