The Corner Market...or Yay for Yi's

Ike and I have lived in this neighborhood for about 2 months and only this week have I finally made it down to our little corner market, Yi's Oriental Market.

It made me rather nostalgic for the past when each neighborhood had its own corner market; when towns were not overrun by Wal-Marts, Hy-Vees and other corporate chains. I can still remember the little grocery store in my rural hometown called Allison's Market. For some reason the meat counter stands out most in my memory (and the cereal aisle, mostly because we always wanted cereal, but the cereal there was too expensive for us to buy).

I know that I won't shop at Yi's every week because it is primarily food that we don't eat on a regular basis, but food we will definitely be eating more of. There are so many items that I've never heard of and would have no idea how to even incorporate them into a meal....but, I'm excited to learn...starting tonight.

I am starting out rather easy, buying only Miso soup, kimchi, and dumplings (all things I have eaten before and already know I adore.)

I also like how bright and colorful all of the packaging is. It really does entice you into buying more than you came in for (I went in the other day and only came out with some Jasmine tea, though I did want to sample their large selection of sweets....go figure!)

감사하십시오

ありがとう

谢谢

Thank you, Yi's!

Wood in the Hood

Look at all those varieties (Elm, Walnut, Hackberry, Mulberry & Cedar!)

First of all, forgive me for that lame post title. Second of all, Ike and I spent the afternoon cutting wood....Well, Ike cut (I am deathly afraid of the chainsaw), I carried the logs to the trailer and arranged them in a nice little heap.

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Hello, 60 degrees at the end of January?! It had to be spent outside. Pottawatomie County had taken down some trees outside of town, so we decided to go scavenge what was left to add to our growing wood pile. We are planning to get Ike's wood burning stove in before next winter, so we are stock piling now.

It's like fitting together pieces of a puzzle.

It was a lovely day (despite the fact that I threw a log into the trailer, which hit a smaller piece, which popped me in the eye. So, now I have a cut and swollen eyelid, but at least my eyeball is intact. I should also note that three weeks ago I fell down our stairs, bruising my tailbone, and two weeks ago I burned the crap out of my right hand. 2012 has started out as a dangerous year for me!) After cutting and piling the wood, we enjoyed a cup of tea on the porch swing.

Ah, Kansas living.

The little bench Ike made with found wood.

A coke bottle we found that was made here. It lives among the wood.