Have I mentioned I love Saturdays?

Oh today was so nice :)

Today my husband and I headed over to the Lynchburg Community Market for their final Mistletoe Market before Christmas. We both agreed it's very quickly becoming our favorite time of the week when we visit the Market. The people are so friendly, the food is so fresh and the atmosphere is just lovely. 

I try to plan what I need to buy when we go so we don't end up buying too much. This time I was in search of farm fresh free-range eggs and some local sausage. Didn't really have a preference whether it was pork, beef, turkey, or chicken but I needed to buy some for these delicious breakfast pockets I need to make more of. Don't worry...that recipe will be linked up in time! I haven't gotten around to posting it yet because I need better pictures. 

We stopped at a couple booths looking for sausage or ground meat bu I don't think any vendors bring any with them unless it is to fill an order for a customer. One farm, Auburnlea Farms in Gladys, Virginia (about 30 minutes South of Lynchburg), caught my attention because they sell cow shares. We've been bouncing around the idea for a while but haven't committed to it quite yet. We ended up leaving and headed home but I was checking out Auburnlea Farms' website on my iPhone and I noticed they sell a lot of meat products as well. I did a quick GPS search and found they were only about 30 minutes away and we were off! 

We made it!

If you still need a Christmas tree they have them! They're all grown in Virginia and are chemical free!

I loved the little sign out front to greet us :)

They have plenty of meat, alright!

Their little store is full of so much good stuff! I really can't even list it all, so go to their website for more information and pictures! 

We ended up buying grape jelly, citric acid (for making dishwashing detergent soon), 2lbs of ground pork, sausage seasoning, and two Boylan ginger ales. Let me just tell you...that is the BEST ginger ale! It's made with real cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup and it makes a difference. So delicious! I can see that quickly becoming something we'll buy every time we visit The Grainery. 

I've never made sausage before so I'm sure there will be a future post for that as well, so stay tuned!

The views are just beautiful at this farm. Makes me miss living in the country!

Beautiful view from a beautiful home.

 Moo cows!

Gobble gobble...lots of turkeys!

And of course the chickens!

Best ginger ale ever!

If you're in the Lynchburg or surrounding areas, definitely go check out Auburnlea Farms. It is a wonderful family owned farm and they've got just about everything you could need! One visit and I'm hooked already! I absolutely love small businesses and I do my best to support them, especially farms! No farms, no food. Oh and not to mention, if driving to Gladys isn't workable for you, e-mail them your order and they'll have it ready for you at the Lynchburg Community Market!

And again, be sure to check out their website, my blog post doesn't do them justice!

Have you picked out your Christmas tree yet? Busy getting Christmas stuff done? Only 9 days left!

Till next time,
Catherine

Saturdays

I value Saturdays more than I think I ever have. When my husband isn't working out of town and we're not visiting Richmond, it's so nice to just have the day to do whatever we want.

Today we slept in (always nice) and then headed to the downtown Lynchburg Community Market for their Mistletoe Market where the focus is on Christmas. There was a trolly going around the city and two beautiful horse drawn carriages giving free rides around the block. There were lots of friendly people picking up locally grown and handmade goods. I even saw face painting and balloon animals for children and of course Santa and Mrs. Clause were sitting for pictures. It was just a lovely day. The weather was amazing as well, t-shirt weather in December!

As many tempting items as there are to see, we only bought a quart sized jar of honey. Yeah, I know, that is a LOT of honey! The last time I bought honey it was only 16oz and it got used up really fast since I made several loaves of honey wheat bread and so many of those delicious dinner rolls. around Thanksgiving. I was really tempted by the beautiful handmade live wreaths and really beautifully decorated topiaries. They're doing Mistletoe Market again next week so hopefully we'll check it out again.

After the market we just walked around downtown and checked out some local shops. Antique malls, furniture stores, camera shops...wherever we decided to step into. It was a really nice, relaxing afternoon.

This was in one really nice antique shop we went into. It's Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara!

We even found a newly opened natural food store!! I am beyond excited! It reminds me soo much of the one where I used to work. It's right on Main Street in downtown Lynchburg, called Hanna's Health.   They just opened in September but they've got a little bit of everything! We didn't buy anything today but I'll be back! I kept making mental notes of everything they had so I know for next time I need to go grocery shopping. They also had lots of bulk products as well. The owner even said she'd order my favorite Organic Fiji lotion for me! If you've been looking for a natural food store in Lynchburg, go check out Hanna's Health!

Once we left downtown, we had a few errands to run but it was still a fun time with my husband. We finished a little Christmas shopping and by the early evening we were getting hungry and we noticed a little place called The Spot. We decided to check it out and it was delicious! It appeared to be owned by a family and they were all so nice and friendly...it was a wonderful atmosphere. They have salads, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, and even wings. I got a grilled chicken sandwich and my husband got a burger....both delicious! Our food was cooked right away and didn't take long at all. The owners always had smiles on their faces! We'll definitely be eating there again! If you're in Lynchburg, I highly recommend you check it out! They've only been open for about a month so go show 'em some love! You won't be disappointed, I promise!

We also stopped by a thrift store on the way home and got my husband some nice dress shirts for about $3 a piece...you know I love a good deal!

All in all it was a lovely day and now we're just relaxing at home. Ahh...it's the life :) Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend as I am.

What did you do for your weekend? Was it full of Christmas shopping or relaxing?

Till next time,
Catherine