The farmers market this weekend was a fabulous event. It was busy and music was playing, we ate kettle corn and danced to the music. We went with Savanna's auntie Dawn and fun was had by all! If you are into locally grown fruits and vegtables and a fun interesting art scene, than the Farmers Market on High St (by the State Fair) is the place for you. While you're in the neighborhood, be sure to visit the Belhaven Market and a new market that is trying to get off the ground at The Commons.

MS Farmers market: http://www.mdac.state.ms.us/n_library/departments/farm_mkt/index_farmmkt.html

Belhaven Market:

http://www.greaterbelhaven.com/themarket/market_AboutUs.php

The Commons:

(This site is under construction, so be sure to come back to it often.)

http://www.weltycommons.com/

Fun Friday! Fried GREEN TOMATOES ANYONE?

This was a really fun day for us, we had a great time at our friend Maya's birthday party and learning how to catch catfish! We came home and harv3ested out first crop. I made some Fried Tomatoes that were so Darn tasty, we ate them as the entree!

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES:
3-5 plump green tomatoes
1 cup of cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp of Pepper
1 Egg - whisked
4 cups of bacon grease (I know, I know, but THIS IS WHERE THE WONDERFUL FLAVOR COMES FROM-trust me.)
Start heating the grease and get it to a good frying temperature.
Cut the tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Combine the cornmeal, salt & pepper. Dip the tomatoes in the egg mixture completely to coat. Let excess egg mixture drip off. Dip into cornmeal mixture to completely coat the tomato. Fry in grease for 3 minutes on each side until nice and brown. Pull them out and let drain on paper towels. ENJOY!

Savanna at the CATFISHIN' FOR KIDS EVENT

& hitting her first Pinata!

Garden talk

One of the things we are into this year is our garden. My husband has done a raised bed garden in our backyard. Most of the plants you see are from seed. It should be interesting to see how our garden grows here is Mississippi. My friends in Minnesota are only now planting seeds. Hopefully we will have a plentiful harvest.

Savanna & I are not doing much activity this week because of an unexpected tire situation with my van. We may hit the walking trail on Northshore Driveway here in lovely Brandon because it's close to our house and I haven't walked that yet. It would be nice if there was a final destination we could hit like a park with swings or a sanbox, but I haven't found one around my house yet. I'll just have to keep on looking!

Here are some pictures of my attempts at cooking on the grill. I'm not nearly as good as my husband but I'm getting the hang of it.

The last piture is of our biggest vegtable to date in our garden. A bell pepper.
Bye!

I'm BACK!

Hello-I was gone for a while, now I'm back. These photos were taken at the Eudora Welty 100 year Birthday celebration where Sa-Sa & I got a chance to eat Eudora's birthday cake (REALLY YUMMY!) and take a tour of her house and grounds. I loved it. Especially her garden. Amazing really- Definately a fun thing to do with older kids or really GOOD toddler's (like mine!)

FUN FRIDAY!

Friday's schedule will be a lot of fun for both Savanna & Mommy. Savanna's cousin Eleanor is coming over today to babysit while mommy goes to the Southern Writers Group. This is a group of writers and authors that get together twice a month at the Flowood library to encourage one another to write while sharing success stories (and the occasional rejection letter). Several well know MS authors are present and it's always a good learning experience for writers of all levels and backgrounds. Tomorrow there is a bring your bag lunch gathering from noon to one.

Savanna is lucky to have two wonderful cousins to have fun with, as she really enjoys her time hanging out with them. It also makes me happy to know she is spending quality time with her cousins.

LINKS

Southern Writers Group: http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us/calendar.html

Flowood Library, G. Chastaine Flynt Memorial Library: http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us/fw.htm

Other fun stuff happening today:

Upcoming Community Events in Ridgeland
Arbor Day in Ridgeland will be celebrated on Friday, February 13 with a tree seedling planting at Highland Elementary School at 10:00 a.m., a tree give-away and flowering tree sale at City Hall by Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District from 11 - 2, and a tree planting ceremony at City Hall at 11:15 a.m. The community is welcome to attend.

http://www.ridgelandms.org/rec_and_parks/upcoming_events.html

Sat Feb 1 schedule, Clinton Nature center, free, family

Family Fun Day at the Clinton Nature Center!!

Flowers in bloom in early January


The elephant tree!

Savanna walking a path at the Clinton Nature Center

Papa carrying a tired Savanna

Saturday's are fun family days around here. I normally try and find a fun activity that Savanna mommy + papa can do and tomorrow we're going to one of my favorite new places. (When I say new, I mean new to me by the way.) Tomorrow we are going to be early birds and go to the Clinton Community Nature center. This wonderful place is run by Jerry Walls who is director and education coordinator. The first time we went was early January when Jerry led a tour around the nature center on natural medicinal herbs & trees. We had a great time and vowed to come back.

This Saturday's event is a Nature Scavenger Hunt and starts at 9:00 and goes for an hour. Here are some details from the website:

Join us for this fun and educational program. Search along the Center’s trails for nature’s fascinating treasures. Learn interesting facts about many of the unique things found in the forest around us. Even win a prize! Family teams welcome.

This is one of those places you really want to become a member of. I'm not sure what all the perks of membership are, I just know it's a peaceful serene spot that needs to be supported and preserved! http://www.clintonnaturecenter.org/Default.htm

PlayDates + Thursday's schedule

Miss June the librarian playing with the kids + reading books!

Photos from website: http://www.ci.flowood.ms.us/



I am all about the play dates. They are essential for us because it's one of the only places Savanna gets to interact with other children her age. Savanna has a friend named Will that she is good friends with. Savanna goes to Will's house on Monday's, and Will comes to our house on Wednesdays. It's a great way for the two of them to learn from one another in a safe fun place AND it gives myself and Will's mom a chance to be alone and get some work done. Being a writer, my time to write only comes when Savanna is napping. I need silence (or jazz music) to be in the best mental frame for working. Our play dates are normally 3 hours long, and I've noticed that really is their threshold for hanging out. The other nice thing about a play date is your child usually has a long nap afterwards which expands mom's free/work time!



Thursday's schedule starts us out at the club in Ridgeland (Savanna sure does love the ladies there in daycare named Neiquist and Lacy) for mommy's workout, then off we go to the Chastaine Flynt Memorial Library in Flowood at 10:30 for Preschool story time. It is a fun place with Miss June running the show. She is a great librarian that gets excited about the kids and knows how to handle a room full of toddlers. We normally start there and walk around thelibrary afterwards, then we head out to the playground if it's not cold or raining.

We normally try to do 2 main activites during the week. That way we can fit a nap in and then play school and hang out with Savanna's papa.


http://www.superpages.com/bp/Flowood-MS/Winners-Circle-Park-L2063013555.htm



http://www.ci.flowood.ms.us/