authorpages, Books, Food

The Good, the Bad, and the Windy

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On Saturday, we went to Steep Falls Farmers Market with our books and display. As the title indicates, it was an up and down kind of day.

Being a person who likes to look on the bright side of life, I’ll start with the good.

First, it was a gloriously sunny day—it had rained the day before— and the Steep Falls Farmers Market is on a pretty green complete with a gazebo.

Here we are all set up.

Here’s a longer view of the green.

And our books and prints started out looking pretty.

Now comes the bad. I am going to borrow from another crafter by noting that we had to get up at God-awful-o’clock in the morning to get to Steep Falls—over an hour from where we live—and set up by 8:30.  (The market opens at 9:00.) To put it mildly, I am not a morning person. By the time we were set up and I had the first sip of tea from my thermos, I felt as though I had been whacked between the eyes with a 2 x 4. In short, not exactly my usual perky self. (Go ahead, morning folks. Yuck it up.)

Then came the windy. Apparently, the green is in a breezy spot in town, and because it had rained the day before, the wind was even worse than usual. A particularly strong gust knocked over our canopy and bent one of the legs. It swept our books and prints and most everything else off the table. Fortunately, none of our items are breakable, and aside from the canopy’s leg, nothing was damaged.

However, no longer did we have a pretty display where our books and prints were neatly arranged. Instead, everything was higgedly-piggedly, set out for easy protection from the wind rather than for any kind of order. (No, I did not get pictures of the brouhaha.)

By the time the end of the fair rolled around, we were just plain tuckered out.

But I don’t want to finish on that note because something very good happened to perk up what was an extremely trying day. Across the green from us, Feathers and Scale Farm had a booth, and as their business card proclaims, they sell “soap, milk, cheese, and all things goat.”

Just before the market ended, Wes Woodman—who owns the farm with his wife, Carissa Larsen—brought over two puddings for us. One was a luscious chocolate, and the other was an even more luscious vanilla. What a cool, delicious treat! I can taste it still, and I could have some right now.

Here is a picture of Wes Woodman by his booth.

Readers, if you are ever come across some of Feathers and Scale Farm’s delectable products, do not hesitate to buy them.

Thanks, Wes. for the scrummy treats.

 

 

 

41 thoughts on “The Good, the Bad, and the Windy”

  2. I’ve done a few craft shows in my day and it is EXHAUSTING. And bad weather can ruin the whole thing. SO nice of Wes to perk up your day for you.

    1. You got that right, Jodie. But this is our thing, and we have found that going to various events is the best way to sell our books. Wonderful to have those puddings.

  6. I hate to repeat myself, but the average person does not realize how hard crafters work to sell their products. And, in this day of ordering anything you want on line, I can only imagine it becomes more challenging. But, that pudding sure looked good so you could end the day with a smile. 🙂

  8. Windy weather is a pain when you have an outdoor stand of any sort.
    I’ve done a couple of vide greniers here in the past – sort of like a flea market – and you have to be set up by around 8 which means getting up and loading up at an even more ‘God-awful-o’clock’ only to find not many people attend or, more usually, nobody wants to buy anything that costs more than a euro. At least you got a nice pudding 😃

  9. Hope you have recovered. Meeting other people and trying new things is the best bit of events for me.

  11. Good for you remaining cheerful with all that wind. I think wind, and rain WITH wind, are just about the most annoying things to put up with. I’m sure I’d love that chocolate pudding, glad you had some nice food to cheer you up.

  12. So glad your books weren’t damaged! Will you try this sort of market again or did you get the sense it’s not the right venue, even without the wind?

  13. We share the frustrations of wind with you; I’m glad you didn’t suffer more damage from it. Despite all that, it was fascinating to see the photos. I’ve heard about “greens” in New England towns, but didn’t realize that they still exist, or that the word still is used for them. And what a cute bandstand — do they have weekly concerts? It seems as though they should.

    I followed your link to the farm, and was sorely tempted by the lemon meringue soap. I do love lemon in all its forms. Some day I may give that soap a try.

    1. Oh, yes. Greens still exist. In New England, many towns and cities still have them. A lovely holdover from the old days. I’m not sure if Steep Falls has weekly concerts. How cool that you followed the link to Feather and Scale Farm. Let me assure you, their soap smells wonderful, and I will be buying some the next time we go to the Steep Falls Market. Fingers crossed that the wind isn’t as fierce.

  14. I had a stall at an event a few years ago that was on a secure site, which meant we could leave everything set up overnight. The stalls were all in open-fronted tents. Unfortunately, during the night there were strong winds and driving rain and we all returned to battered stalls in the morning Mine wasn’t too bad (like you, no breakables) although some of my business cards were destroyed. One stallholder, however, insisted that her stall had been vandalised deliberately and there was nothing we could say to convince her that it was just the wind.
    Anyway, I hope that you feel your day was worthwhile – the ‘before’ pictures look lovely.

    1. Phew! What a story. Wind is definitely an issue. Last year was the first year for our canopy, and I guess we got lucky. No wind to speak of on the days we set up. The day was worthwhile in many wars. Thanks for the kind words.

  18. Laurie, what a trying day. I’m glad you sold some books, but the early rise, heavy winds, and mayhem that ensued sound exhausting.

    In a separate note, a few years ago we bought a box of weights for the legs of our canopy. I had a similar experience with a broken canopy leg and there is nothing to be done. Let me see if I can find a link.

    1. We did, and on the back legs, too. The trouble came when Clif tried to put up the sides to protect us from the wind. They acted as sails and blew the whole thing over. Once the sides were down, the canopy was fine. Alas, the same cannot be said of our display. 😉 Fortunately none if it is breakable.

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