I'm baaaack!

Where do the days go when you're busy? I can't believe I haven't been posting! I don't have any market news since I haven't worked one since Saturday. That doesn't mean I haven't been working; just not at markets. And Saturday's market was to support Katy Rose Oilery in Lakewood Ranch. www.katyroseoilery.com I really enjoy Don and Gale.
When I checked the spelling of her name, I was reminded of a very old TV show called "My Little Margie." (Did I get that right Jay?)It starred a pretty young woman named "Gale Storm" I guess Hollywood's name guys were on vacation with that one. That got me to thinking about people I actually know whose names give some of us pause such as:
Dane Knight, Amanda Lynn, Sandy Foote...I'm sure you know one or two as well. This was not intended to educe the old jokes either. You know the ones.

There I go digressing again. I seem to be very good at that.

Sales were terrible today at the "Community Farmers Market" in the northwest corner of Lakewood Ranch. virginia@newmedicinecommunity.com It's one of those little phenoms that is probably going to take off really well. I was pleased to see that their cooking school chef featured our Miraculoso Marinated Garlic in her salad dressing. I tried some and it was very good. I had never tasted most of the things in it at the same time before and that made it sort of adventurous. She used the organic Kale and Swiss chard for the greens (lightly sauteed), added cranberries, walnuts and now I can't remember the name of the sort of rice-like base on which everything else was served. I could live on that. It would take someone like me a little while to get used to but I've certainly had to live on worse. I was in the military you know.

Tomorrow is in Safety Harbor. One of those uncommon happy communities that is loved by its denizens. You can tell there is community involvement. I hope it can survive in our litigious society.

I got some great video today but I'm still struggling to find a faster way to get it to download from the device to my computer. I get a message that says I can do it much faster with a "high speed USB host controller." I contacted "Flip" support and asked the question whether this was software or hardware? They replied very quickly which was nice, and said nothing that came close to answering my question. Did my question arrive at the IRS by way of INDIA?

I have been talked into a day off.

No blog tonight. I am getting a little tired and have made a couple of mistakes today. I don't want to make any more tonight. Be patient. Thanks.

Trends in Treasure Island

This year of participating in a wide variety of markets makes me think that if I were a student of human trends and human nature, I might spend a lot of time at localized markets. If any of you happens to be a pollster, you will never find a wider cross-section of people than at a market like today. I met my first "Albertans" today. I met people from the town I grew up in (Detroit) and people from England.

The funny thing about the Albertans; they were NORMAL!! After all, they were Canadian! I met someone from Trinidad...NORMAL! I'm not too sure about the guy I met from Pittsburgh, though. But I guess we all have our peculiarities.

Now don't go over the edge, you Pittsburghians! There's probably at least one from Detroit too.

Enough! What I did notice is the shift in shopping. I saw a drop in overall traffic today but an increase in the quantity purchased. I know some of this is the result of having bought one jar of something and then, having enjoyed the flavor, stocking up. I'm just glad I'm not working these markets for weekly income as many do. I'm seeing the return buyers. Do you realize how flattering that is? It means that I am in fact creating a customer base and can use this fact to persuade a retailer to stock our products.

I also have to fess up. My guru son Jay, has corrected my grammar! OOHH! I'm sorry! I mean my punctuation! I am so embarrassed. I was improperly using quotation marks, commas, periods, hyphens, colons and...what else is there? Umm, oh yeah, parentheses! I hereby formally thank him for that.

I'm not too worried about it since not too many other people are very accurate with punctuation either. Then again, I don't care about other people, I care about ME. My mother once taught me a simple statement to demonstrate the need for punctuation. It was written the first time with punctuation and the second time without. Both statements go as such: #1: I'm hungry. Let's eat, Grandma. #2 I'm hungry let's eat Grandma. If you didn't get the humor in that, please never visit this blog again and please, please do not respond. I wouldn't be able to quite understand what you mean. I wouldn't want to eat your grandma.

