Coffee And Paint Drips Blog - Page 62 of 79

Artist Date at the Farmer’s Market

On Tuesdays in my neighborhood, the farmer’s market comes to town and I love it! If the weather is as beautiful as today it’s the best. I like to get there early, before everyone else shows up and buys the gorgeous vegetables. The market opens at 7 A.M., but I never make it that early. I try to be there by 9:00 for a good choice of different lettuces and spinach, which sell out fast. It’s still early in the growing season for many items, but the greens are a big thing and they’re usually plentiful in the cooler weather.

Today I got myself together early and decided this was going to be my artist date for this week. Just a simple stroll in the comfortable sunny weather to buy my produce and mosey through the stands to sample some cheese here and a slice of artisan bread there. The vendors stay until 1:00P.M. and by that time it’s crowded and depleated. Not for me, I like it early and empty! The birds are still singing, not alot of people or cars whizzing by, a pure pleasure.

I bought the lettuce and the spinach. The veggie vendor had red, ripe strawberries. I could smell the sweetness before I saw them, The fruit guy had fresh picked cherries and blueberries. All great stuff. There’s a cheese guy, a wine stand, a fish monger, a cupcake shop, a bread baker, and a plant stand. Some days there’s a cookie baker and last week I met a woman who made her own spice rubs, marinades and BBQ sauces from Guyana. I think I saw a booth last week with homemade mustards. Most of the vendors come from the east end of Long Island and some from upstate New York.

Visiting the farmer’s market on a beautiful day makes me feel great all day long.

Musing on Morning Pages

It’s been way over a year since I started writing Morning Pages as suggested in the course, The Artist’s Way. Three full pages are expected, written longhand in the early morning hours before the day gets under way. In all that time I may have missed only a couple of days of writing. I never thought I would be so drawn to write in my black and white marble notebook every single day. The writing has never been a chore and, in fact, as I come to the end of the third page I think of more things to write!

The author of The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron, writes that great ideas start to come forth by the middle of the second page of free thought writing, and this is true for me, too. I could be out of sorts when I start writing and by the time I’m plugging on the second page my pen is flying with thoughts.

The act of writing is art. When I first started journaling I hadn’t yet read the course. I was writing whatever came into my head, for a page if I was bored, for more if I had something to get off my chest. The marble notebook I began writing in had no lines for some reason. How I found that kind of notebook I have no idea. I must have picked it up for my boys when they were still in school. I decided I liked the idea of no lines and just wrote the words and marveled how they looked on the page. Then I began to write without wearing reading glasses I use. And that was interesting to me, how the words looked in the lines they made on the page. It was cool to me that I couldn’t really see the words the pen made, making it seem more like drawing than writing.

Then there’s the pen. While I write I need the pen nib, the ink flow, and the way it meets the paper to be just right. Many pages I wrote have three different types of pens until I got one that I enjoyed writing with. My favorite is my old Mont Blanc pen that my father gave me many years ago. Right now it needs an ink refill, but using it was like a ritual. The pen and pencil set came in a zippered leather case. I’d get out my notebook, open it to the fresh page, unzip the case and remove the pen from it’s elastic loop holding it in place, flip the lever to reveal the writing nib and go at it. Besides the fact that it’s a lovely instrument to write with, I remember my father when I use it.

While I write what pops into my head I get more ideas for this blog. I could be huffing and puffing in the Pages and while I’m writing I think to myself, could this be a blog post?

That’s what happened today and what I’m yapping about here now. I was thinking about the usual things and goings-on when it dawned on me that someday, if I keep these notebooks, my family will stumbled on them and read about who I am, was, whatever. Will they think, she’s nuts? Who knows.

It seems my mother’s father kept notebooks about his life in this country, in the late 1890’s I guess. He came from Greece as a youngster with his brothers and somehow ended up out west building the railroads. Interesting stuff I’m sure, but shortly before he died of a brain aneurism he burned his books. What was he thinking? I would have loved to read his words. I thought of the story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, who aged backwards. After his death, as an infant, his wife had her daughter read to her from the diary he kept and the how and why of what it was. That scene just made me think of my own writing in the Morning Pages.

