Market Madness

Whenever I think I'm going to be okay Mother Nature slaps me down and keeps me humble. Got to the market late - 8:30 - but fortunately many other vendors were setting up as well. I go at my own pace and let customers come back if they want something of mine. Got set up while black clouds rolled in and it got colder and colder. Thankfully I had on four layers and a Carhartt. Colgate kids were being cool in shorts and flip-flops with blue lips. The wind was so strong it made my Bundaflicka sign flap back and forth like a wooden sail. Took it down, but my pop-up tent, a big one, decided to go airborne. A male customer lent a hand while we held it down and dismantled it. Everything else managed to stay put. Candace stopped by to say she gave up trying to set up as her whole kit blew away. The day went well with many people stopping to say hi. BOCES friends came by along with old customer/friends who were glad to see me there. It was the kind of market day I just want to freeze and keep alive in my mind. A month from now I could be sweltering in that park with hardly a curious passerby. I even sold the messenger bag I've carried around for over a year. A lovely tall young woman wanted it, pleading with her parents to buy it for her birthday which was coming up in two weeks. They said no but the Dad came back to buy it. Interesting, the tag said $75 but he gave Matt $60 and Matt didn't check the tag. Oh, well, I can still use $60 and I'm glad the nice girl got her bag. By the time we packed up the sky was blue and the wind died down. My purchases for the day - a large bottle of honey and six little cakes of beeswax, and two square plates for Mia from the potter Edie Walker, which were accidentally dropped while packing up and smashed in a hundred pieces. There's always something...We stopped into the Hamilton Whole Foods to chat with Candace and have lunch. I adore their tabouli salad with artichokes on top. I bought some Reign of Fire organic coffee from New Guinea (tastes like Starbucks French Roast) and the new Mary Jane's Farm magazine. After a stop at Tractor Supply for pet food, where much of my earnings go, we made our way home to let the sheep out to graze and tend to many needy critters.