Tomorrow is Lakewood Ranch where I will be supporting Katy Rose. All of my sales will be theirs. I want to condition those "regulars" to start shopping there. Then I can remove our little travelling show and open another venue. I'll be playing it by ear.

Thanks to those of you who take the time to read my thoughts. Someone in Safety Harbor came by to say she was reading these posts. Thank you so much.

Awww!

Isn't my Easter Chick brave? He's looking me straight in the eye! He reminds me of "Dan Quail". But that's a story for another time.

A lovely day in Safety Harbor

The weather was gorgeous, the temperature mild and the sales total was pitiful. I can't explain what happened other than if it weren't for our repeat customers, it might have been almost a "zero" day. It's a great thing that people are coming back and buying three and four of the item they liked the best; I say "best" because naturally, they like them all with varying degrees of ecstatic joy; because there were few "newbies".

I introduced a couple from Wales to our products. They kept saying they couldn't buy anything because they are leaving tomorrow, Friday. I told them quite simply (that phrase should be read with a British accent) that the solution was to pay me $6.50 and sample an entire jar and fly it back to Wales internally!

They didn't buy it. It sounded pretty good to me! I guess the Walesians (geez! I can't wait for someone to correct me on that one!) are smarter than I gave them credit for.

The traffic was slow enough that I was able to engage an interesting woman named "Francene Alexander". She is a pet sitter, a photographer and a columnist.

http://www.tampabaypetcare.com/ That in itself is an interesting combination but when we had talked for a while, the subject of grammar (not grandma) came up. Well, I guess it could be grammar in Massachusetts. Anyway, I learned she had also been a medical transcriber. My mother was a medical transcriber! One hundred words per minute manual, and one hundred twenty on an IBM "Selectric". She (my mother) and she (Nanny Fran) both hated the horrid grammar used by the authors of the dictations. It reflected a dependence by the dictator (not Obama by the way) on the transcriber to correct any misspelling or syntax errors. Apparently their dictation was as legible as their prescription writing. Am I wandering?

I'll be going over to Treasure Island tomorrow with the likelihood of rain. Oh boy!

New market today!

W ell, we tried something different today. I went to an afternoon market near Bradenton. It's very small but seems to be catching on. I'm not even sure what the proper name of it is so I'll wait 'til I find out and tell you then. What I DO know, is that it's located at the intersection of US 70 and Caruso Rd. in the northwest section of Lakewood Ranch.

This morning I met with my (favorite) decorator to hang mirrors and pictures and things. Then I headed south, checked in at the market and went on to Sarasota where I delivered a "first-order" to our new dealer: "The Gourmet Market". http://www.thegourmetmarket.com/ It's on Main Street in Downtown Sarasota. I don't think I've ever seen fewer parking spaces and more cars anywhere, including Singapore in 1969. One of the brilliant Singaporan (sp?) things while driving is to honk the horn to announce that the driver "sees you" and won't hit you. Well, based on the number of horns, no one in Singapore needs glasses! At least they haven't slapped all the visitors in the face with parking meters! Saint Pete could learn from that. You wonder why people don't go downtown? They're penalized for parking and fined for staying too long. I will never be convinced that parking meters are a good thing for any city.

Aaagh! I digressed again! You'll probably learn to get used to that.

Anyway, The Gourmet Market is exactly the type of market in which I would like to be represented. Clean and classy. Check 'em out.

Pretty good day today!

Gulfport proved to be its steady self today. Good traffic, nice people and interesting sales. I was really pleased to see Fox TV's channel 13 doing a piece on my neighbor, "Rebecca's Veggie Patch" and the "Locally Grown" group I've told you about. I mentioned to him that he needs to buckle his seat belt because once this thing hits TV, he's going to think that the little free time he has now was a six-month layoff. I'm really happy for him and his group. They left the market and went to one of the farms to do additional footage. I can tell you from personal experience, there is a huge difference in both taste and appearance.