Anyway, I don’t think my thoughts are as interesting as some, but they’re mine and that’s that.

Photos for Friday

Thought for Thursday

“Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.” ~Groucho Marx

Two Words for Wednesday-Disappointed and Thankful

Yes, the words for Wednesday are Disappointed and Thankful.

First-Disappointed. The arrangements I made with the Big Brothers organization were kind of a bust. They were supposed to show up on Monday to take the items we carefully boxed and clearly labeled with B.B. so the driver knew what to take. I arrived at the church around 10A.M. with the other ladies to clean up and organize the items. I called the manager’s office and confirmed the pick-up with his secretary and tried to pin point the time of the truck’s arrival. She said he’d be there between 1and 2 P.M. I had to leave so I left my cell number with the church and told them to call with any problems. I dusted myself off and went home happy to be done with my job.

Tuesday I planned a relaxing day. Tuesday before noon I received a call from the church office that Big Brothers never made the pick-up and the basketball court needed to be empty and clean for the volunteer’s dinner later on in the evening! Yikes! I called Big Bros. and ran to the church to see for myself. When I arrived the caretaker told me the truck came, the driver took one of the 20 TVs, a couple of bags, a box and left because his truck was already half full with other stuff! That was NOT supposed to happen! I called B.B. again and spoke to the manager telling him I was not happy with their service. They did this to us last year too, but I had decided to let them try again. He said he spoke to the driver and that he did come, and picked up boxes outside the building, that they looked rifled with, and certain items like ironing boards were too big for their truck! Well, he must have taken garbage because we stacked the boxes inside the building! He then said he’d send the truck again later in the day. I told the caretaker and he hurriedly said they would stack the boxes and items outside so the truck could just pick up. Fine. I packed my own truck with whatever I thought they might not take and drove with all of it to the nearest Salvation Army.

Later in the afternoon I received a call from the B.B. manager saying they were able to pick up the boxes but the 20 TVs were no where. So where did they go? I’m thinking the caretaker didn’t feel like moving them and tossed them in the dumpster. Who knows what else went in the dumpster! You know what? It was out of my hands by then, I did what I could.

Second word-Thankful. You bet, I’m so thankful it’s over.

I’m Taking a Break

I need a break so bad after this weekend and I’m taking it today! Yes, the chores I ignored must be done, but that’s it. I’m going to drop out today, enjoy the sunny weather, and just veg. I just went to the farmer’s market this morning for some fresh vegetables and came back home. Painting will have to wait. I’m going to ease my achy back into a chair and skim throught the couple of books I bought at our flea market.

Later tonight our church is holding a volunteer’s dinner and wrap-up. I can’t wait to hear what kind of numbers we did in the flea market and meet up with my co-chair and our ladies! They were a lot of fun to work with. I’m sure the gossip will be plentiful! I already heard that one worker is mad at me for something. We had plenty of action in that flea market and we’re bound to hear stuff. During the weekend we had an altercation with a shopper who wanted to tell us to go ‘somewhere’. When I told my sister we almost had a fight with this woman she said “Yeah! I love a good fight!”

Geez!

The Lost Weekend is Over

My Friday class of Greek Dance students performing!

The lost week and weekend is finally over! We flea market workers are exhausted and our bodies are aching. Mind you, my co-chair and I are younger than our much older helpers and we’re feeling it so I can just imagine how the others are doing. Making a huge Greek Festival happen is hard work. Our flea market is like ten big garage sales all together. From the planning to the set-up, the selling, the yelling, the organizing, the crazy people, to the clean-up, it’s no joke. Except for the fun, that’s the good part.

