What an amazingly beautiful day it was in southern Rhode Island!!!!
Brian actually had the day off today, so we started out bright and early (okay, for us that means sometime before noon) and decided to stop for a late breakfast at Wickford Junction on Route 1A. Now, do you notice anything different about Bri’s breakfast and mine? No? How about PORTION SIZE?
So here is Brian’s breakfast - eggs, corned beef hash, home fries and sourdough toast….
and here’s mine….
two slices of french toast.
Hmm…what’s wrong with this picture? That’s not to say that my french toast wasn’t yummy, because it was out of this world! Texas toast dipped in egg batter and coated with crushed Frosted Flakes, coconut and almonds, and sweet syrup. Wow. No wonder my blood sugar is bordering on dangerous. Nothing like dessert for breakfast, right? Hey, I had some orange juice with it - my fruit for the day.
So after breakfast (as soon as we could waddle back to the car) we headed out to Robin Hollow Farm in Saunderstown for their once a year plant sale. Just the drive alone reminds of why I love living in Rhode Island…through the winding tiny street, past Gilbert Stuart’s home with the watermill, and there it is - a RI treasure. Beautiful stone buildings and walls and an abundance of green…what could be better?
I try to make a habit of going to farmer’s markets here in RI throughout the year, and we really do have some great ones. Robin Hollow Farm sells fresh flowers at a few of them and I ALWAYS come home with a bouquet of flowers that look like they should be in a Martha Stewart wedding photo. Really. I’m a flower freak (I will spend money on fresh flowers first and eat PB&J instead of steak) and they really push all my buttons. I can’t believe that they grow so many beautiful and exotic flowers here in Rhode Island. Last summer I brought home peonies that were the size of dinner plates, and I’m not exaggerating. I had friends over for brunch and they talked about those flowers for weeks.
Well, at the plant sale I was really looking for a few perennials to fill some blank spots in my garden, so I found a couple of beautiful morning glories that I’m going to plant next to my light post in the front of the house, and a couple of other things I’m going to try in my side garden and see how they do. I love trying out new things every year and seeing what works. Robin Hollow Farm is definitely a favorite now, along with White Flower Farm in CT…both are worth a day trip.
After the flower hunt, we stopped over at Casey Farm, again on Route 1A and caught the end of the Coastal Grower’s Market (we would have gotten there early, but you know Bri….up at 10 and it takes him at least an hour to get out the door…). Not much to choose from by the time we got there (Bri was Jonesing for some almond croissants from Olga’s Cup & Saucer but they were sold out), so we decided to spend a little time visiting the chickens. Did I mention that we both love chickens? There’s something so cute about them…..but that’s another subject for another day.
When we got home we decided to do a little work in the yard, so we finally put up a couple of the trellises I just got, to support some of the rosebushes that were planted last year. I can’t believe how well they did over the winter and they’re really growing well and budding already. I don’t know why I’m always so thrilled when something that I planted grows, but it’s so amazing isn’t it? This side garden will be filled out with pink and white peonies, yellow lillies, purple catmint, hostas of several shades and my beautiful roses that will be yellow and pink. I’ll post photos in a month or two when everything comes into bloom… I can’t wait.