I'm struggling with an overloaded schedule myself tomorrow. I was supposed to work the new market in Lakewood Ranch but I have to do some morning work with my favorite decorator, deliver my first dealer order to my new dealer, The Gourmet Market in Sarasota, deliver an invoice to my dealer at Katy Rose Oilery in Lakewood Ranch Mainstreet. And deliver goods to the owner the market I can't work because there's no time to set up. Whew! These are really good problems to have!

Off day, schmoff day!

Don't think I'm complaining just because I am complaining. But I haven't had a day off since, umm, yesterday! I don't count that one because I actually did get up, put on my "gangsta" hat, set up my tent and was ready for a day of work. Just because we took everything down, went home and laid on the couch to watch old movies like "The Man In The Iron Mask", doesn't mean it was OFF. It takes a lot of concentration to do so little.

There is something I want to say to our Miraculoso Marinated Garlic fans: Don't throw the juice away! When you get down to a couple of cloves, use the vinegar and the garlic and the seasoning to make yourself a really nice vinaigrette dressing.

Tomorrow is Gulfport. See you there!

Corey Avenue is not to be today.

We got some well needed rain today. I went down to set up... hmm, down to up?... anyway, about a third of the vendors showed up. We were supposed to have a few hours of sunshine during the morning and the rain was not due until one o'clock. I put up a minimal booth and right about the time I set my last jar on the table, David (The market manager) decided to cancel. He's one of the more savvy managers I've worked with so far. Actually they're all fine people but as with any managers, some are leaders and some are more like text book corporate managers. If you think I might name any, ooh, hoo, hoo! are YOU ever wrong! You can guess what my opinion of corporate managers is, I think. Lordy, I just keep diggin' the hole deeper and deeper, don't I?

I'm sorry I didn't take a photo to post. I didn't want to get the camera wet but my setup was actually presentable with a fraction of the gear.

Now that I've digressed and refocused, at about eight-thirty we all agreed it was not going to happen. It gave us a chance to gossip a little so it wasn't a total waste. I offered to provide the garlic for the bloody marys if someone brought the rest. What was I thinking? There are no vendors with enough money to buy a round! At least not at my end of the block!

I'm off tomorrow. Well, I'm off from the markets, I've got some work for one of my favorite clients up in a place called "Avila". If you google- earth it, you'll find a rather well-to-do country club community with some of the biggest homes I've ever seen. I'm told the people who own STP live there. I hope they save a building lot for the people who own "Gerraro's". Although when I think of vinegar and oil, it's not their oil I have in mind.

What a beeeautiful day at Downtown St. Pete!

I'd like to introduce you to "Bruce Almighty". He's a very powerful individual.

He causes humans to do very unusual things.

He controls humans. Here are two of his subjects. He forces them to take him to markets and makes them buy him "Mot-sa-pies".

Actually, they're not controlled by Bruce, they are simply his slaves and if they don't do what he wants, he bites them on the ankle.

I have a post script.

To those of you from Wisconsin who might be related to my "Spotted" friend, with the tiny dot of Miraculoso Marinara on his shirt (which was actually placed there by someone from Canada.), did you ever notice that the last three letters in the name of your state are "SIN"? Ooohh! I'll bet that starts a war!

Treasure Island 3/19

Treasure Island was its usual mix of Canadians, Wisconsinites, Minnesotans, Michiganders, Ohioans and locals. Oh! And let's not forget Georgians, Alabamans, Carolinians, Egyptians, Iowans, Kentuckians, Virginians, Massachu...sans (I'm not sure how to refer to someone from Massachusetts). I actually couldn't tell them apart from anyone else...(except that they use 'r's where there "r" none and remove them from "Wheah they should be")until a certain "Wisconsinite" dripped some "Miraculoso Marinara" on his shirt. It was a really tiny spot. It was minuscule. It suddenly became my fault. It was because I had served it to him. We actually turned it into a bantering contest and had a ball with it. It was a matter of who could insult whom to the highest degree. Naturally, he won. It was my fault. It was my fault because I wasn't born in Wi...

