A Not So Windy Day at the Market After All and a Look to the Future

We had a gorgeous day at the market yesterday. We were supposed to have gotten wind from Tropical Storm Hermine, but it didn't materialize. The weather was a little chilly at first, though, and made me wish I had ordered some long-sleeved Huge Hound T-shirts.

Speaking of T-shirts, I saw a guy wearing this one yesterday. I had trouble making out the last word in the smaller type and thought at first it might be "line." Which wouldn't have been much of a boast at all. "Look at me! I'm hung like monofilament!"

My best moment of the day was when one of my regular customers said I'm her favorite person at the market. And a close second was when another regular customer, named Caroline, got all dismayed when I told her I wasn't planning to be at the market through Nov. 20, the end of the regular, weekly season. I can't imagine trying to hawk frozen desserts when people are bundled up.

I do need to start imagining what I'm going to do next with this business. Selling at the market has been a satisfying experience for me, even though I've realized there was no way it alone could have brought in enough income to offset my costs of production. At first, I had planned to sell at another, nearby market on Saturdays, but it doesn't seem like that market gets enough traffic to justify the expense of renting a truck to haul my cart there. For several weeks now, the HLT market manager has been letting me keep my cart, my umbrella, and even my chalkboard signs in a locked storage area, which has been a wonderful cost savings. All Tony and I have had to do on Sunday morning is haul my products and some dry ice to the market—and remember to bring something to clean off the previous week's chalk with. No more truck rental! Woot!

I'm afraid of aiming too high and failing (and losing my proverbial double-entendred T-shirt). But I don't want to stand still. Tony and I have discussed the possibility of moving somewhere warmer, where a year-round ice cream shop would make more sense. 

But we both like this area. And I'd like to live in our home for a while after we finish fixing it up, so we can enjoy the results of our labor and of the labor done by those we hired. And we still have to do that "finish fixing it up" part before we can start on the "enjoy(ing) the results" part.

Tony has encouraged me all along to think about what I like and don't like about making and selling ice cream and to feel good about what I've accomplished so far. I love telling new customers about my products, especially the vegan ones, because they're entirely of my own making. I enjoy hearing people tell me how much they like my products, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback in that regard. Some more anecdotes from yesterday along those lines: One woman (most of my customers are women) was very enthusiastic about the Chocolate-Mint VFD (which sold well) and promised to come back next week, with a container to keep it cold in, so she could buy some and get it home before it melted. Another gal bought two Lemon Verbena Ice Creams after having purchased one the previous week. Yet another woman said she and her husband are still enjoying the Lemon Verbena and Blueberry-Lime ice creams she'd bought from me the previous week and will get more from me next week. And still another woman told me how much her daughter had enjoyed my VFDs. It's interactions like those that continue to make me look forward to market day every week.

I'm proud of the website I created, which this blog is a part of. I'm pleased to identify myself as an entrepreneur, even though I tend to skew socialist when it comes to economic outlook. (I believe we need to combine a social safety net, including health care for all, with a culture that once again values the contributions of small businesses. As opposed to the oligarchical form of capitalism now practiced in the U.S.) I commend myself for successfully jumping through all of the hoops necessary to make HHFD a reality. I'm actually making and selling frozen desserts! Look at me! I'm a small-business man who's not wearing a T-shirt that makes a reference to my dong!

There are always a lot of dogs at the market, and this Sunday, there will be one more. This lovable goofball:

I'm going to make a new Huge Hound ice cream flavor—called Basset Tracks—and to celebrate that momentous occasion (and to try to entice the many dog lovers at the market to give it a try), Tony is going to bring Grady to the Dvoor Farm for a while. And by "for a while," I mean "until he does something to embarrass us and make us regret bringing him out in public." 😊

My friend Missy and her husband, Brad, are going to come to the market next week to enjoy my ice creams, and then we'll host the newlyweds for a late lunch afterward at our house. They were supposed to have come this past Sunday, but we agreed to postpone the visit for a week when the forecast still called for getting both soaking rain and high winds from Hermine.

My friend Pat stopped by unexpectedly toward the end of the day. She bought four pints from me, including two to give away. She's so sweet. Like the fudge in my Huge Hound Vanilla Fudge. 😆