C: Indulgence

V and I had a wonderful Saturday!  Last night my two young nieces spent the night with me, the plan being to visit our local Farmer’s Market early, before the heat set in too much.  I invited MIL and my mother to attend—both declined, having heard the triple-digit weather report and knowing the energy and stamina of my nieces…

V, the girls and I were down there by 8:30, and the heat was rising already.  We breakfasted on pastry and French toast (the girls) then perused the lovely display of fresh vegetables and fruit and the array of  other goods in small booths. 

Mom had “ordered” some locally-grown okra and tomatoes.  She likes to make this stewed okra-tomato thing (ugh! I have to have my okra fried or in gumbo).  We found the former but discovered that there are NO local tomatoes.  The story goes that the heat here has caused them to split, so vine-ripened ones had to be trucked in.  Mom had to make do with tomatoes from the next state.

After our produce shopping, we headed to several small specialty shops—air conditioned, thank goodness!  We poked around, and one of my favorite parts of these trips is that when one of my nieces would admire something (within reason), we just bought it! 

Before you get too excited, let me explain that these were not expensive items (I did turn down the youngest one’s request for a largish plush dog—outside the “reasonable” price range.  I think she figured it did not hurt to ask!).  It was so much fun for the girls to know that their indulgence was part of the purpose.  Really, it did not cost me much, all told, and I think I  got a lot of bang  for the buck!

Here are pictures of them—you can see why it’s so easy to give in to them!

I have other nieces (no daughters!) who live distant, and it would be fun to do the same with them.  I am planning to do just that when they visit! 

I am finding that nephews (and son, for that matter) just don’t have the same desire to browse and find inexpensive trinkets!

So, here’s to girl time—and indulgence!

Hope you had a great Saturday, as well!  Hope you stayed cooler than we did—we got sweaty several times.

V’s recovering from a hand/thumb injury that requires a brace and makes posting difficult.  Maybe you’ll hear from her soon.  C