This has become one of my favorite markets because it takes place on grass. Grass has a "state fair" feel to it. It becomes a festive atmosphere, and brings the feel of a real "farmers" market; mown hay and all. I enjoy the "Mayberry" attitude of the officials who manage the market. They have the genuineness of their community. What a nice change from politicians. I'm sure some of them are, but we're working on getting everything "inorganic" out of our systems, aren't we?

To those of you who are reviewing the recipes tonight, "Have a great dinner!"

Good news!

Our packager gave us a nice surprise today and said we could pick up our barbeque and marinara order today. That means we're back in business!

I'll be at the Treasure Island market in the morning. I feel this unsettling rumble deep down in the earth that says to me..."We have something good." Now that I've typed that, I'll confess that I had to go back and correct a "Freudian-slip". I had inadvertently typed "We have something food." It might actually make a good slogan.

We are out of "Mother Mary's" labels. I'm debating on whether to intensify the colors on the label or leave it alone.

Oh, what a day...

I'm having more fun (in a sadistic way) than a man 'oughtta'. I don't have a Wednesday market any more, since I cancelled Clearwater. So I took on some installation work thanks to my favorite decorator. I would tell you who she is, but I don't want to hurt her reputation, heh, heh.

I drove down to the Lakewood Ranch area to explore another small market which, I was told, was a productive one. Well, upon further investigation, it may in fact be a good "little" market. It takes place in the afternoon: from two to six-thirty. It's about the same size as Safety Harbor. The difference is, the proprietors are all in the healthy eating, better health-through better living industry and are aggressively looking for the kind of products we offer.

The manager loved our "Miraculoso Marinara" because of the "no sugar added" quality. She tasted and ordered a case of the "Miraculoso Marinated Garlic" to use in their cooking class which takes place tomorrow and I can't help but think we have somehow fallen in love. (In the figurative sense, you sillies!).

I also shipped my fourth internet order to Gudrun, in Minnesota, today. gudrun@gequiltdesigns.com

I hope you'll network with her.

Gulfport Market

I kind of want to introduce you to some of our 'family'. We have two cats, and, as everyone knows, cats are clean, clean, clean. HA! If you'll enlarge the photo, you'll see that one won't eat over the bowl, and the other likes to leave what we've come to call "Dirt-Angels". It's sort-of like snow-angels in reverse. I think if he transfers much more dirt like that, the Earth is going to develop a wobble and leave orbit. His name is "Booger". The other one, "Buzz", is aptly named because he's afraid of everything, but manages to torture himself by putting his body wherever I am going to step. It's eerie. If I move, no matter where or why, I will accidently graze him with one of my feet. Since I have no idea where he is when these things happen, I am very easily at fault in his two-brain-cell mind. And he actually does have two brain cells! You'd think that would make him a remarkably bright boy; but no! One of the two cells is challenged, and the other one is busy all of the time.

Enough on "the boys". The market was a record-setter for Gulfport. I even had two return customers come by with a friend to whom they pronounced: "You've got to try this!". Sure enough, they tried. Sure enough, they cursed their friend and bought. I can't imagine a sounder form of advertising than referral. If they taste it, they buy it.

Here comes the "Chicken Parmesan Recipe, Photographically"...we had it for dinner tonight. I think it hit Sharon's "comfort spot". She's still going "mmmmmmmm, goooood dinner!". But because I can't seem to figure out how to load them within this post, I will submit a "new" post to get them up there and see if my guardian angel can correct them.

Correction: I can't seem to load the Chicken Parmesan pictures. I'll be working on this. Thanks for your patience!

Mmmm ...

Sharon surprised me tonight with one of our favorite dinners: Chicken thighs on the barbeque. Guess who's (Miraculoso) sauce she used? (Does "Mother Mary's" come to mind?)

