Here Comes Autumn

The sun is still warm on bright days, but as evening air cools and thins, I know it'll soon be time to dust off the cozy layers, and the stockings, and maybe even hats and armwarmers, in preparation for the season of Scorpiofest. I can't help but be happy.
Of course, I'd be a smidge more happy to acquire an old canoe, like this. We were treated to a glimpse of the Red Cup employees and friends Labor Day bash this weekend, in the wild woods outside of Stroud. A beautiful, peaceful place, with a little pond I could drift on for hours. Or better yet, take photographs, sketch, lounge, and sip a drink while Tony does all the work. ;)



A visit to the antiques market was a fun diversion Saturday afternoon. Several old patterns (both sewing and knitting/crochet), magazines, 2 photos, 2 tiny tins, a pair of battered old fedoras, and a mannequin head all found their way home with me.

This was a lazy day (after a 7:30 am client for me, and an early hours run for Tony). We cooked an egg, onion, cheese scrambled, sipped some French pressed Columbian coffee, lounged a bit, then eventually took a drive out and about, ending up at the book shop for a coffee and shared pretzel. (B&N wasn't our choice, but seemed to be the only coffee joint opened today.)
As the sun lowered behind the magnolia, leaving the front step in cool shade, we cooked a couple garden burgers on the mini charcoal grill. And a foil packet containing broccoli and sliced red onions. Mmmm. Maybe I'll come back and edit in the photos once I retrieve them from the camera. Or maybe I'll just incorporate them into the next post.

A bit of antiquing

After a good coating of ice brought the city to a standstill for several days, people were apparently more than eager to get out and about over the weekend. While Sara was at the ice rink (that's right, all healed up in time to skate on her birthday, life's good). Tony and I bought a few pastry treats for her, and a shiny "Happy Birthday" balloon. It was the weekend for Buchanan's antiques market at the fairgrounds, where I haven't managed to have a good browse for several months, so we stopped down there, where the first thing I managed to snag was an antique L.C. Smith 'super speed' typewriter for Sara's friend, who had just mentioned a few days before that she was on the lookout for one. For a mere $12, I like to think she won't mind if the ribbon is in tatters.
Tony was relieved I wasn't tempted to bring it home for myself; a house really only needs so many antique typewriters, and I've the feeling if you asked him, he'd say we've reached our quota. (Kind of like with cats.)
There were more people milling about and getting in my way than I was used to seeing, which must have made the vendors happy. Lucky for me, the maddening crowd wasn't after the same stuff as me.
I got a few sweetly yellowed and crumbly magazines from the 20's, a 1938 alamanc which is mostly just advertisements for a suspicious assortment of cure-all medicines and herbal concoctions, and a super crumbly latin textbook with no date that I can find, but judging by the spine, I'd guess late 1800's. The young lady who sold it to me (for $1) seemed fond of it, and asked if I was a fan of latin. "No," I said, "I'm an artist, and since this book is already falling apart...." I believe if I hadn't already handed over my cash, and had the book in my hands, she may well have refused to sell it to me at that point!
My best bargain, though, was the assortment of dollies shown here. Aren't they the best? Oh, and that's the latin book they're resting on, that you can't see at all.
The only bad thing about that trip to the market was the wind had picked up while we were inside, and when Tony opened the back door of the car, in order to load the typewriter, our birthday balloon escaped and took off to the stratosphere. I watched it for several minutes as we headed home (since we and it were both conveniently traveling the same direction), but it soon became a teeny speck, then vanished altogether. By the time Sara got home from the rink a couple hours later, I'm certain her balloon was well past Tulsa, and headed for Joplin.

Creative Wings Stretching.....

This is me, as I sit in Los Milagros Studio, Lynn and the other atists capturing their versions of what they see (Lynn's was this whimsical monoprint). Perhaps I'm considering what I will be creating next. Perhaps I'm dwelling on the new offerings in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5036398

or my brand new digs over at Art Fire http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=13160 which is a fresh little place (though maybe not little for long), to investigate if you find the plethora of choice over at Etsy somewhat overwhelming.

But most likely, I'm dreaming of getting my fingers inky back in my own studio. I think I'll do that now.....