Into the the Spider-verse

Spider plate! Spider plate!
Holds whatever a spider ate!

Yeah, maybe not.

I get the best commissions, sometimes. This from a friend from our Book Arts group, who wanted an eight-inch plate with Portia spider. Since there are over a dozen varieties, I had her pop me some images, which resulted in this handsome lass.

T-minus two weeks, and counting

In two Saturdays, it will be Saturday Market time again!

I'm sorta ready? I still need to re-stock the van, which will take all of one sunny afternoon. I'm also still short on a few items, mainly tall mugs and teapots, but I have some going into Wednesday's firing, so that's okay. Mainly, it's getting myself ready. I haven't really had to worry about getting up on time, or making an appointment beyond sitting in front of my laptop, since last December. Denise has had her first vaccination--Hooray!--but won't have the second one until March 41 (okay April 10), so I'm still on my own until she's cleared to go outside. (And unless Lane County moves their schedule up, I'm not eligible until March 29.)

Market is still on 50% capacity, so my reserve booth is only available alternate weeks, beginning April 10, so if I want to take advantage of the opening day rush, I'll have to do something I haven't done in over 25 years: get in the lottery.

Every Saturday at 8:30 am, the manager rings a bell, and begins to give away booths. All non-reserved booths are available, and any reserved ones whose owners didn't check in. Priority is by points, a number determined by how many years you've been in Market, how many times you sold the previous year, phases of the moon, I don't know. All I know is that you get another point every week you sell, and each point level is randomized, so you can be at the bottom of the 3 points this week but at the top of the 4 point group next. Before we got our reserved space, we did this every weekend. But that was a long time ago.

I'm hoping to get a space somewhere along East Park, where I usually sell, and also hoping to be reasonably organized and set up when Market opens for business at 10 am. I'll go back to odd-number Saturdays only afterward: April 10, April 24, May 8 and so forth.

Market is making plans for 75% capacity, once we've been on Moderate Risk for more than a month. In that case, booths will be four feet apart, rather than eight, and my reserve space moves over a square to accommodate. Market will still be on even/odd weeks though, with the extra spots going into the lottery. No idea when we might be able to go back to weekly full Markets, with music and sit-down eating. You know, like in olden times.

So I've mailed my printed postcards--I cheated, used  last year's picture, from the stack I had to recycle when we went into lockdown and opening was cancelled--and will be emailing the rest out this afternoon. If you're in Eugene, come down and say hello. Properly masked and distanced, of course.