My Plate. My TV tray. Shame-nothing worth watching. It was so sticky, I had to take a shower for dessert! Notice: No napkin. Paper towel. Sticky, sticky. Mmmm.

Hoo-Ray-Florida!

Welcome to the prettiest day of the year! The weather could not have been more beautiful nor the traffic more unusual. There were a lot of "tire-kickers" according to David, the market manager. For those of you not into industry lingo, a "tire-kicker" looks, tries but never buys. Boy! Do my tires hurt!

What is usually a solid and busy market was very spotty today, full of peaks and valleys. The most unusual thing though was the people who did buy, bought more than one of our products. In fact, I had a thirty-one dollar sale. We laughed (the customer and I) because I had to break out the calculator to make sure I was right with the amount. I am so used to the usual purchases, I can rattle the numbers off instantly.

I have a new batch of everything coming this week (I hope...). And I'm looking forward to completing my first stock order for Katy Rose on Wednesday.

No market tomorrow but a busy day nonetheless. I'll be installing at one of the new high-rise condos in downtown St. Pete, called "Ovations". I wonder sometimes how much money the people who come up with such 'creative' building names get paid. Does the building itself elicit applause? Maybe. Though the view from the unit I will be working in is absolutely spectacular, I didn't hear myself clapping. I'll try to capture some of the views from there and post them for you. It really is a great view. Each floor contains two units. One to the north, and one to the south. The view is more than 180 degrees, the balcony rails are filled with glass so there is no visual obstruction and only the guest bath has no balcony. It faces the Wachovia bank building and I'd just as soon not see that anyway. It's not one of my favorite companies to bail out.

Category five

I'm sure tired of complaining about the weather. So instead, I think I'll complain, um, about the weather! I'm actually developing a complex about where they spot my tent. Last time at Lakewood Ranch, I was on the west side of the street. Our side got hammered while the east side didn't even need their weights. This time I was on the east side. Guess who got hammered? Yup! The east side. The other side didn't need weights. The security officer for the Ranch brought out a whole bunch of extra weights for us. It was what allowed me to stay. I had sauce on just about everything because when a gust would hit, I'd have to start grabbing things and would in my inimitable way, knock my hand into the long handle of my serving ladle and fling a whole scoop into the air. I'm doing laundry tonight.

In spite of all of that, I had a good day both in sales and because a got a new dealer right there on Main Street!

It's called "Katy Rose Oilery". Distinctive Olive Oils - Vinegars and other specialty items.

http://katyroseprovisions.com/

It's exactly the type of store I want to be presented by. How exciting!

Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach in the morning. It's supposed to be a repeat of today. Why does Bob Seger pop into my head? " Hmm-hmm against the wind..."

Weather, weather, weather...

I really never thought about how much of an impact a bad run of weather can have on an outdoor business. I'm beginning to understand.

We just got back from a nice dinner out at Pete & Shorty's bar and grill. They have probably the best onion rings anywhere. One of the fun things they have is a statue of Michaelangelo's "David" in the ladies room (I haven't seen it. I've been told about it.) and it has a fig leaf attached in the appropriate place but the leaf has a hinge. If a woman lifts the leaf to take a "peek", an alarm and flashing light goes off at the bar. The bartender will wait for the victim to come out and presents her with an "I peeked" button. It can be fun. Well, if you're not the victim it can be, I guess.

Their BBQ sauce is very much like ours. Almost as good.

Tomorrow is Lakewood Ranch. We'll see what the wind blows up.

Will this never end?

I can't believe how bad the weather has been and for how long it's been that way. I had to cancel Safety Harbor. A few brave souls put up their tents, but I have a feeling they took them down again just a short time after I left. By eight o'clock it was sprinkling and the wind has increased steadily since then.

It looks like Treasure Island will be off for tomorrow, too. If it's not raining, I'll at least go over there and check it out but I don't think the wind will die down until sometime late tomorrow. I know I'm predicting but I don't think I'm doing any worse than the people on TV with their gazillion dollar radars.

