Living Deliberately

Under the category of "Adventures Close to Home" we have today's road trip: Codrington Farmers' Market ⭐︎ Crop Tour ⭐︎ Warkworth's "AH Centre" ⭐︎ Tree Visit. Buckle your seatbelts.

We arrived at the Codrington Farmers' Market shortly after it opened at 10. We wanted to beat the forecasted heat of mid-day. Some nice blueberry and cheese scones from this vendor became our market breakfast. $3 each. A bargain. They were delicious.

It's good to know that some garlic growers are still doing a great job of growing healthy garlic bulbs. We have decided that this is our last season growing garlics. There is a virus in our soil that caused rot in the roots. Aren't these amazing??

Cherry tomatoes were putting on a show in the sunlight.

These jars of jam remind me of Canadian artist Mary Pratt's Jelly Shelf painting.

Even though we were at the market near opening, some items were already sold out.

There was a line up of around 10 people for Deng's Authentic Thai Food when we arrived. An hour later, the line up was around 20 people. A guy sitting next to us on the picnic tables that run down the middle of the market was enjoying one of their bowls. He let me photograph it. He said it was very tasty. Note to self: next time stand in line for Thai food.

We wound our way between Codrington and Warkworth feeling sad. Why sad, you ask? We were commiserating with the local farmers who are watching their crops die because of this summer's drought. Plans for buying a new piece of machinery or fixing their facilities or going on a vacation have probably gone out the window. It's heartbreaking to witness.

In Warkworth, this sign welcomed us to the AH Centre (Arts and Heritage Centre)

bekky O'Neil has outdone herself again. Many of the thousands of hand painted animation stills that were needed to make her stop motion films covered the walls of the gallery.

We sat, surrounded by the art, and watched her short films about permaculture, gardening and even one about a lame duck called Sosuke.

Below is the screen.

bekky uses inks that she made out of various natural sources like acorns.

One wall was covered with inspirational quotes written with those inks. It felt like we were in her home studio.

Bread and Puppet Theatre

The Why Cheap Art Manifesto

1984

It was fun to learn a little bit about bekky's process.

The final destination on today's road trip was to visit trees that the kids and I planted around 35 years ago. We occasionally drive by our old farm and see the trees along the road. I'd never been going slow enough to see the trees behind them. One year we planted a couple dozen black walnut trees in a low area at the edge of this field. It was so gratifying to see how tall they have grown.

And, it was fun to look up what used to be our own laneway.

Let's wind up this trip with another quote that was on the AH Centre's wall:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,

to front only the essential facts of life,

and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,

and not,

when I came to die,

discover that I had not lived.

I did not wish to live what was not life,

living is so dear;

nor did I wish to practise resignation,

unless it was quite necessary.

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,

to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life,

to cut a broad swath and shave close,

to drive life into a corner,

and reduce it to its lowest terms...”

Henry David Thoreau