Let me say right now that the flea market is ridiculously hard. Other volunteers like to complain that their stations are the hardest, but they haven’t helped run the flea market. Unless they’ve worked it they can’t talk about it! Besides, we start setting up the room on Monday of Memorial Day weekend and keep going until today, Monday after it’s all over. I’m writing this early because when I’m done I have to head over there to oversee the pick-up I arranged with the Big Brothers organization. Yup, I can’t see good items get thrown in a dumpster so I called them to make a donation. They’ll take most of the items so I make it a point to tell them to come with an empty truck! Why throw things out when Big Brothers can use it? Recycle, repurpose or reuse, I say. Another friend owns a book store and donates to needy people so he’s coming this morning to take the tons of books we couldn’t sell.

This year we had double the donations from last year and most of everything sold, even big ticket items like a large, ornately framed mirror and antique silver plated items. We have a supermarket bag sale where the shoppers can fill a bag for $5.00 the last two hours of operation and it’s very popular.

During the shopping I overheard someone saying to their companion, “I’m having such a good time in here!” Hearing that made me smile. Last night another shopper told me she was so happy she found out about our festival and overjoyed to stumble upon such a big flea market. She was so excited and said she was having a blast. I was thrilled!

Like I said, this flea market is huge. It’s a regulation basketball court big. People donate their cast off items and we get everything you can think of from all over their homes, in and out. You name it, we have it. My co-chair and I try to think how to set up the items to be very visible and look best for the best price. It takes plenty of planning. Take a look at my photos from Friday and you’ll get an idea.

The shoppers line up early and are like race horses chomping at the bit to get in. Once we open the doors they rush in thinking they’re getting the best items before anyone else. Some try to sneak in by saying it’s hot outside and they want to sit in the air conditioning-we don’t buy it! Some people try to buy a $10 item for 50 cents. Others want an item and say they don’t have enough money to buy the $1 item and then pull out a $50 for change. There are those who have fun bargaining with us and those who throw the item on the table when they find out it’s 50 cents and walk away angry! The shoppers I get a kick out of are the ones who start telling us their sob story, “I just want this for my sister” “I spent too much money this week” “I just like this for my kid” “My husband is tired and wants to go home” “I don’t speak English” –you know, stupid stuff. We roll our eyeballs and sigh! Some of these people are well to do! They want to get away cheap! It’s already cheap! Come on! We’re talking 50 cents for brand new boxed crystal vases or a platter! And you know, Macy’s doesn’t care if you spent alot of money, you’re tired, or you don’t speak English. Give me a break.

Okay, now for the laugh of the week! This place is pandemonium! Stuff is all over, piled here and there, especially the kid’s section with stuffed animals, games, baby stuff, you name it. Strollers, carriages, play pens, cribs, jumping things, legos, action characters, all strewn across the area by kids and shoppers. Our last night was a mess with the stuff. One shopper bargained with me on a stroller. among the many we had left, and a folded up playpen thing. We agreed on a price, she paid and took her items. She was also a volunteer working in the souvlaki pit. About twenty minutes later, another shopper starts screaming someone stole her stroller. We’re in shock! I start looking around at the strollers. My co-chair said she sold a stroller and I said I did too. The woman is flipping out saying how could someone in the church steal her stroller. She brings security. We can’t believe it and are trying to think what happened. Another shopper overheard the action and tells the souvlaki person. She finds me and said maybe she bought the woman’s stroller? Well, it ended up she did, but by that time the upset woman had left screaming. We get the stroller, give her a refund, found the now calm woman and returned her stroller. She was thrilled.

Later, the security guard came to ask what happened. So I told him we sold the stroller! He started laughing so hard he was crying! We laughed too. He told me whatever business I’m in to forget it and sell stuff because he couldn’t believe I sold someone’s personal item! Well, look, if you leave your things unattended in this flea market, you run the risk of losing it to a sale! Then I told him how I sold a guy’s personal tools that he left behind a few years ago. Hey, listen, you have to hold on to your stuff in that flea market! This poor security guard left laughing hysterically and shaking his head.

We laughed too! Thank goodness it’s over.