I took Mom, aka Grandma Bailey, to Reedley yesterday. The reason this was such a big "to do" was that my mom loves to be around her family. Nothing makes her day like being in contact with her children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. On the other hand, I'm a loner. I'm perfectly happy staying home and gardening, crafting or reading. (I love being around family too, but I have to be in the mood. Of course when it comes to my own children, I'm always in the mood. They live too far away.)
I'm also not much of a shopper, but if we were making the trip, I planned to make a day of it.
A while back a friend of my mother's gave her some sausage that he bought in Reedley. Reedley was originally a Mennonite Community and Mom was raised Mennonite in Manitoba, Canada. That sausage was known to her as Farmer Sausage and brought back sweet memories. Her dad always made Farmer Sausage and it was delicious. I asked my uncle for the recipe one time and he told me it was written on the barn wall. Anyway, Mom asked me to take her to Reedley so she could buy some Farmer Sausage. Her friend said he bought it at the Main Street Cafe.
Having asked me a few months ago to make the little trip - it's only about 35 miles away - we finally went. We browsed through a few boutiques and two thrift stores. At the Mennonite Relief Thrift Store we each found 2 sweaters for $3 apiece. Mom bought her great-grandchildren Ethan and Renae some story books & I bought some books for my Grandson Dylan. By then we were getting hungry so we went to Main Street Cafe for a lunch of German Sausage sandwiches. The first bite was like tasting memories. We bought 10 pounds apiece of Farmer (German) Sausage to take home. I had come prepared with a large ice chest so the meat would not thaw out while we continued to enjoy our afternoon. I took Mom to the quilt shop next. I had been there once before and knew she would enjoy looking around. We saw a quilt in progress as they always have a quilt framed up that they're working on. My Grandma Plett, Mom's mom, has made several quilts for the family that we all enjoy. It brought back fond memories of my grandmother. We met some neat Mennonite people that she could talk to about her heritage. They could tell by her accent that she was from Canada. That was funny because she's lived in the US for over 50 years. The quilt shop also now features items for sale from Ten Thousand Villages which is a fair trade organization that encourages people from third-world countries to become self sufficient through selling their crafts. (Fair trade requires that the women are given equal pay, that the children attend school and protects against child labor among other things.)
Once we left Reedley, we got turn around on the way home and drove through London. We stopped by the Bravo Farms Cheese Factory in Traver for some cheese and to get chased by a little goat wanting food. I asked Mom if she was too tired or if she had time for one more stop. She was still good to go. I took her by the Hobby Lobby store in Visalia so she could price yarn. She knits and crochets gifts for her family and is ready to start on Christmas presents.
By the time we got home, it was nearing sunset. All in all it was a full day, but great fun. Now I can veg out for a day as my hubby is hunting.
