Tripping In The Valley

I decided this morning to head out across the valley to the county park because in a few weeks it will be closed to dogs until September--a rule that annoys me no end, but whatever.  I also thought I might stop into Kruse Farms, a very well-known outdoor market in the area that reopened today.  Since they close each year right after Thanksgiving, it's sort of a "Yippee, it must be Spring because Kruse's is open again" big deal.

The walk along the river was really nice.  Hardly any people except fishermen, lots of birds, and just...quiet.  The river was rolling right along, no doubt due to the steady rains we've had for over a week now.

 

At this park, both the North and South forks of the river converge.  Oddly, the north side (above) is usually turbulent but the south side is calm and placid (below).  Nature is a mystery.

Trees.  I can't resist them...

So after a good long walk--it's a huge park--I drove to the other side of the valley to Kruse Farms.  Not only do they have fresh fruits and veg (though it's a bit early for the real market crops), but several greenhouses right now are filled with plants and flowers.

I wandered through the greenhouses...here are just two...

I really wanted a few of these wrought iron baskets.  I could just see them hanging off the front deck, out of reach of the voracious deer, and looking so cool all Summer.  Unfortunately, Kruse's does all the baskets for the town to hang on all the lamp posts and in front of the shops, City Hall, the Courthouse, the Library so these great baskets were not for sale.  This is just a small portion of the city's flowers; there were at least four times this amount behind where I was standing to take this photo.

Did I mention the bakery?  There is this most excellent bakery in the market building with an amazing selection of pies and candies.  Seriously, walking through those bakery doors is like stepping into Granny's kitchen the day before the church bake sale.  The heavenly aroma of pies fresh out of the oven, the variety of berries and apples, rhubarb and lemons, crumbles and turnovers.  (Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm drooling...)

The bakery was mobbed so I couldn't get any shots of the shelves filled with pies and candies.  Be thankful.  Drool isn't good for computers...

I wanted a pie so, so much, but there's only me after all, and though I could easily eat a whole pie, I honestly know better than to even give that a thought...for longer than a minute or two.  I bought this instead...a Cherry Rhubarb Turnover...

I also bought a jar of Marionberry jam, which is probably my most favorite berry in the world.  I have a recipe for these really great, healthy fruit bars and can't wait to make them with this jam.

You might have noticed from my photos that the weather has cleared up which means I must spend some time out in the jungle backyard this afternoon trying to wrestle some order from the chaos.  

Buggers.  I'd rather eat spoonsful of Marionberry jam...