Rob and I got the girls started on breakfast and went on a 5-mile run. The weather was glorious--we are feeling fall in the air with cool mornings and a few leaves starting to turn. We stopped at a cool yard sale along the way, ran on a beautiful wooded trail for a while, and then found a treasure on the roadside. Someone had cut down a tomato bush and set it in the ditch--it had a dozen perfect green tomatoes still on it. So we stripped it bare and finished our run with hands full of tomatoes. We cut through the farmers market near our house and some lovely eggplants caught my eye, but I didn't have any money with me.
Since the market is just a block from our house, I sent Eloise and Sarah on a grown up errand to purchase eggplant while I got cleaned up. This is a definite plus to having older kids!
As we were finishing lunch, a family from our ward showed up in our yard with their pickup loaded with wood. We had mentioned we wanted wood for our stove this winter and they remembered us as they chopped down trees in their yard. They were so kind to deliver it for us!
I have been miserable with the gas stove in our house and Rob found a better one for me on Craigslist. After lots of work and tinkering, he got that hooked up for me and I'm happy to report that it works MUCH better than the old one. We broke it in by making s'mores after lunch--roasting our 'mallows in the gas flame. Much easier than building a campfire!
Next we headed over to the library book sale and scored some sweet new books. Now that the weather has cooled, we are enjoying evening reading on our front porch swing and rockers.
Stopped for a few groceries at the store on the way home. I have been dying to make this fig tart, and wanted to get some of the last figs of the season. It's on the menu for tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it turns out. While at the store, we were headed to the checkout with Rob in the lead. A lady came around the corner and took an appraising look at us and then started to laugh. She looked Rob in the eye and said, "You're outnumbered," followed by a knowing, cackling laugh. It was so random and funny.
For dinner, we ate fried green tomatoes with chipotle mayo (I've wanted to make them ever since we moved to the South, and they did not disappoint!) We also used our eggplant to make this, served over plain cooked quinoa. It was seriously delicious.
The long, amazing day ended with Maddie going to her first church dance in Georgia (which she enjoyed). The one blight was hitting an armadillo on the way home from the church. They are quite common here, but I can't get over the sight of them--super creepy roadkill. The article said they are sometimes called "hillbilly road bumps" for their tendency to get run over. They also carry leprosy. Yikes.
All in all though, such a good day. We are loving Georgia.
