Saturday, September 16, 2023

A Fair Day for a Harvest

Began the morning off with Strawberry Shortcake again. Strawberry goes "Around the Berry World" in 80 days when mouthy Ginger Snap bets the Purple Pieman that she can do it. Peppermint Fizz ends up accidentally joining her. Peppermint moans and groans every time something bad happens, but Strawberry won't let anything slow her down, not broken boat hulls or busted tires or the interference of the Pieman and Sour Grapes. 

Headed out the moment Strawberry ended. It was too nice not to! We hadn't had such a perfect, gorgeous day in ages. Sunny and warm but not too hot, with a cool wind blowing under a bright pale blue sky. It was just the right type of day for running my remaining errands. 

Started off at the Collingswood Farm Market. Needless to say, they were packed with people buying produce for school lunches, Rosh Hashanah dinners, and the last barbecues of the season. Berries and peaches are gone, but I saw the first Brussels sprouts, gooseberries, winter squash, pumpkins, and pears of the season. I figured Cortland apples and grapes would be enough for the week. 

My back bike tire was completely bald, with not a speck of tread left on it. I was surprised it lasted as long as it did. I'd been wanting to take it to the Collingswood Bike Share and ask them if they had a spare back tire I could use, but I never had the time until today. Yes, they did have a tire I could use. It wasn't brand new, but it was in good shape and had a lot more tread than my old one! I stood by while the gentleman put it on and oiled my dry chain. Ten minutes later, I was off again.

After a quick stop at WaWa for Propel, I headed back across the street and into Westmont. As I rode along Westmont Road, I noticed a blockade and an officer with a squad car blocking off the part of Crystal Lake Road around the pool area. A balloon arch in soft autumn shades hovered over her vehicle. I totally forgot about the Fall Festival Haddon Township holds every year. It's basically a smaller version of the May Fair in Collingswood, with games, craft booths, a merry-go-round, tilt-a-whirl, and bounce houses for the kids, food trucks, and a classic car show. I bought two small stuffed animals made from soft yarn for me and for Lauren and a kiddie cup of Black Cherry Bordeaux water ice from Primo's booth before heading on.

The real reason I was in Haddon Township was because I thought the Haddonfield Library was having its big book sale today. I didn't realize until I arrived that it was last weekend. I ended up using their bathroom and moving on.

Oh well. Since it was on my way, I made my way back to the Fall Festival at Crystal Lake Road. The classic car show was only a block and not nearly as big as the one in May, but there were still a few beauties there. I took photos of them for Lauren. Tossed ping-pong balls into little plastic fish bowl containers because it was sponsored by Ovations Dance Studio, where my niece Finley takes her lessons. The teachers in charge of the booth seemed to know her well and praised her work and how cute she was. Won three cheap, bright-colored velvet scrunchies. 

Made two quick stops when I got back into Oaklyn. Needed pads at Family Dollar; grabbed a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper, too. Bought three pretzels for later and a Cheesesteak-filled Pretzel for lunch from the pretzel shop.

When I got home, I went straight into lunch and The Wacky World of Mother Goose at YouTube. I go further into this Rankin-Bass retelling of several nursery rhymes at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.


(Oh, and I won't be doing reviews while I'm on vacation, but I will be updating this blog as usual. Regular reviews will resume the 26th, the day I come back.)

Spent the rest of the afternoon online, working on writing. Joyce can't help being nervous about the deep, scary woods they're passing through. Charles is only slightly less scared. He hopes there's nothing out there that eats hay. It's Rover, however, who sees the short metal man rusting by the river...

Watched Buzzr's Press Your Luck 40th Anniversary marathon while I worked. I came in just as a woman won a car on her last remaining turn that was enough to make  her the champ. I'd already seen some of the episodes (like the one where the guy cheered very loudly to the crowd after he surprisingly won over $11,000 in cash and prizes), but others were new to me. We even got a Christmas episode with a Whammy chorus. 

Finished the night after dinner and a shower with the Match Game Saturday Classics marathon on YouTube. Comedienne Marcia Wallace was on Match Game for so long, she started early in '74 and made her last appearance towards the end of the 1990-91 run. Her down-to-earth sarcasm and moxie made her a stand-out among some of the weirder or more cutesy characters who turned up on the show. 

Her willingness to mouth off got her into trouble once. One of her answers during a 1977 PM episode was censored. Another time, Gene and Richard played tic tac toe on her bare shoulders after the former got marker on them. There was also the time when she got her first match after many, many misses and everyone in the studio cheered. During the syndicated episodes, she asked Gene to spray her dress so it wouldn't stick to her thighs, sat briefly in Brett's spot while she was doing a play, and listened while a contestant went on and on about the worms she had to feed her daughter's frogs. 

Match wits and answers with Bart Simpson's favorite teacher and Bob Newhart's favorite receptionist in this wacky marathon!

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