First Day of Autumn

Not such a fantastic announcement, but fall is here and with it comes the ends and beginnings of new things.                              Last Saturday was my last day at the Waterfront Market even though its official end is this Saturday. I really enjoyed the early wake-up calls (5:00 am) although as the weeks progressed, we streamlined a bit and didn't have to get up to set up quite as early.  I still had a lot of things to put out, so we were usually one of the first vendors to arrive and more often than not, the last ones to leave.  It was a great experience, even though the market wasn't as busy as it could have been.  It was the first venture at an outdoor market for that community so with it were the growing pains that any new venture has to experience.  Aside from the weather, that couldn't be controlled, there were some great positives.  One was the incredible location.  The street was closed to traffic and so pedestrians could meander without fear that their little ones (or pups) would be in the way of autos.  The park adjacent to the market was lovely.  It was picturesque and  always clean, with interesting architectural features and groups of steps intermittently placed all the way down to the dock and river's edge. Perhaps it could have done with a bit more flora, but I found the hedges and trees made an interesting contrast with the concrete of the walkway.  I am looking forward to being there next year.

The other vendors provided interesting opportunities for conversation when customers were not around. The market is quite varied, with people selling things that they either  grew, baked or made and  mostly I got a chance to chat up the people who 'made things'. Last Saturday I was situated next to the gal who did Tarot Card Readings. 

Now that fall is officially here, it's good-bye 'slumming' and back to serious work. I've already got a pretty full schedule for substitute teaching, and the next 6 weeks will not leave much spare time.   In addition to teaching, this week I'm helping  hubby get his fish derby organized.  It's a big job, with registrations, prize packaging, envelope-stuffing and phone and doorbell answering.

I'm also getting ready for the many arts/crafts events that are scheduled during the next three months. In preparation for those fairs, I'm doing a lot of buttons.  These were some of the ones I made yesterday.   Unfortunately, their colors don't show up on this scan very well, but they look nice in real time.  The one in the center is about an inch wide and nearly two inches in height and I think it would work well as a purse closure or single focal button on a hand knit sweater.  Wish I had time to knit or felt even one of those things.