Farm Market Before the Rain

Ugh. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't sleep last night. I was still tired even after laying in bed for a while, writing and finishing Anne of Ingleside. (Incidentally, my favorite of the Anne books is still the first story of Anne's arrival in Green Gables. While I also like Anne of the Island and Anne's House of Dreams, none of the sequels can quite surpass the original. Rilla of Ingleside was by far the best of the three books about Anne's family after she's grown and married, and possibly the most tragic book in the entire series, with its World War I setting.

The original is required reading, especially for young girls. The sequels aren't necessary for anyone but Anne fans, or those who enjoyed the first and want more.)

Listened to Alice In Wonderland while I had breakfast. The Peter Pan children's album I have from the mid-70's does have some nice music, including the dreamy title song and "The Queen Has Commanded," but the most unique thing about it is the artwork for the storybook. A very modern  Alice, complete with Malibu Barbie blond hair, cavorts through a still-Victorian Wonderland that looks more like it was drawn by Marvel Comics in the mid-70's than a children's record company.

Headed out for the Collingswood Farm Market around 9:30. At that point, it was still a nice day, sunny and bright, if a bit warmer and more humid than yesterday. The fall harvest is starting to roll out in earnest now. I saw pears, sweet potatoes, winter squash, and gourds for the first time this year, and leeks for the first time since spring. Made my way through the crowds well enough to buy Bosc pears, Chinese beans, a cucumber, and small Gala apples. 

Hunted up a couple of yard sales on the way home. First stop was Everett Avenue, a few blocks down from Collingswood High School. They had a box filled with recipe books from the 50's through the 80's. Thought I'd give Better Homes and Gardens Jiffy Cooking and Sunset Cook Book of Breads a whirl. Had less luck at a sale on Woodlawn Terrace a block from my apartment in Oaklyn. It was mostly furniture and vintage appliances, nothing I really need.

Worked on writing for a while after I got in and put everything away. Leia and one of Jabba's showgirls pass a new statue being added to the lobby as they're heading for the stage. She doesn't have much time to inspect how lifelike it is...because it's showtime! As she performs with the other dancers, she catches the arrival of corpulent mob boss Jasper "the Hutt" himself...who never takes his big yellow eyes off her. She's more interested in figuring out where Hank is...

Broke at 1 for lunch, this time running Mickey Mouse Disco. Yes, it's what the title says. The Disney gang spoofs the disco dancing phenomenon of the late 70's with original comic numbers and disco covers of songs from earlier films. My favorite of the new material is "Welcome To Rio," with it's catchy tropical rhythm. "Zip a Dee Doo Dah" is the best of the covers. 

Work was an absolute pain today. It wasn't bad when I got in. I was able to get all the trash inside and out done in the first hour. It picked up considerably after that. Every time I tried to do one of the full carts of returns or get to cleaning the bathrooms, I would be called up to take the register. Neither were ever remotely finished. One manager called me right as I was going on break. I figured it would do no good trying to explain it to her and wound up being more than 20 minutes late. I wanted to take my break on time because the other bagger was leaving early. And of course, I had no help with corrals that were bulging with carts for the rest of the evening. Thankfully, it did slow down enough by 5 that I was able to fill both sides before I headed home.

Clouds were starting to creep in, even as I was going to work. They grew darker and darker the longer I was outside. It did wait until I was long home and out of a much-needed shower to start raining. 

(Ran into Richard, one of my next-door neighbors, on the way in. He'd been tinkering with my bike this afternoon. The inner tube's shot, like I figured...but so's the tire. I have an inner tube, but not a tire. I'll see if I can get somewhere to pick up a new one this week.)

I had leftovers for dinner while listening to Introducing the Care Bears, one of several recordings featuring the colorful critters in the early-mid 80's. There's a number for each of the original Care Bears who debuted when the franchise did. Most of them were unmemorable and/or marred by the fact that several of the Bears' voice actors couldn't sing. The best of a bland lot were Wish Bear's sweet "When I Grow Up" (even if her voice sounds like it's on helium) and Funshine's appropriately peppy 50's-style dance number. By far the most interesting thing about this one is the "picture album." The LP itself has some lovely artwork of the bears against a yellow background, possibly taken from the original greeting cards or Parker Brothers picture books. 

As the record was finishing, I thought I'd try something I haven't had in ages.I had four big Macintosh apples leftover from last week. The Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book has a wonderfully simple recipe for Apple Crisp that sounded perfect. Sliced two of the apples, sprinkled them with spices, salt, and added a 1/4 cup of water. Rubbed flour, sugar, and butter together, then spread it over the apples. Oh yummm. It came out flavorful and just sweet enough, and it smelled amazing in the oven. 

