Happy 142nd birthday Canada! Thanks Calamity J. - Happy Canada Day to you and other Canadians as well. Sunnyca, I think most or all towns and cities have some type of celebration today. Even in our rural area there is always a big celebration at a local historical park with entertainment, various activities, and food. We don't go but they have a lot of things planned for children so IMO it's mostly for families with young children. Our adult "kids" who live in large cities always go with their kids. My DH hangs a large flag from the verandah.

lol TM - they are called Facinators, and are quite controversial even in the UK. Did you see the one that one of Fergie's daughters wore to their wedding? It was referred to as the 'toilet seat', and she sold it on eBay, raising quite a bit of money for a charity!! Nancy.

Pudge, Our farmer's market... -we are on the main level of a parkade so we are always in the shade and out of any rain. There are open sides somewhat except where stores attach to the parkade. So, unless there is a storm I can put up my bulletin board and pictures and not worry about anything blowing away or blowing down. -Vendors are to arrive to set up before 8:30. This is because we are inside a roped and skirted-in area and our vehicles need to be in our stalls with us. They also set up a table for us after our vehicle is in the stall. With the assortment of perennials(61), their pictures and/or real flowers (from the mother plant blooming in my yard that I placed beside the perennial for sale), baking and fresh produce it takes me about an hour to set up completely so this morning I was there about 7:40am. I also spend time arranging the plants in alphabetical order from left to right on the table so that it is easier for me to find a perennial when someone asks for a certain one. Of course, no one looking at the table would know that. They seem to be blown away by all the color of the flowers and pictures on the table. But, real flowers and/or great closeup pictures of the perennial sells it. At the end of the morning, it takes me about 1/2 hour to clean up and I have my little car all packed up and ready to go home. Everyone is amazed at how many things I can 'stuff' into the car. -The rope drops at 9am and the mad rush is on. The mad rush has let up since we opened the second entrance last year. I am beside one of the entrances and therefore have a triangular spot which is perfect for me. I rented one table (at $20 plus GST per week) and only placed one pot of each perennial on the table along with an assortment of fresh produce and baking. The extra plants are all arranged on the floor behind me beside my car. Extra baking and fresh produce is on the trunk of the car since it has to be kept off the floor according to health regulations. -We have to stay until 12 because we are roped in. So it is a commitment. I am finding that I have been totally busy with people the whole time. Because I have perennials I now hear about other's problems with their flowerbeds and they want some sort of advice on which of my perennials I have with me would work for their problem area. (Little story...young couple...just bought new home...figuring out flowers in existing flowerbeds...had no idea what this particular flower was...looked like a bleeding heart...but flowers were white...when I told him it was a white bleeding heart...phew, you should have seen the relief on his face that his mystery flower was, of course, a white bleeding heart.) So, for me with all my plants (sold 95 pots today) and extras to sell, I am quite busy the whole 3 hours. We also fill in a report to hand in to the secretary. This lets the market know how everyone is doing. I fill in how much $ wise I sold in plants or baking or crafts or whatever the topic and give the grand total at the bottom of the sheet. Do you have to do that with yours also? Pudge, do you go by yourself or do you have someone helping you? Sounds like you are in an open air farmer's market. What is your table/spot rental? What time does it start and end? Do you have part timers? What kinds of things are sold at your market? When you say high prices...can you give an example? How far is the market from your home? Can you get everything into a car that you take or do you have to take a truck...why I am asking...do you have to bring a table...you mentioned you have a canopy you bring to set up for shade over top of you. Sorry about hijacking the thread...onto Farmer's Market stuff... Brenda

LOL I thought Dominion Day was Canada Day as well but after I posted that but wasn't sure. They have got to quit renaming our holidays. LOL Casey, the icebergs must have been spectacular. I have been watching the news reports about them and how abundant they are this year. I did get into a car with people I didn't know Ed after refusing to get back into the car with my cousin. They drove me all the way to Brampton with my cousin following us in her car. I was never so relieved to find our Father Steve (my 2nd cousin) visiting my Aunt and Uncle. I told him that my cousin almost got us killed but there must have been a guardian Angel watching over us. Those two wipe outs were the closet I ever came to death but somehow when the car stopped spinning we ended up in a driveway facing the opposite direction on a busy highway when driveways were few and far between on that road. I just remember how terrible traffic was that day going in the other direction. Loki has just calmed down from the fireworks tonight. He is still hearing the odd one now and then. When he tried to climb onto my lap tonight he scratched my arm big time so I made him lie on his bed and not move. He keeps looking up at the window when he sees a flash. Anne