Monday, September 28, 2009

Gathering a Harvest of Vintage Stuff




Gosh, it's been awhile since I went through a lot of my stash of stuff I've hoarded! You forget you have things and it's like Christmas getting into it again. I'm getting ready for the Uncovered Ruby Outdoor Gala! I can't wait for the weekend, but I'm also trying to get my stuff together. I have it in too many places I think. If I have enough space in the car (hoping I can borrow my dad's trailer), I want to bring my bike...and my old sewing machine...., the old metal chairs I was going to make planters out of but never got to it...well you get the idea. I can't wait to see what everyone else brings!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

New Friends at Vintage Gathering

I made Kristin pose, telling her she looked like a pin-up girl, lol.

Chantel even came with us this time, although she would probably rather ride her horse or something else.




Isn't Kristin's car cool?
What a wonderful weekend I had with my daughters taking part in the Vintage Gatherings flea market in Battleground! We baked a lot of stuff ( raspberry and marionberry coffee cakes, the Finnish Cardamom Bread, caramel corn, strawberry and apricot bars, and Swiss Bratzeli cookies) and took it up, didn't take much vintage stuff this time, but next time, we definitely will!
Lisa, at Uncovered Ruby was great with getting us involved; gosh, she even set up our tent, b/c there was no way I'd get there on Friday to set up due to the fact that I bake to the last minute. Thanks for all your help Lisa, and we DEFINITELY want to spend some time getting to know you better!
I took a lot of photos, and there was so much cool stuff, I could hardly take a bad picture, though I'm pretty good at that! Forgive my jumbled photos, they won't be in order with what I'm blogging about probably. I need to spend some serious time figuring out blogspot and how I can work with the photos better. It drives me crazy trying to move pictures around on my blog.
I loved everything about this show, but there are a few things that stand out BIG!!!
1) I met some really nice people! The vendors were all so friendly, I don't know if I've ever done something like this with a group where EVERYONE went out of their way to welcome us and be so friendly. Laid back, too! I liked that. Here we are on a gorgeous farm setting, everyone's having a good time, tons of stuff going home with customers, it was just great. I finally got to meet my blogging friend, Florence, too. And Monica, it was great to see her again. She's a loyal cardamom bread addict lol.
2)Like I said, it was a friendly group, and Kathy is a very hospitable hostess! I kinda wanted to sneak and take some pictures of what I could see of her home as I went in to use her restroom and get a cup of coffee in the kitchen. It smelled so good in her house, too, with candles everywhere! Her covered porch was a place we made good use off, in shifts (my daughters and I) I wondered at first where Kristin had gone for the longest time....she was taking a nap on her porch! Well, I had my turn later in the afternoon. I had gotten 2 1/2 hours of sleep, due to the stupid computer/printer/program problems I was having for my labels the night before. Kathy also had a huge, I mean HUGE apple tree that I spent a lot of glances looking up at, thinking YUM! Huge, gorgeous apples! Anyway, thanks Kathy for your hospitality!
3) Something I have spent days soaking in, pondering on, taking in......
There was a mom, probably in her 30s I'd say, with a little girl, probably under 10, shopping with her father and mother. There was just something about them that touched me. They were at our tent, looking at my Finnish Cardamom bread, and they were mentioning Challah bread, kinda comparing recipes, what type of bread Challah was. Being inquisitive, I asked if they were Jewish. The mom said she was, I asked if there was a synagogue near here that she went to, and she said, actually, my husband is Jewish, and they were Messianic Jews. Well, that started a great conversation in itself. but the thing that totally kind of mesmerized me (I know, I'm always spacing like this) was how they were as a family, as people. There was just this peace I felt. The father was just so friendly, and so encouraging. After they left, I kept watching them, feeling just "blessed" somehow. In a little while, I saw the little girl packing out this hamper that was almost as big as she was, the mom was laughing, telling her dad "she got a hamper!", the grandpa and grandma were smiling, kinda touching her with affirmation without actually touching her, saying, "you got yourself a hamper". You would have thought she got a doll, or a bike, but no, it was a hamper. They just had this thankfulness about them.
As they were walking away, I told Kristin I was going to go after them and ask them to adopt me. Somehow, they had blessed me. I'm not sure if they knew they had, but I had this sense that God had done this, given me this euphoric, peaceful, content feeling, to just enjoy. I have not gotten over it yet, and I hope I don't for a long time!
Here's that little girl's hamper.
































I kept seeing Michelle, we'd visit, very nice person!











We were close to Lisa and Sally (Uncovered Ruby), had a lot of fun watching stuff fly out of their booth. Even more fun watching people trying to fit their finds into their car! By the way, they are having their show on October 3rd in Battleground, so put it on your calendar. We're going to be there, too!