Speaking of radar; Does anyone know what KLYSTRON means? (for those of you not in our viewing area, it's considered the most powerful weather radar on Earth.) It sounds a little like they weren't sure what to call it, reached into a "Scrabble" box and pulled out a fistful of letters. What would have happened if they had pulled out all blanks? "Tune in to Bay News Nine tonight at six for - - - - - - - - Radar!"

Looks like a washout...

Well, I'm afraid we're going to be heading for cover for the next two days. Really bad weather on the horizon. What else is new?

Since there isn't a whole lot of market stuff to talk about, I though you might like this little family photo of the "Cabbage Patch Kids".

I wonder how many people under sixty have ever seen anything like this.

Gulfport Market

Okay. I told you some time ago about the sign at the Walgreen's Drug Store with the "Heinie" Shot, right? I wasn't kidding! OOHH! Meanies!

Have you ever worried about catching HINI's?

Well, don't worry any more...WALGREEN'S will

vaccinate you against them!

Is this even English?

I can't explain the strange sort of day it was. Usually there is a slow beginning, sort of like an incoming tide. Then the flow stabilizes for your "rush" and ebbs back to closing time. Today it was like a roller coaster or even an irregular roller coaster. It was so quiet and slow that I actually sat down on my cooler and almost dozed off. Then there would be eight at a time in my tent.

All in all it evened out as a good day. I had a number of repeat buyers which is always flattering. One of the fine-dining chefs from the Don Cesar, an early twentieth century landmark hotel, came by to taste the sauce his girlfriend was telling him about. He gave it his papal blessing. Nice guy too. We talked about a couple of other sauces we each use. I actually used him to sell the next customer. He was a very good sport about it.

I got a visit from the regional manager with GFS (Gordon Food Service). It's the company from which most vendors and restaurant people buy their paraphernalia for food service. HE bought one of everything. Of course when I think about how much I've spent with them, he should have bought a case of everything! TWO cases, even!

No reason for this one.

I want to tell you this story:

I, I'm having one of those serious moments about how to continue with this. It sort of spooks me out. Do you know about those detectives in the murder-mystery novels who don't believe in "coincidence?" That feeling would apply here.

Anyway, I went to our local Sam's Club to buy a few of the things we buy there. It was a little after noon. I was hungry. I got in line at the deli counter and was behind an "older gentleman." He ordered a hot dog. I ordered the "Pizza slice and drink" combo, it costs $2.68. Homeless people could live well on this. We each found a seat and we were one table away from each other. He noticed the size of my 'deluxe' pizza slice and said, "Wow! That looks like a whole meal!" Well, it's not hard to figure that we ate lunch at the same table so we don't have to keep yelling. Before we joined seats, he said "I'm a little hard of hearing, so we won't have to keep yelling." I said, "SO AM I!! So we'll probably keep yelling!!"

Turns out, I'm sitting with Reverend Pete. He visits fifty, plus-or-minus, nursing homes every month. He turns out to be the guy who traveled the country "Pitching" a "new" non-stick cookware called "T-Fal!" At that time you could only buy it from his kiosks. His 84th birthday is next Thursday. The man is a slightly lower status version of Ron Popeil! Needless to say, I "sampled" him.

When I handed him my real business card that Jay designed, his first comment was, "That's beautiful!"

So I sampled him a seven ounce Miraculoso Marinara. Then I showed him the rest. When he saw "Mother Mary's" Barbeque Sauce, he asked me how much it cost. I told him he could have the vendor cost of four dollars. He was thrilled.

Something tells me I have found a piece of history. I think much of what he has told me should be recorded. Lanie and Chris, are you reading this? This is living history!

I hope someone soon lands on this site.

Sometimes a day gets a bad start...

You know how sometimes when a thing starts out bad, it seems to stay bad for the whole trip? I was afraid that is what today was going to become. I slept an extra thirty minutes this morning because I'm usually the first or second person to arrive at the Corey Avenue Market. It's not really necessary for me to get there that early so today, I slept in.

