`Torrential!

We slept in until 7!  Monumental!

Gary went to Brockport for coffee and when he got back I ran a few errands.  First I went down to the village as this was the opening of the Farm Market.  Before checking things out, I spent quite a bit of time talking to some friends about political issues taking place.  The current Village Board wants to dissolve the Village Court and a movement has started that includes many landlords.  Of course money gets involved and there are two very different opinions on the financials.  The two judges are very familiar with this community and have done a great job for the past 10 years.  Courts are not there to make a profit, they are there to take care of business....(that they are very familiar with).  The DPW is not expected to make a profit.  If the court can support itself, that seems fine with me.  When there is a college located in a town, the population can double and there is been a need for this service.  If the court is dissolved, the Town of Sweden Court will have to pick up the slack and that will cost money.  More judges will be needed and this would lead to higher taxes.  How is this going to save any money?  We shall know soon, as the election is on the 16th.

There were only a few vendors at the market and I did not buy anything.

I did have to go to Wegmans tho.

On the way home it rained so hard I almost had to pull off the road as I could not see!  This is how it looked when I got here.  Not good timing for getting groceries out of the car.

Gary had picked more strawberries before it rained and

I made another big batch of bean salad.

Fortunately, he cut up the strawberries and I put these in the frig and froze a bag.

Dinner was so good.  BBQued drum sticks with lots of sweet onion.

coleslaw with pineapple.....

and boiled potatoes with butter and fresh parsley.

At least the house is nice and cool.

Night all.

 

Gather and Grow

Another up and at 'um morning. Fair warning....this is going to be a very long post as I want Gary to have a record of his GATHER AND GROW seminar that was held at the library this morning.  First, I helped set up the light refreshments as the arrival time was 10am.

Our friend, Al Cretney was there early setting up his bird carvings.

Richard Hart, a friend and local photographer, also set up a display and slide show.

Jenny and Kathy Dixon checked everyone in and it was a capacity crowd of 60.  An amazing turnout for something like this.

Bell Design and Landscape (presenters) brought in over 60 native plants so everyone could take one home!

Kristina Gabalski (also a presenter) brought in more plants as examples.

 

At 10:30 Gary started the usual opening ceremony, introducing the speakers and thanking those who helped and others who attended.

Kristina was up first.  She spoke on native and non native plants....what's the difference.

Kathy Kepler (from Sara's Nursery) brought over all kinds of plants to welcome people at the door.

Hannah Beall was next.  She and Nick talked about options for using natives in your landscape.

Slides were shown of a particular property and how it was developed over the past three years.

After a quick break, Leslie (from the library) gave us a quick update on all of the goings on.  Everything from Bluebird houses being placed on the property, to the orchard on the East side of the library, to the children's container garden and much more.  Everything she said fit right in.

Last on the agenda was Jennifer Haytock.  It was her property that Bell Design and Landscape discussed in their presentation and she shared her experience with her own native plantings and what it takes to maintain them.  Sorry I did not get a finished picture....she has a HUGE garden.

The program ended with the presenters answering many questions.

I can't say enough about what a success this was.  It really flowed and there was so much practical information.

On the way home we stopped at the Welcome Center as there was another event going on there.

We did not have any strawberry shortcake....(we still have tons)

but we did indulge in hot dogs and a drink.

We finally got home near 2pm and got a call from Andrea, who was coming over to pick up the last of our hay.  She brought along her adorable granddaughter.

Little Wonder was more than happy to see his bestie.

Eventually I made dinner.  Soft shelled tacos followed by some fruit.

Time to crash.

Night all.