Hamilton Farmers’ Market

….thanks to Sue W. and GC for hosting the Weekend Challengehttps://weeklyprompts.com/2022/09/24/weekly-prompts-weekend-challenge-review-3/

Reviewing my day in Hamilton. Had I known that I was going to do this I would probably have taken more photos.

My daughter and daughter-in-law had appointments in Hamilton to get their hair done and the car isn’t very reliable anymore for long trips so I volunteered to drive them in my car. I haven’t been back to the downtown core of Hamilton since our daughter moved to New Brunswick.

The first thing I did was drop the girls off at the salon and then I drove to Denninger’s. It’s a German deli that has been in Hamilton since Rudolf Denninger immigrated to Canada from Germany with his wife. The family owned business has grown from the original store on King St. in Hamilton to 5 stores, a warehouse and a manufacturing facility, employing 300 people in southern Ontario. https://denningers.com/pages/about-us

The visit was bittersweet because so many things in the store reminded me of my father, who passed away almost two years ago. I picked up many things that had a special meaning for me. My father loved chocolates, herring and small oranges like clementines. The cashier asked me if I was all right because I had tears in my eyes. I told him they were happy tears. I spent way too much money.

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After my shopping trip at the deli I drove back to Mulberry and MacNab because I knew that I could park there for free and I walked up James St. to the wool shop. I had some money left on a gift certificate from the Hand Knit Yarn Store. It wasn’t for a large amount but I thought I would check out the new merchandise. I haven’t been there since before COVID, over two years ago. Everyone was very friendly and using up the remainder of the gift card was no problem. Again I spent way too much money. https://handknityarnstudio.com/

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After my purchase of yarns I walked around the corner to Arcana Salon https://www.arcanasalon.ca/ to check on the girls. Andrea had another 1 1/2 hours to go, so I walked back towards my car and my favourite coffee shop in Hamilton, Mulberry Coffeehouse https://www.mulberrycoffeehouse.com/. Along the way I stopped to take some photos of flowers and Interesting doors.

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Once I was in the coffeehouse, I ordered a tea and a breakfast sandwich. It was very busy, as it always is and I was lucky to find a seat at a counter. I pulled out the book that I am currently reading but I didn’t get too far. Josie walked in with her new haircut and wanted to visit the Farmers’ Market which was within walking distance from the cafe. When I finished my tea we made the trek to the Hamilton Farmers’ Market and we were delighted to see that most of the vendors had survived the COVID restrictions and closures. I purchased two large bunches of basil and garlic after overhearing another customer talk about making pesto with his purchase. I thought it was a great idea. In the next post I’ll show you our busy day making and putting the pesto into jars.

Andrea met us at the market. We walked around a little bit more and I treated myself to a bunch of flowers. My Dad also enjoyed buying flowers for me and my husband used to do it weekly. We headed back to the car with our bags of produce in hand and then made our way back to Toronto.

That evening we shared a meal together and I cooked up the spaetzle that I bought earlier. Kevin had made a lovely beef stew that complimented the German noodles perfectly. To burn off some of the calories from our meal, the girls and I and Olive went for a long walk through the neighbourhood. What a perfect day!

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…..needless to say it’s been a busy weekend

On Saturday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to return my daughter’s husband and dog (see yesterday’s post). It was probably the warmest day we’ve had this season. Both my husband and I were uncomfortable with the sudden heat. I’m not sure if Hamilton was warmer than Toronto but it certainly wasn’t that warm when we left the big city.

When we arrived our daughter was in the process of putting away dishes in the kitchen. There are still a lot of boxes that need to be unpacked. I really thought we were going to help with this massive job but G and B had other plans for us. B and I drove up the mountain to the paint store to pick up paint and G and her Dad walked up the street to pick up some lunch.

After lunch K and I walked to the end of the street to check out the Farmers’ Market. It was pretty big and there was a great selection of produce, meat, fish, cheese, baked goods, coffee and spices. There were also a number of vendors selling crafts.

When we returned B was already prepping for painting. I guess until the painting is done there isn’t much that can be done in the way of putting things away. We had a feeling that our help wasn’t really needed. We enjoyed a cup of coffee that we picked up at the market. It is literally only a five to ten minute walk from the house. When we left, B was well into painting the living room.

On Sunday, my sister from Chatham dropped by before heading back to the farm. She was in town to visit her two children. Her daughter was suppose to leave for Nepal this week for a three month co-op placement. She needs this in order to graduate. Fortunately for her the trip was cancelled because of the earthquake. Actually she was very disappointed but my sister was relieved. I’m sure the school will come up with another placement.

It was nice catching up with my sister. We didn’t even see each other at Christmas so one of the reasons for the visit was to pick up her Christmas gift which had been gathering dust in the corner of my living room.

I’m embarrassed to admit it but Sunday was the first time since the fall that I washed the car. It was also the first time that I took the car to one of those do-it-yourself car washes. It was the best $4.00 I ever spent. If I’d had more change I would have washed the floor mats and vacuumed the inside of the car. Next time!

On my way home from the car wash I got a phone call from my friend L and she reminded me of the children’s concert that we had talked about earlier in the week. I had completely forgotten about it but luckily it was being held in the neighbourhood at the Assembly Hall. I quickly fixed dinner and then I walked over to the college. The concert was put on by the Etobicoke Children’s Chorus. It was a special night because it was the farewell performance for the choir’s choral director.

As you can see it was a pretty busy weekend. In between all the fun things I’ve written about I also managed to do a little gardening, I cleaned up the kitchen, started cleaning the refrigerator, did some laundry and drove to Canadian Tire to pick up some household items.