BIG MISTAKE!!

I'm not what many would call a "morning person". In fact, in the morning, I'm not even a person.

But this morning was to be something really special. Oh yeah, man, it was SPECIAL!

I stumbled into the kitchen, filled my special coffee cup, which is really just a thermal plastic drink glass, two times and poured the thirty-two ounces of water into the coffee maker. I grabbed one filter (this is a guy thing. I knew I had only one because I can feel the thickness of the paper, I could win twenty bucks in a bar bet on this one.) and put my three scoops of coffee into the filter...rule of thumb on coffee scoops for me: two-for-one and three-for-two (cups that is).

I turned the coffee maker on and headed for the shower. When I came out to get dressed I heard an unusual noise in the kitchen. Not only did I forget to put the filter holder in, I forgot to put thePOT in. DUH! Where do I begin? let's see, I guess the counter top was pretty messy with the grounds and all; hmm. the cabinet doors were pretty messy with the grounds and all; but I think I'll give the floor the messy prize. One whole roll of "Bounty" towels later, I actually was capable of brewing some drinkable coffee. Whew!

I figured I could still have a little wakeup time so I sat in the office recliner, got the cat alongside my right leg and unfolded last week's crossword (I am SO behind on my puzzles!). The cat, whose very appropriate name is "Booger", sat for about two petting strokes, jumped down on the floor and barfed at my feet.

I said to myself "This is going to be one really ugly day."

Thank goodness I was wrong (again). Because Sharon came down to work with me, we set a Corey Ave. record. We had fun and made new customers and some money!

I've added five pictures of one of my more interesting neighbors. She's had some personally difficult times and has cheered me today by putting the things she can't really control aside and pursuing some things she's always wanted to do. GO GIRL!

I am most impressed at what she can do with the stuff that comes off of palm trees that we all throw away. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do.

A little more today...

Y'know, there is another thing I got to thinking about today. Maybe it's because the weather was so nice, maybe it's because the accumulation of difficulties with the markets and the negative things have ebbed, but Sharon and I got to talking tonight about how lucky we are to have found ourselves in a situation where I can be "retired" only to work harder than I have in a long time. It's not that I wouldn't have gone to work; it's that there wasn't any work to do.

We have something good. That makes the doing almost pleasurable. I say "almost" because I have aches and pains in places I didn't know I had. But the good part is genuine. We both talked about it during our dinner tonight. We love people. We probably laugh more than sixty percent of our work time. We learn from our customers about places we've never seen and in a very short time, we make new friends. I wish everyone had the kind of work environment we enjoy.

I actually met someone today who lives in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Why, by golly, that's where Andy and Opie Lived! I don't care how rich anybody is, you can't buy that kind of experience.

The Saturday Morning Market. St. Pete

It was extremely nice to have such a beautiful day. We had a very busy time. The highlights involved several people. Some told us how much they enjoyed our recipes. Some told us how they were referred to us by their friends. It was the ones that came back and bought for the second time that was the best. There's not a better compliment than that.

The Marinated Garlic martini garnish seems to be catching on and today we were told by a repeat customer that he uses the garlic in his bloody Marys. By the time I finish trying all these ideas I'll be trashed!

Our placement was poor today. Apparently the manager had forgotten that we don't do as well when we're placed next to a "sweets" vendor. On one side we had a very sweet organic tea and on the other was "Toffee To Go", Gourmet Chocolate and Brimstone Jam. Sure enough our sales came in about 25% below our last St. Pete market.

On the lighter side; One lady came up to us with a jar of Marinated Garlic in her hand. My first thought was that there might be something wrong with it. I quickly dismissed that silly thought by realizing that there couldn't be anything wrong with one of our products, they're PERFECT!!

She fessed up that her four-year-old had grabbed it from the bottom shelf of our bread rack (which is at exactly the correct height to tempt any four-year-old.) when they were tasting. I told her the penalty for his crime was for her to buy the jar. I mean, how else are we going to teach our youth that crime pays?

