Rain or Shine!

The show was great. It is promoted as a "rain or shine" show, and we had lots of both!

The new tent was wonderfully easy to put up...we went to Kathryn's on Friday evening and had it up in no time. We had popped over to the US Lowes to get it as I could find nothing suitable here. I wasn't in the market for a two-person crawl-in-on-your-belly tent, or for a marquee which could seat 40 people, and there didn't seem to be anything in between. The sides for the tent, (purchased separately) were quite peculiar though, with incomprehensible directions, velcro tabs and zippers in strange places and were several feet too long. I think they will be going back from whence they came.

Each show I do teaches me a better or more efficient way of organizing things, so the set-up went quickly on Saturday morning. The sun was bright, the flowers blooming, and it was hot. HOT. About 35, and very humid. However, it wasn't raining, and who could complain of heat in such a beautiful setting! I was well squirted with excellent spray sunscreen but missed a 6" section on the back of one arm...giving me an odd pink streak!

I was busy right away, which is always nice, and did bead making demos by request all day. It's tricky to do outside on a bright day because it's very difficult to see the flame of the torch. But it was a big hit. Even the simplest twisted cane is interesting to people who have never seen one made before.

I was able to take a brief break in the afternoon to wander about to see other people's wonderful work, take a few pictures and enjoy the flowers. Kathryn's garden is quite large and there are many secret "rooms" and hidden paths to explore. Here is a table ready for a tea break hidden in the cedars:

These are the two adobe ovens Kathryn built in the garden. Not only are the baked goods delicious, the scent of the woodsmoke is too.

14 Year old Maia, with her miniature paintings. In her current work, she selects a small detail from an old mater painting and repaints it in her own style. I bought the detail from Botticelli's Birth of Venus. I love it!

Maia is heading to Beijing next week, she won a trip to the Olympics in Visa's "Olympics of the Imagination" children's art contest. She and her brother Quinn are are some of the coolest kids I know. Quinn is an invaluable assistant and manages the orphan beads for me!

A view down towards the back of the garden. There was pottery, ironwork, furniture, tin smithing, soap, furniture, textiles, spinning, paintings in oil, acrylics and watercolor, jewelry, hand bound books, all kinds of plants, and more, all handmade by local artisans.

Diana and her art jewelry in her beautifully decorated booth:
Our host, Kathryn...coming out the door and being shy! Her home was built in the 1840's and she grew up on the adjacent farm, so every inch of her land knows and loves her. There's a nice article about Kathryn and green gardening in this summer's Harowsmith Country Life . Hollyhocks up to the eaves...
...and all around the house! Who wouldn't love to live in a house wrapped in hollyhocks?

My dear friend Veronica and her beautiful booth:


Now this leads me to one little difficulty...my own booth. I'll come right out and say it...no pictures. Sorry! When I came back from my little walkabout, the booth was full of customers with questions, and purchases and requests for demos...and taking a picture went right out of my thoughts. I remembered...when we had everything put away for the evening. Bonehead. This is after forgetting my camera last year, forgetting the battery the year before AND forgetting the #*!! memory card this year. I went out and BOUGHT a new memory card, I was determined to take some pictures. So you will just have to imagine my booth as being sublimely beautiful, brimming with excellent merchandise and incredibly efficient and organized. What you are picturing is probably much better than the picture would have been!

We enjoyed dinner on Saturday night, eaten outdoors on Veronica's new flagstone patio in her heavenly garden, surrounded by billowing poppies and more hollyhocks. It was great to see our friends Carol and Laurie again and to get caught up.

Charlie put on quite a performance for us. I call this picture "Flossing for Cats 101".

Sunday presented the "rain" portion of our rain or shine weekend. It rained all day Sunday in varying degrees, so some of us transferred our stock into the barn. The barn is whitewashed inside and lined with Kathryn's paintings, so we managed as best we could, and I was still able to do demos out under my tent upon request. We were surprisingly busy with determined shoppers who were undeterred by a little rain! I am happy to say that a nice amount of new work sold.
Corset rings are now on their way to new homes.
So took us to dinner at the Buttermilk Cafe, which is a tradition, as I must have a piece of their lemon pie at least once a year! My friend Chris came for a visit and joined us for dinner. It was so great to see him...we hadn't seen each other for a Very Long Time. He fit right in, and has a matching sense of humour so it was a laughter-filled dinner! I am happy to have a picture of him, he's a little shorter than I had remembered. Seriously, I'm not sure why he insisted on being photographed on his knees but it was extremely funny at the time. You'll just have to trust me on that one! And what am I doing? I have no idea!

Monday saw us back at the Buttermilk to have breakfast with Anne. And more lemon pie. Once a year, I get to have pie with breakfast! And it was goooood!
Our drive home was fairly leisurely, with a few pleasant breaks, and miraculously no Toronto traffic problems. We were very tired, and it is so very good to be back at the lake.

So had some dental work done today which was NOT pleasant and quite painful. How fragile our bodies are, and sometimes our souls go through fragile times too. It's a paradox that even in the most pleasant times, pain can be so close to the surface...of our bodies and of our minds. This evening's mission is to care for the pain of So's body, and to nurture myself a little bit too. I have a great deal of work to do, of many different kinds, but tonight is a time to rest and be kind to my own soul.
I know this was a long, long post! Thanks for reading this far...you know I'm always glad you stopped by!