Downtown on a Saturday

I'm not normally a big fan of busy downtowns or hectic shopping malls ... especially on Saturdays when EVERYONE seems to be there ... but once in awhile I feel the urge to exercise my consumerist capitalistic ... well, I just feel like shopping. So I went to our local outdoor Farmers Market.

It turned out to be a lovely sunny day, and a bit of a special one in honour of BC's 150th birthday. Vendors were out full force hawking everything from buffalo jerky to fresh herbs and veggies, and from handmade jewelry to fine woodcrafts. I managed to NOT be seduced by the wonderful aroma of deep fried bannock, although that was tough to accomplish, and made a beeline right to the veggie stand at the far end. Fresh baby beets with greens still attached ... YUM! And some delicious small yellow cucumbers. (I used to think yellow cucumbers were all over-ripe ... now I know some of them are meant to be that way ... and they taste fabulous!)

Of course, one can't ignore the handicrafts! I fell in love with this item:

She's about 24 inches tall. I'm not sure if it was her bare toes or her red hair or her naughty expression that won my heart! I knew the second I laid eyes on her that she NEEDED TO BE on my office wall at work. Currently, this is on my office wall ...

... nice enough, but NOT "me"!

From the Farmers Market, I strolled along the street toward the bakery. I was thinking chocolate eclair and coffee, but got sidetracked by an antique store I've never explored. (I told you I don't do downtown on Saturday very often!) Once inside the antique store, almost all thoughts of chocolate eclairs vanished. Of course, thoughts of chocolate eclairs NEVER totally vanish from my head! I found all kinds of oldies but goodies that reminded me of people from my past. I always imagine items in antique stores and flea markets all trying to talk at once, each item trying to tell its own personal story over the voices of other items ... and I want to hear every story! (Consequently, I get a headache from concentrating on listening, and avoid antique stores and flea markets.) I was particularly intrigued by a pair of framed pencil sketches of a very posh but dour looking couple from the 1890s, and a scarred but sturdy oak table with 4 unusual chairs, but came away with these instead: My "Grandma B." (no blood relation) had one of these little smelly piggies on her dresser ... in between her silver hairbrush and hand mirror set and a little porcelain dish with a picture of a poodle painted in it and used for her hair net and hair pins. Grandma B kept her little smelly piggie filled with lily of the valley talcum powder. If I was a good little girl, she would lift me up and let me pat the piggie ... which released a tiny cloud of lily of the valley. I'm not partial to lily of the valley, but the piggie reminded me of special moments with a special lady. I shall fill mine with lavender. Oh, and the little cows? Salt and pepper shakers. I keep receiving cows for my kitchen ... my kitchen window sill looks like a field of cow misfits! ... and I've finally stooped to buying cows myself. (Yes, L., it WAS inevitable!) They are kind of cute though, aren't they?Naturally, no trip to an antique store or flea market is ever complete without an hour or more spent browsing in the books section. I LOVE old books, and came away with this little gem. I find Oscar Wilde quite entertaining, especially for a loonie. I mean, especially when the book COSTS a loonie! Oh who am I kidding ... Oscar probably WAS a bit loonie too ...After all that shopping, I was surprised to discover afternoon was already slipping away. I paid a quick visit to another special lady on my way to the bus stop, and told her about my new-old Oscar Wilde book. (She is always happy to discuss books ... if you look closely, you'll see she has a copy of HER book, "Stony Creek Woman", in her lap.) Then it was home to weekend chores, including this:Have YOU paid a visit to your local Farmers Market lately? Or to your local antique store? Well? Do tell!