The second craft show for the fall was held on Friday and Saturday. The weather wasn’t great. It was overcast all day Friday, raining by Friday evening, then rained all night Friday night and basically all day Saturday. The good part of that was the fact that we didn’t have children’s sports games as competition for the shoppers’ time. The bad part meant that if they didn’t have to go out anyway, many people just stayed in. Sales were off a good 50% compared to last year’s show. Ironically, the sun finally came out just as everyone was packing up to go home.

As I was loading the tables in the van yesterday, the show organizer came by with the snack cart. They were giving away the last of the brownies for free. She said they had plenty, so I snagged one for each of us at home. Then I made one last trip to the restroom before heading out. Sitting on a table in that front area was a really nice box that was EXACTLY the right size for placemats. (I carry a tape measure in my purse. I checked!) Finding containers for carrying placemats has turned into a fairly neat trick. The commerically available containers are generally about an inch too narrow or too short or much larger than needed with a good bit of wasted space. I assumed someone had left the box at first, but it had cleaning supplies in it. I asked the people at the church if they actually needed the box and they let me take it.

I was on the road by 10 to 6, which was a bit earlier than I’d expected to be out. Our previous packmaster was receiving his Wood Badge and the ceremony started at 6. I got there about 6:20 and was able to see the end of the ceremony. After that, I headed home and started unpacking the van.

When I finished there, I pulled the van into the garage. We have one of those “bumper” things that you drive over and stop to let you know that you’re in the garage but not too close to the front. It had scooted forward somewhat, so I had pushed it back before driving in. I drove in and turned the van off only to realize that I hadn’t actually gotten over the hump, but had stopped in front, so the van was actually sticking out of the garage. I went back to start it up again and move it forward….The van doesn’t start. All I can hear is a clicking sound coming from under the hood. I assumed it was something with the battery at first but Dave says it’s the starter. He suggested letting the van cool, so I’m going to try it again this morning.

Brownies, a perfect box, a ceremony I didn’t expect to make, and a van that doesn’t work. I’m just glad the darn thing waited until I got home to go out!

Quick update: It was the battery after all. I now have a new one, so I’m good to go!

It was the first craft show of the season, and my only outdoor show for fall. The outdoor part basically means I have to travel with even more stuff than usual…a 10×10 tent, camp chairs, ice chest, etc. Getting set up is more of a challenge partially because of the extra items and partially because everyone else is trying to drive in and drop things off at their site before parking. Because of construction in the area, I was informed that a Friday night set up would be mandatory.

Just before getting ready to head out Friday night, I got an email from another vendor saying that the town was having a terrific thunderstorm at the moment and gave me a contact number to call. I was able to get permission to come in early and set up Saturday morning after all, but “early” in this case meant that I left the house about 4:45-4:50 because I had be unloaded and have the van parked elsewhere prior to 6 a.m.

So I got there, unloaded the van, set up the tent and tables in the dark, and then visited with some other friends until 7ish when it finally became light enough to see what I was unpacking.

The show itself started at 9. I was ready in advance. There was some shade close to where I was sitting, but short of cramming my chair under the crepe myrtle tree and pulling flower pieces out of my hair every time I stood up, I couldn’t find a spot to put the chair that wasn’t actually in sunlight. Even putting it under the edge of the canopy meant the sun was shining down on my head because of the angle of the sun. That didn’t change until almost 2 hours before the show ended. I briefly tried knitting on a scarf in my free time and finally admitted it was too hot to do anything but sit there and endure the heat.

The temperature hit the upper 90’s at the very least, and it was relatively humid due to the storms the night before, so it wasn’t exactly a comfortable day. I was sweating by the time I finished unloading the van before the sun even came up. I forgot to bring extra water, but I did bring extra ice, some soft drinks, and I purchased some bottled water there at the show. Minimally I drank at least a gallon of fluids, if not more.

Breaking down was actually easier than I expected. Putting up and taking down the tent is minimally a two person job, and I had some friends who helped with getting it set up. In the afternoon, there were three high school boys who asked if I needed some help and I jumped at the chance. They broke down the tent and carried most of the stuff over to the van for me. I was loaded up and ready to go an hour after the show ended, and at least 30 minutes earlier than I had expected.

Getting away early meant I actually had the chance to get home in time for the Cabaret program at church. The children’s choir was performing, so both boys were going to be there. Originally we were told that their part would be within the first 15 minutes, and we had anticipated coming home after that. I managed to get there about 10 minutes before the program started, and we actually wound up staying for the entire thing.

I got home at 9, pulled the van straight into the garage and said we’d unload everything tomorrow. After getting the boys in bed, I took another shower and washed my hair again and decided I was done for the day!