Yesterday, we started off the morning with leftover pizza. Turns out there were 3 slices of the Pizza Athena left, one without olives (mine!) so it worked out perfectly.

Eventually, we made our way to the Midtown Farmer’s Market. Now I often go to the two farmer’s markets in Troy and they’re awfully small affairs. Midtown was much bigger & livelier. We wandered around looking for produce and lunch. We got some nifty striated eggplants to grill and some brats (including wild rice brats) as well.

Lunch was at the Hola Arepa truck and I tried my first arepa. I had the slow roasted pork arepa with guacamole. Very tasty. I drank their strawberry ginger lemonade along with it.

Next, we went out to the house where Amy & Rachel’s coop co-op is housed. It was Rachel’s day to clean the coop and check on the chickens. They have 11 chickens at the moment and they all seemed eager to see Rachel. Amy and I sat & read while Rachel worked.

We returned home for a short break (and to drop off the food we’d gotten at the market) and then we headed off to check on Winter, the cat that Rachel is cat-sitting. Winter was pleased for the company. She is a very loving kitty.

Next was the trip to Microcenter to get a new battery for Rachel’s laptop. The last time I was at Microcenter, I exclaimed to Amy that I was in Nerdvana. 🙂 Across the street was The Four Firkins, a beer store that was small but loaded with beers, ciders, meads, etc. I picked out 4 hard ciders to try and the girls got several beers to check out.

After we came home, we headed off on a bike ride around Lake Nokomis. We got most of the way around the lake before my bum told me it was just too sore. So we paused a bit, then headed on to the Grand Ole Creamery for some ice cream. I had pistachio ice cream and vanilla malt custard. The frozen custard was particularly fine. I survived the ride back and then we got the place ready for guests.

A couple of friends of Amy (the folks who own the house where the chicken coop resides) were joining us for grilled brats. While Amy got the veggies & other things ready, Rachel and I cleaned the kitchen and then made a blueberry galette. Rachel made the pie crust and I did the innards.

Amy had grilled some corn on the cob, zucchini, summer squash, striated eggplant, onion, and brats. She also made salt potatoes. It was all very yummy, and I really liked the wild rice brats. We sat out on their back porch and ate, then retired inside for dessert. The galette was very tasty. And once again, I met friends of the girls who are very nice people.

Today will be another biking adventure. The weather is perfect (mid 70s F predicted for the high) and my bum is still sore, but I shall see if some Advil will help out today.