Beth, I made pickles first and then I finished dehydrating my tomatoes from yesterday and then I finished my yellow tomato sauce and THEN I made one batch of Multi-purpose Seasoned Tomato Sauce. By the time I finished it was around 2 p.m. and we hopped in the car and sped down to the Southlake Central Market to check out their produce selection. I was a little disappointed. They didn't have nearly as many heirloom winter squashes, pumpkins and gourds nor did they have as many heirloom tomatoes. However, they did have pickling cucumbers, so I bought another 5 lbs. Since I made bread-and-butter pickles today, I'll make dills tomorrow. Best of all, my own pickling cukes are about to reach pickling size, so I'll be able to make stacker-type pickles about Friday or Saturday. We also picked up a 10-grain store bakery bread that we like and a few other veggies. Then, it was off to Green Sprouts Farmer's Market a couple of miles up the road. It really is just a smaller, more affordable version of Whole Foods or Central Market, but I mean really, really, really smaller and not much selection. They had some great prices on produce, but a lot of their produce was overripe and I didn't purchase anything there. But, I did get visiting those two stores out of my system. The next time I want to go to Central Market, I'll go to Fort Worth because it has a better selection by far. I don't know this for a fact, but it seems bigger than the one in Southlake. It might be that the Fort Worth store has more autumn pumpkins and winter squash outside because they have a big covered patio type thing in front of the store where they often have musicians and cookouts when the weather is good, and I didn't see anything like that at the Southlake store. The only advantage the Southlake store has over Fort Worth is that Tim can stop by it on his way to work at DFW Airport if there's something I "need". I got home in time to spend an hour in the garden while my sweet DH grilled chicken and sausage and made dinner. I had used up all my tomatoes today making the multi-purpose tomato sauce, but I got to pick another 6 tonight, so I'm OK. Moni, I think Tulsa might have a Whole Foods or Wild Oats which are sort of similar to Central Market but more heavily focused on organics and less focused on gourmet-type fare, although there is a lot of gourmet type stuff, especially if you like artisan cheeses and breads. I'll do some research and see what I can find out about Edmond-OKC-Tulsa. Surely something in that area has a 'health food store' with a good selection. I have found they usually have the best produce in terms of variety and selection. Today I was looking at all the fingerling potatoes (six or eight varieties) at Central Market and making a mental note to buy some in December to sprout for spring planting. Two road trips in two days. I've got to stay home and weed and mow for the rest of the week or the yard and garden will be a jungle. Jan, I'll link Pendery's below. The web site is great, but if you're ever in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, you have to visit the store for the sheer pleasure of inhaling all the lovely aromas of the many spices and herbs. Don't miss their chili mixes. They are great and come in many combinations. I love that Pickling Spice and Italian Seasoning Mixes too---they look like real spices and herbs, not just ground-up powders. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Pendery's Spices

I went out to my favorite local site last evening and saw: ZERO snakes 1 toad. 1 toad was my great herp total. I only posted this because when people read reports of 40 snakes in a day--they probably wonder why we always find so many snakes. Truth is--we don't. Its just that we don't post our failures as much as our succeses. I did see a close up of a barred owl though and hear some coyotes howling. Even a poor snake hike is better than a good day at work :-).

hampton, I am only familiar with the Mart, since I haven't been to High Point where the stores are more spread around. At the Mart, everything is all under one roof so its probably the most convenient and comfortable if you have any physical limitations. I would check with customer service (I'm sure the number is on their website). They would most likely be able to provide assistance or recommendations. I know the Mart is has ramps if you needed a chair to take you from Point A to B. The Mart has many places to sit and rest if you need a break. They really go all out to make customers feel comfortable. I personally wear my Ecco walking shoes. Not the most stylish, but very foot-friendly. There are several Clearance Outlets right in the Mart with many chairs, sofas and occasional pieces on the floor. I would contact the Mart and they can send you a brochure so you can see which vendors are in the Outlets.

Wow! That's a LONG trip -- or trips, plural. We've always had nice cruises on Princess. We'd like to repeat the Baltic trip with days in St. Petersburg -- well, maybe not going to Russia just now! Are you talking about Road to Hana on Maui? Was it rough crossing the Pacific? (This winter we had lots of wind and rain on Maui.) How was the train itself? Was the food edible? My last time in a bunk was to and from the World's Fair in Montreal -- very overheated train, and very *slow going*. I'll be anxious to hear about your trip to Peru. An agronomist friend has driven all over South America; sounds beautiful!