offcntr | Bearnapping (Reply)

Very low turnout of vendors yesterday, probably due to the weather report. Depending on who you consulted, anywhere between 29 and 100% change of showers--my weather app said 63%. But I missed last week because of Clay Fest, and plan on taking the remaining weeks off to make pots for the Holiday sales, so I was down on the Park Blocks at 7:30 am, setting up my booth.

Surprisingly, for as grey and threatening as the skies looked, I was able to set up entirely dry, even seeing a few streaks of blue sky to the east, though they quickly filled in with clouds. I put the walls up as a precaution, kept the empty boxes inside. It continued dry as I shopped the Farmers Market, and only spit briefly around 9:30, just enough to get me to drop the walls and help Danny move his tables off the sidewalk and under his roof.

After that, we only got the slightest amount of rain around mid-morning, gone by lunchtime. Never got warm, but in all not a bad day.

Had a couple of sales to folks who'd come looking for my last weekend and not found me, and at least two who had. A couple who'd bought a mug at Clay Fest came back to pick out another, as well as six of Denise's watercolor cards. And a woman who'd talked to Denise about ordering a four-place table setting stopped in, picked out six dessert plates to buy now, and gave me twelve more patterns to put on dinner plates and soup bowls in my next firing.

A young woman asked if I ever painted insects on pots. I pointed out the butterfly and dragonfly mugs (and forgot I had a mantis in the box), and told her I also had a ladybug pattern, perched on a daisy. At which point she excitedly showed me the ladybugs painted on her fingernails, and told me her name was Daisy. I'm making a ladybug tall mug for her in my next firing.

Almost had a kidnapping on my hands--a little girl playing peek-a-boo with Yuri wanted a bear hug, then took him with her, heading for the sidewalk. Just pretending, laughed and gave him back. I gave her a bear picture postcard in thanks. And gave Yuri a reassuring squeeze.

Packed up dry at 4 pm, having made about $560, and went over to Club Mud to mix up 20,000 grams of glaze, before heading home for leftovers, starting a bisque firing, and bed. It really is the busy season.