Unocchio goes to the Farmers Market

At 86 degrees with a blue sky it was a perfect day for the Farmer's Market in Scotsdale AZ. It was our pleasure and delight to be able to go there and meet the fine vendors and the customers browsing throughout. Families came with their dogs and cats (one person actually brought the cats in a specially made stroller for 2 cats). Geezers and young folks strolled about. there was not a gloomy face to be found. The main anchor, a produce vendor was not there today... but the second main attraction was there ... that was Ben Hershberger and his very special breads.
Overall this was probably the best Farmers Market I have attended ... more organic...more fresh foods... more special crafted foods from locals.... some of the best ice cream I ever tasted...there were even a couple of live pigmy goats there.
For those who have never been to downtown Old Scotsdale Az I have included a couple fotos. What a very interesting old town. It is now in the middle of a large city.... but in former days we had a truely Western Town out in the desert with all the charm of the Spanish and Mexican influence.

Thanksgiving at Zabrina's

We got started a day late because I was on the road... but no one cares ... we all had a great time anyway. I think Roy did most of the work and all of the cooking. Ben was working all day so we timed the dinner later in the day so he could be on time.

We always love it when Ben brings some of his special breads.... can't think of a better way to begin.

Cheyene is ready

Savanah is ready

Jordon and Jonah are ready

Kris is ready

All ready ....  get set and go

Big time at Jon's

25 Nov 2009 Tallahassee Florida

It’s not yet 6:30 am and I open one eye to check the world around me. Light streams through the drapes neatly hanging over the large picture window revealing a finely manicured back yard of the 37 year old condo. There is a lovely view of a variety of flowers and green plants.
Inside I gaze around the room dimly lit by the early morning light. There is no sunshine. It is a gray, overcast day but I know it will be a good day regardless. This is the day I continue my cross-continent drive.
Quietly and carefully I slip out of bed into the cool morning air quickly jumping into the clothes I had neatly stacked beside the bed last night. Jon and Marjory do not get up this early and I certainly did not want to disturb my wonderful hosts. …however, sneak around as I did, about 8am they descended from the second floor smiling and cheerful. This was early for them.. they are night people and usually sleep a little later.These are wonderful people and kind hosts. I always appreciate a visit to their house. Of course, Marjory did not want me snapping pictures this early in the morning. :-)
A light breakfast is rustled up and we chat for about an hour…. Then, time to hit the road.
After seeking out the cheapo fueling station and topping off the tank I head for I-10 West. Driving West on I-10 the Florida interstate looks the same as always… wide grassy areas on both sides and down the middle between the East and West bound lanes. Beyond the grass belt are rows and rows of Florida pines, tall and slim and very close together. I’ve always enjoyed the clean manicured look of the Florida interstates. This may be the last time I make this trip… who knows.
For the rest of the day it will be mostly cloudy with only a couple hours of sunshine. That’s OK with me….it makes for easier driving.
The original plan was to stop at Brad’s place in Tyler Texas but he could not stick around any longer. He was off to Kansas to have Thanksgiving with his family.
I continued on….destination…Cisco Texas. This leg of the trip would be just over 1000 miles. Carefully laid out on top of my load in the back of the truck was a clean mattress and somewhere back there was a sleeping bag. When I get tired I simply pull off at a truck stop, crawl back there and grad a few Zzzzz’s. Boy did that feel good. Each nap was one or two hours. They were frequent.
Finally we arrive in Cisco in the mid-morning the following day. After visiting with several friends and having lunch I was back on the road by 2pm.

On the Road Again,,,, well not exactly

My target date to roll outta here was Wednesday ... however

there was a recent storm over the Gulf of Mexico... a hurricane which started to fizzle and was downgraded to a tropical storm....

nonetheless

driving on a southern freeway in a tropical storm is not a piece of cake .... exhausting...stressful.....very dangerous............ so I opted out.

It was time to stick around for a day or 2 and watch what was happening with that storm and exactly where it was going.

It cleared up.

Now it is about 48 at night and 75 during the days... blue skies and warm days ... it is very lovely in Florida right now. not the time to have to leave.

By this time I had revised my packing and was involed with another intense session of cleaning an moving. The job has become very demanding.... I am learning how to sort and toss... it is a lot easier now. actually contacted St Vincent de Paul yesterday making plans to get rid of lots of stuff.

You won't believe the truck .... no picture here yet..it's dark out there at this moment...... but that thing is full up to at least 3 feet deep..front to back except the cab (and there are a few things there now with more planned). I have been revising the load. I think I am about finished except for some last minute items. .... some of them may not make it.... this will be a verrry interesting trip for Unocchio.

Alas, the trip has been delayed again.

Tomorrow I fly to Reno in response to a call for help. It is always my pleasure to help when I can. It never hurts to place someone else's needs above my own ....I have been doing that for a long time... it is one of the immeasurable pleasures of life..... bringing personal pleasure and happiness. The key to happiness may be very subjective, however, there are certain basic keys......  giving, sharing and going beyond the call of duty  is a vital part of it........it's part of being self-less.. . I love working and I love helping those in need whether on the job or otherwise.

Next Thursday I will return to Florida, spend a couple days in preparation then hit the road.

Stay turned

Books Books and More Books

Today is the Sunday when the Sprage House Inn has their famous Sunday Brunch for $10.95 ... a big hit in these parts. enjoy a home cooked brunch at a price you can afford. Actually the Sprague House is a bargain place... Rooms from $ 79 including a full custom breakfast. They always invite this neighbor as a guest.... how nice!