Still struggling to get the video thing right. Be Patient.

Tight schedule today.

I had a good market in Treasure Island today but with all the errands I've had to run and now getting ready to take mother-in-law to dinner to celebrate her 85th birthday, there isn't much time left to sit and talk to you tonight. We're going to Spoto's 131 Steakhouse. I'll bet my sauce is better than theirs.

By the way,

Oh, by the way, I think I have spoken to you about "the blunderist". It's a site my son, Jay, set up a few years ago to allow us to post pictures of funny misspellings of signs, etc., so we could all have a good laugh.

I saw one today at a "CVS Pharmacy". It was a marquis-style sign with the interchangeable letters that read: HINI shots available. Apparently the sign-poster didn't understand the difference between the number "one" and the letter "I" or the lower-case "L", or didn't have any numerals. Whoever it was used upper-case "I"s to complete the task. My first reaction was to avoid any kind of hini (heinie) shot and ask for one in the arm; not that I would take any kind of shot the government recommended anyway.

Safety Harbor Market

Oh boy, where do I begin? It was a fairly pretty day. Beautiful sunshine; gusty winds. Not very many people came out. I did less than fifty dollars today. Didn't even refill my sample bowl once!

I did have fun playing with the camera though. I have a lot to learn. I enjoyed my cooking show last night (for private eyes only). I think I can make it work at market too but it's going to take some practice on positioning.

The up-side is that I received my second camera today. I told my daughter to check her statement to make sure that she's not billed twice but the first one included a tripod. The second one did not, and the invoice was a couple of dollars higher. I don't think I should be responsible for the tripod issue, but I know I have to send the second camera back unless they tell me not to. I don't like lawyers very much because they travel in these realms and make people decide what's right and what's wrong. I actually know that, but I really do hope they send me the box and postage to return it. If I don't pursue that course, the second camera will be haunted.

I might be talked into posting the "cooking show" by Sharon but I'm not comfortable with the mechanics of the internet yet.

Pork Tenderloin Photographically.

This is so simple, even I can do it. One thing to notice is that we put our Mother Mary's Barbeque Sauce into a squeeze-bottle to make it easier to control. You can use a bowl and a brush just as well.

Salt, pepper, turn over, repeat.

Ready for the oven.
All bundled up and ready for baking at 350 degrees for 40 -45 minutes.

Rip that baby open.
Now it goes back for the additional 20 minutes.

Tenderloin done, tomatoes underway.
I probably should have started the tomatoes a few minutes earlier. I'm impatient.

Almost ready.
Finishing the tomatoes while the tenderloin "rests". The tomatoes take about eight minutes on medium.

Ready to serve.
The pork is so tender it's difficult to carve. And look at that wonderful sauce in the foil!

Et, voila! C'est si bon!
I should be eating this and not taking pictures of it.

Sharon's Plate
And of course, Sharon's plate. I still think mine looks prettier.

New things.

It's going to be a day or two until I can put things up here that I will be satisfied with. My daughter in D. C. sent me one of those "Flip" cameras. I received it today. Yay!! I sure do love her. I would love her as much even if she hadn't sent me this really cool toy! Now I have to learn how to use it. So far, it suits me...one button control! That's right up my alley.

Get ready. This here blog is going to start gettin' interesting!

Pork Tenderloin Photographically

Well, I will be talking to my "Guru" son Jay, very soon. I have a wonderful "Miraculoso" photo-recipe that I cannot seem to get in the correct order. This is certainly a test of patience. I am able to understand many complicated things; particularly machines. When it comes to electronics, I am at least two generations behind.

What I'm frustrated about is that no matter in which order I choose the pictures, They come up in reverse order. I have just now given up after, I think, thirty tries. It was a really fun project until I tried to put it together. It's like baking this beautiful pie and putting into an oven that doesn't work.

Phhhtttt!!!