While we were in NY we visited the
Ithaca Farmer's Market and were very pleasantly surprised.
This market is not as big as the Madison, WI Farmer's Market that wraps its way all around the capitol, but it has a lot more character and beauty as it is nestled in the woods along side Cayuga Lake.
The Market is under cover, yet open-air. As you approach the Market the first thing you notice is the wonderful aromas in the air. Not only does this Market have fresh produce from the farms, it is also host to prepared ethnic foods. When you approach and smell garlic, fresh bread, pizzas, Indian and Thai foods, even if you just ate, you'll be hungry and wanting to sample all the foods in the stalls before you.
The Market also opens up on a lovely dock area on Cayuga Lake with benches and picnic tables so you can sit and enjoy the food while also enjoying the lovely view.
We were there on a brisk Saturday morning and got to see rowing crews passing by the Market as we enjoyed an amazing brick oven pizza.
I can't even begin to do justice to the flavor of this flat bread pizza. We had an apple, bacon, cheddar cheese pizza, all local ingredients and the flavors were robust and rich. I could have eaten another whole pizza it was so delicious!
So the following are shots of the oven and of the various vendors at the Market. There were all the expected fall produce: garlic, pumpkins and other squashes, flowers, local wines, cheeses, wood carvings, leather works, other textiles. It was a meal for the eyes and the nose. I would highly recommend anyone who is in the Ithaca area to make a visit to the Market. The link is at the top of this post so you know how to find it and when it is open.
So this year I thought we should add a new decoration to the yard for Halloween. I'm still trying to fix the gargoyle. I think I've figured out how, now it's just a matter of finding enough time to do it before Halloween. So for this new decoration I began with 80 feet of PVC piping. 
I also picked up 32 ninety degree angle fittings. It turned out I only needed 16. 
M was out of town last weekend when I began cutting and building the creation so I had to figure out how to cut long PVC pipes by myself. I ended up threading the pipe through the slats on the stair rails and then propping the pipes up on bricks so I wouldn't saw through the steps. It was quite a show with one foot holding down one side of the pipe, a hand holding down the other side of the pipe while my other hand held the saw and made over 32 cuts. My back was sore by the time I was done. 
Next came the assembly, putting 32 pieces of straight pipe into 16 elbows. 
Then I had to begin painting all the pieces, 
and painting, 
and painting,
Can you tell what I'm building? Next I began stuffing wadded up newspaper into different sized plastic garbage bags. Lastly I found red reflectors for the eyes. What do you think? They're probably under 2 feet high and around 8 feet wide.