The brunch runs from 10 to one... I go at one so that I can eat with the proprietors. Good food, good conversation, friendly atmosphere.

As I prepare this post I have the "Prairie Home Companion" playing on the internet. This is one of the good things about the net .... there is so much available. I remember listening to the "Prairie Home
Companion" many, many, many, years ago. It never changes.... always delightful.

I can't sit around all morning with all this work to do so I get up early and get busy...... probably 6 am this morning..... got busy right away packing boxes inside with the lights on. As soon as it got light outside I start loading the pickup truck. Tomorrow, Monday, I am going to Ocala, Fl to meet a client, deliver books to the library and deliver easels and supplies to the local art club.

Of all the books I had accumulated, some I sold; a bunch I loaded in my trailer (probably more than some folks think I should have but nevertheless I couldn't part with them yet); a lady and her son - you saw them on yesterday's post - took 10 boxes (a very good thing); the remainder go to the library. Am I maxed out on the pickup.... look at how it is tipped back.... good thing I did not try to load it and pull the trailer.... I think I was in for some trouble. I filled the back mainly with boxes of books ans then added a few easels.

If you zoom in on this you will see it is a full load. From the way the truck tipped back you saw the weight was maxed out. I keep in shap by moving books. Gathered them from all points in the house. boxed them...carried them to the upper deck (no room on the lower deck and they needed to be removed from inside the house... then I stacked the boxes twice...finally I carried them down to the truck. I even surprised myself that I am able to work this hard and move this much weight. Notice that even the cab is loaded with stuff... that is the load of art books and supplies for the art club. I'm glad to be able to help someone else get started.Did I mention that there are more books than would fit into the pickup?

There is what is left.. probably another 400 pounds. Nother trip to the library?... sure looks like it,

It's about 10:43 am now... still time for me to get lots done before time for showering up for the brunch.
You have a good day....... and the very best to you all.

Continuing saga of moving

The ordeal of cleaning out the place is almost over. Part of it is very enjoyable; selling what I can; moving things from here to there; chatting with folks who stop by just to snoop and helping some of the neighbors load up equipment and lumber purchases.
Many times I am busy packing and sorting and let folks just poke away at all the stuff . Every day there are new things out there in front of the house because every day I get to another nook and cranny of the house and find more... whew!  The scene changes daily.

Today Dea Anna and her son stopped by to browse thru the books and other things. She was here the other day and picked up a few items. Her son was a little bored so I let him check out my web site since he has a great interest in art..... mom continued to browse thru the boxes and boxes of books. I think she took about 10 boxes of books. they live out in the country on a couple acres ... have no TV or cable. They read and draw and make things. this was the place for them to come.It took Dea Anna and her son a while to carefully place all the boxes and things in the care so that they would squeeze in there.

In the mean time I carefully squeezed a few things in my trailer..... take a look.

The truck arrives Monday. I am stacking things in the main room of the house to load in the truck.

It is now much easier to sell, give away and throw away things. Even some of my 40 year old clothes are going away. Heh Heh. that will certainly make some of the kids very happy. :-)  We are still on target and on schedule. Keep your fingers crossed. That bright colored object on the top is an antique Swiss hand-carved music box chair wrapped in a foam matress... just couldn't leave it.

This isn't cheating

It has been a grueling task cleaning and sorting all the stuff. I carefully selected only a few choice items that I thought would fit in the small trailer and the small pickup truck. The closer I got to the end the more I realized that my small load was no longer small........ now I would have to refine my selection. When packing I had constantly keep in mind that it was a 4 cyl PU truck that was pulling this load. More and more things kept getting jettisoned .... AND
I found out that amoungst all my junk books were some books of much more value. I separated them. They weigh a lot. the final outcome is that at least 3/4 of the books are being donated to the library.... maybe 80%.
Well I feel better now... I get to keep a few more of my favorite books. :-)

Then  came the neighbor's brother-in-law with a Dodge Sprinter for sale. This seemed to be the answer. More power. More room. More comfort.... and a reasonable price.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that I am probably not throwing away all the junk that I should.
So what.

Unocchio's Lumber yard

Today it was more like Oct-Nov weather in Crescent City ... about 71-72 degrees..... and low humidity. It was a great day. Since it was not 68 with 94 humidity I decided  too move the air-tight wood stove out on the fron lawn where cusotmers might see it. I moved it by myself from the back room to the edge of the porch ... you will notice that I used some dowels and a piece of plywood to move that 250 pound monster. My neighbor, Jason, helped lift it off the porch....... also,  it was time to get on the lumber project. A couple of the neighbors wanted some of the lumber so it had to be done sooner or later. To get to the wlanut and oak I had to first remove the maple. No simple task at that. Some of the oak was stored in the top of the shop .... that was ladder work. Finally I brought out the aromatic red cedar... ahhh.. love that wood. The walnut smells good also. All in all it was a hard labor day. It is now the end of the day and the eye lids are drooping.
The sale is still going on as you can see by my great signs... special thanks to Elaine for the help in that department. We had a steady flow of people even today, Monday. Every little bit helps.
the place is getting cleaner and cleaner. Wow. It's been a while since I saw this much of the floor. I am learning my lesson. I will never accumulate this much junk again. After weeks and weeks of work it all seems to have less value and less reason to save it. Well, tomorrow starts another day and we are getting closer to the deadline.