Ended the night online with the soundtrack from Return of the Jedi on YouTube. I still haven't been able to find the LP for this. I've seen it twice in ten years offline, and it was expensive both times. I'm guessing this one sold far less than the other two. While the music is excellent, it lacks iconic tracks like the credits music and "The Imperial March." Given my fondness for the Ewoks, I'm partial to a lot of the numbers that involve them, including "The Ewoks Parade" and the "Battle of Endor" medleys. 

Return of the Jedi Soundtrack

Here Comes The Sun

I received a call from Mom first thing in the morning. She's still going through the piles and piles of junk the Cape May side of the family's accumulated over 12 years of living in North Cape May. Did I want the Disney Trivia game in the tin, some of her cake decorating books from the late 70s-early 80s, the rest of the wooden items I made in wood shop class in junior high, and a few other items? Did I ever! I've wanted some of those great hardback, Wilton cake decorating books since I was a kid! I've always loved the gorgeous pictures. She'll be sending the box in about two or three weeks.

I figured it wasn't worth going back to bed after that exciting announcement. I read a little Adventures of Holly Hobbie, wrote in my offline journal, ate a quick breakfast, and biked over to Westmont for my first library volunteering session in more than three weeks. I took the long way across Cooper River Park, since it was just such a gorgeous, sunny winter day. I organized the children's DVDs, which needed it again. They get very messy very quickly, due to who usually takes them out. I also did the American Girls and some of the kids/young adult paperback series' books (like Goosebumps and The Babysitters' Club).

After I left the library, I took a quick look at AC Moore. I'm particularly interested in finding things for Easter. I don't actually have much in the way of Easter decorations besides a few Easter baskets, some plastic colored eggs, and two random toys I picked up at an after-the-holiday sale at the Acme a few years ago. Some of the Valentine's items were also pretty. Craft stores are a great place to find holiday decorations. Mom's gotten great Halloween and Christmas stuff from the big Michael's at the Consumer Square Mall for years.

Super Fresh is next-door to AC Moore, so that was my next stop. Super Fresh's prices aren't as good as the Acme's, but they also carry a wider selection of low-fat, sugar-free, and light foods. (I don't know why they do but Acme doesn't. Maybe it has to do with the clientèle. It was the same deal with the ones in Cape May County.) I actually found the cracked wheat hot cereal and oatmeal on sale, much to my delight. I tend to eat hot cereals a lot in the winter. They're quick, low-fat, and easy to make.

I also found three great DVDs in a small display in front of the bread eisle. The Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers vehicles Top Hat and Shall We Dance are replacing my video copies (the latter was taped off of TCM when I was in college). I've always loved the 80s mini-series version of Anne of Green Gables whenever it showed up on PBS or The Disney Channel, and I just had to grab it. All four DVDs turned out to be $4 each, much to my surprise as I've seen Anne go for as much as $16 and the Fred/Ginger movies for $20 each.

After a quick stop at a small bagel shop for a turkey club wrap, I headed home. The rest of the afternoon was spent vacuuming, dusting, and washing the windows. I really needed to vacuum after taking down the Christmas decorations. The fake tree and garlands shed almost as much as the real ones! The kitchen carpet looked pretty bad, too.

Oh, and Lauren and I finished this month's role play tonight, a spoof of 30s and 40s mysteries. It's not the best we've ever done (it ended up more complicated than either of us planned), but it's done. It'll be up sometime in the next few days.

Tales Of Anne With An 'E and Other Bits and Pieces

I'm re-reading an old favorite of mine, "Anne of Green Gables." My mom gave me a huge book with the first two volumes and fifth volume of Anne's lengthy adventures, Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne's House Of Dreams, as a child. I never read House Of Dreams as a child because I thought Anne's grown-up adventures would be dull. I found one of the Anne books not contained in mine at the thrift shop a month ago, Anne of the Island. I enjoyed Anne's adventures in college so much, I decided it was time to give Miss Anne (with an "e") Shirley another chance.

I've now lost three pounds on the Weight Watchers. Rose has lost five or more, but she was always more athletic than I am. She plays tennis with her boyfriend and goes for long walks with her puppy. Not having a pet or someone to play sports with (and being lousy at most sports anyway), I'm pretty much on my own with exercise.

Rose and I each decided to set a non-weight related goal this week and see how well we do. I'm going to try to write a short story, just a little couple-paragraphs thing like what I did in February. When I do write it, I'll post it on this blog.