The longest, hottest, and busiest days of the year are upon us!

The Thursday market is a chill vibe. A time for people who can’t make it during the morning hours to visit the market and relax. It’s usually a much smaller scale than the Saturday market, but there’s food trucks, baked goods, great food, entertainment, cooler evenings, picnic tables, and a good time. This week was a “Taste of the Market” event, which means a local chef shops the market, prepares a dish, and serves free samples. It happens every other Thursday in June and July and is a great way to discover new dishes. It’s always delicious. This week, we had 400+ people visit the Thursday market. IT’S GROWING!!!

On the way home, our truck blew a cylinder in the engine. He limped it and the trailer home. I was thankful we didn’t have to call a tow truck – again. Decisions had to be made. We ended up renting a truck to get our trailer to the market because missing the Saturday market was NOT an option. Friday, he picked up the truck while I was running errands and refilling my mom’s medication boxes. He also checked out a replacement truck. It was a late night of baking for him. He maybe got 3 hours of sleep.

The Saturday market included the local hospital’s annual art and health event – always a very large crowd. Not only did our little market set a new market record with 48 vendors, attendance was 4000+!!! What a lovely day! I’m so proud of the growth of our market! Twelve years ago when we become vendors, there were maybe 10 vendors at the busiest time of the season. Now it’s an experience. Food, fresh produce, music, and a great place for everyone to just hang out and have a good, wholesome time.

It was forecasted to be hot and humid, but no rain. There was a lovely breeze and we had plenty of fluids to drink. We visited with many people – always great to see our customers, old and new. It got VERY warm around 11:30am, but we stuck it out. At noon, we tore it all down. We were 1 worker down, but we did it. By the end, we were hot, tired, sweaty, and hungry.

After the market and loading up, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. On hot days, air conditioning is the #1 requirement for lunch. The cold air washing over us as we walked in was so refreshing. We enjoyed many glasses of ice water with lemon, wings, and salad. Then it was time to head home.

I drove worker bee #2 home and came home while he dropped off the market trailer and headed to town to drop off the rental truck. The original plan was for him to come home with his vehicle after dropping off the rental, then we would head back to town to pick up the replacement truck. But, he forgot the key. So, I grabbed his key and headed to him. We parked his vehicle at my office (yes, I have a day job working as a Business Manager – it’s a very odd life I live LOL), and picked up the new (to us) truck. I’ve named it “The Beast.” Hopefully, this truck will last us a while and allow us to keep building this dream on our shoestring budget.

We were hungry, so we ate at a local Himalayan place that offers delicious food. What a great meal! We like to eat at places that will offer us a sample of food from other cultures as much as possible. We watch a LOT of Food Network.

We came home after the meal, sat down for a moment and had a cold beverage before we went to bed, exhausted at the end of this long day. He was up early this morning (he’s a morning person – I AM NOT). I slept for 11 hours and was able to wake up slowly – a nice change of pace.

We picked up his truck and ran a few errands. The rest of the day was chores, laundry, watching some TV, and getting stuff done before our work week begins again.

He brought me in a fresh cherry tomato – our first of the season. It was warm, juicy, and sweet. A delicious reminder that summer DOES have a few good things like fresh tomatoes. Yeah, we’re weird people who like cold and snow; the people who sleep with the window open during the winter.

As crazy as it can sometimes seem, we are blessed to live this life. We are helping make a difference in our community. We are building a dream that will hopefully become a reality when we retire. We are building relationships with our customers while they watch our business grow. It’s an amazing life.