Silverton day 1: Second helpings

[offcntr]

Silverton is a lovely small show, eighty-odd booths set up along the paths under the giant Douglas firs in a wooded city park. We're in a new space this year, the closest to flat and level of anywhere I've been this year. It's breezy and shaded, and the constant patter of fir needles on the roof sounds like rain.

Since Silverton is only about 20 minutes from Salem, I was concerned that doing both shows might cut into this weekend's sales. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Before 11:30 we've already had two customers who'd bought a small item in Salem come back for much bigger purchases. (In one case, several dinner plates, a dessert and two soup bowls.) By afternoon a couple more have showed up. And we're still getting repeat customers from previous years here.

For once, the weather is cooperating: partly cloudy, mild, breezy, temps in the 70s, easily the nicest weather we've had all summer. People are out in force, and we're busy all morning and good bits of the afternoon. Sales for the whole weekend won't rival Anacortes, but today we sell better than we did last Sunday, and almost as well as Saturday.