30- 10: Home

Greetings -
It is good to be home. Spent a big chuck of last week doing the Bayfield Apple Festival. Drove up on Thursday and set up booth. We were a few spaces closer to the gazebo than usual. Didn't have an asphalt park path running through our space this time! Weather forecast was for normal weather, with standable winds. This is always good - though not to be trusted!

After getting things from truck to booth - with only one minor tip-over (the park is notorious for it's subtle ups and downs), I headed up the hill to Eckels' Pottery. Dede and crew were busy selling ceramic goodies and other of their offerings. I picked through a dish of wonderful large ceramic buttons - choosing three for fashion-designer daughter, Tara. Stayed with hues of pale green, blue, yellow, white - all in different patterns. Met a lady who often buys my cards at Dede's shop. We talked about Life, of course - ha! It always comes back to Life.

Will add more about the wonderful weekend later. Now it's time to clear off a few horizontal surfaces. Wish me luck!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Bayfield Apple Fest - the Easy Part

The Easy Part of an art fair or festival is demonstrated here by daughter Tara. One goes down by the shore of Lake Superior and rests up for all the heavy lifting that is to come.

The drive up from Stillwater on Thursday afternoon was gorgeous and beautiful and relatively warm. The Good Old Red Ford pick-up truck did the heavy lifting that day. Our magnets may be cute and little but in volume they add lots to a load... We scored an excellent parking spot on the edge of the park in Bayfield, Wisconsin, sighed, took some deep breaths and proceeded to unload. Two hours later we were as done as we were going to get for the day. Treated ourselves to raspberry pie, a burger, and a shared malt at Gruenke's. Then took a room for the night, there, too. After dinner we explored the new new bookstore (we hit the old used bookstore the next day...), then checked in on-line doings of friends and family. Got to watch "Project Runway" in real time, and then had good sleeps in our vintage beds.

It was strange but wonderful to wake up Saturday already in town and not 50 miles away in Gurney. A bit of sun teased us. We headed for the first of many trips to Big Water coffee-shop for caffeine and excellent scones. Grey happened while we tweaked the booth goodies. Then clamps and big plastic came in handy as the rains started and stopped for much of Friday. Sigh and sigh.
Hearty shoppers poked their way into venders' tents and some made purchases. Hooray! Only one big splash of wayward water made it into the tent - unfortunately, it landed in the center of a box holding greeting cards.... sigh again. Only a few brave cards were lost in the adventure. Eventually we could take plastic sheets down and clamp them up to dry.

Eventually five o'clock happened and it was time to zip up and head for home-town, Gurney, Wis. The weather forecast had been for a delightful weekend, but at Ashland we could see whitecaps on da big lake. A clerk at Walmart told of small craft warnings for the night. We don't like those words - even on land. Sure enough - at Gurney brother Rick turned on his marine radio. Small craft warnings. We had not tied down the booth to the concrete park bench like we usually do. Oh well. Sleep was not as sound as the previous nights'. Small craft warnings don't make for sweet dreams. (to be continued.)

- Fare-thee-well,
Sue