*After many months, Grandma Sandy is here.  Yay!!  My month-long-marathon posting in November came to an abrupt halt when the entire family got the flu during the week of Thanksgiving.

The following is a post that I wrote back in November.

How happy am I that summer is here and PawPaw’s Garden Market is open!*

Yesterday I mentioned PawPaw Bobby’s Garden Market.

This little place right here, along with this sign right here.....

are probably responsible for making me fall headoverheelsinlove with this tiny town.

When I discovered Pawpaw’s Garden Market, we had just moved here and all I knew about this tiny town was the fact that we found the most perfect house for our family and that we were in an unbelievable public school district.

Remember how I discovered that Pawpaw’s tomatoes were the best tomatoes I’d had in recent years?

(but don’t tell my lovely Tomato Lady that)

And of course, who could forget my favorite sign ever?!?
(incidentally, he was right....the tomatoes were delicious!)

Pawpaw’s Garden Market, his delicious vegetables, and most definitely his ugly girl sign left me wondering, who is PawPaw?  What does he look like?  He must be some kind of a character!

At the risk of making myself sound like a stalker, I have to admit that every time we’d pass by PawPaw’s, I found myself looking into his two big gardens to see if I could catch a glimpse of him.
A few times, I saw an older gentleman out working in the garden and once, when I saw him stocking the vegetable stand, I stopped to meet him.  Turns out, it wasn’t PawPaw, but a garden-helper-friend that rents the house next door to PawPaw.

Who is this PawPaw guy?  
Judging from the signs he’d posted in his Market Stand, he must be quite a character.
I have to admit that I was a bit worried that he might be a shriveled up scary-looking guy with 2 teeth.
I decided he was either gonna be a sweet little, short in stature grandpa with a grand sense of humor, or a scary 2-teether.
It could easily go either way.

I couldn’t have been more wrong!


Finally, one day very early last summer, I was driving past and saw some folks out at the Garden Stand.  I stopped by and met a teenaged girl and her Mom who happened to be PawPaw’s granddaughter and daughter.  Turns out, PawPaw’s daughter is a teacher at the primary school where I’m now teaching and his granddaughter is in the high school band and knows Guitar Boy.
At first, I was so surprised!  Small world, right?
Then I remember that I live in Tiny Town.  Ha.

As we were talking, this big, barrel-chested, silver-haired guy in jeans and a buttoned-down work shirt walked up with some produce.

Wait a minute.

WHAT?!?

Could this be PawPaw?!?  

Why, yes!
Yes, it was!!

And y’all, he was the nicest guy.
Of course!!

“PawPaw, I have to tell you that your Market Stand idea is the most brilliant thing ever.  I cannot tell you how much we love it.  It’s perfect!”

“Well, you know, Grandma Sandy?  I was laid off a few years ago and an old man like me can’t get hired these days.  Things are too tough for everyone.  And another thing?  I used to take vegetables to work all of the TIME and couldn’t PAY a soul to take ‘em home.  They’d just sit in the fridge at work.  So after I got laid off, I got to thinking.  You know what?  I’m just gonna build this Market Stand.  You wouldn’t believe the folks that come by here.  I can hardly keep up with ‘em.  In fact, I have a house in Tiny Town that I rent out, like this next one to me.  The house in town has a half acre yard in front and I’m thinking about planting it, too!”


Now, how precious is that?

Since then I’ve learned that he goes to my school and plants pumpkins for the 2nd graders to water and care for every year when school starts.

Be still my heart.

And not to overstate the obvious, but I clearly have a little bit of a crush on him.  Who wouldn’t?!?

I’m so thankful we have a neighbor like PawPaw Bobby.

I hope that one day I’ll be able to have the skills and know-how to have a garden like his!!

In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy the fruits of his efforts every summer.

And eagerly anticipate seeing the first posting of THIS sign in his yard every June!!

*And now its June.  So far this summer we’ve enjoyed PawPaw’s new potatoes, snap beans, squash, and sweet corn.
Speaking of snap beans, I learned how to can and put up 18 quarts...yes, 18 quarts...
let’s have a moment of silence because Grandma Sandy still hasn’t recovered
...of PawPaw’s green beans

I’m still waiting to see that Tomatoes sign in his yard.
When I finally do, you’ll probably hear Grandma Sandy whoop and holler all the way from Tiny Town.  :)

Happy Summer, y’all!!