To market, to market...

Hello Again! Well, it's been another eventful week in the lives of The Soloys!

Yesterday was our first market day. It went well! We sold some things to some people we knew. Hopefully next week we can sell to some people we don't know, too! Here's some pics of our awesome booth:


We were pretty far away from the main part of the market, but we were expecting that to happen. Hopefully it won't matter when the tourist season really hits. And here's a pic of our awesome tent when the sides are up:

Mostly I have been getting ready for the market, although last week I started on a marquetry panel to go in a "showpiece" piece of furniture (haven't totally decided what yet, although I have some ideas.) Here's a work in progress shot:

Jai, when he's not working, has really taken to rock climbing. Our friend Dereck built a climbing wall at the high school where he teaches, so we were all up there trying it out. Jai is a total natural, climbing all over the place and making all sorts of crazy moves. I'm not surprised at all. He's a big monkey!

Other events this week:
I got a giant load of topsoil delivered to the house. Yay! I'm going to have an awesome herb and tea garden. And I guess I'll grow some vegetables too.

Last night, while Jai was working, I went to a beach party for our friend Andre who turned 30 last night. It was a perfect summer day yesterday, and a perfect night to be on the beach. It was 29 degrees yesterday in Bridgetown, but the beach was a little cooler, and had a nice warm breeze. Here's a pic of Erin (Andre's wife) and their little one, Sophie.

And the sunset over the water:

News for You

A lot has happened in the last little while, and I have fallen behind on the updating! So...brief news update:

Jai got a job as Front of House Manager at the King's Theatre. It's a local theatre that shows movies a couple of times a week and also has live shows pretty regularly. If you're interested, you can check out their schedule at: www.kingstheatre.ca. He's really enjoying that so far, although it is keeping his schedule very busy! The driving job will slow down in the summer, when school is out, so it is good timing, just means a busy couple of weeks when everything is going full-bore.

I managed to get placed on the Self Employment program, which is like EI, but for starting your own business. So for the last two weeks, I have been working at Sleeping Forest Studios full-time (and then some!) I did up a business plan and applied for a loan, and we have just been approved on that. Hooray! It's a lot of money, and a lot of scary, but exciting at the same time.

We've been gearing up for the market, but didn't end up getting there this Saturday. I ordered a tent off of Ebay, and it was supposed to get here on Friday - right up until 8 p.m. the UPS guys were sure it would arrive on time, but of course it didn't. Saturday dawned rainy and grey, so no market for us. We did go down to check it out, but apparently only about a thrid of the vendors showed. It was still neat, I bought some beautiful basil, and I can tell it's going to be a really neat experience. Still, judging by the dismal turnout in the rain, we probably made more money off the refund on our shipping costs!

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday as I attended a new art gallery opening with my neighbour Rachel. It's a really nice gallery, put together by a local furniture-maker, a painter, and a metalworker. They had some nice stuff, actual art at actual art prices, which was encouraging to see.

We've been trying to make time to do a little work in the garden as well. I got some potatoes, garlic, and lettuce in the ground, but I'm worried about my poor little seeds, because we've had so much rain in the last week, my garden is a giant swamp. I also tried to start some stuff inside, but the only thing that seems to be all right is my cucumber plants. We're going to be eating a lot of cucumber this summer! I'd like to make pickles, but may not end up being that ambitious.


Also (quick plug) I have put a ton more stuff up on Etsy. It's been really neat being on there, we have sold things to people in New York, and one to a girl in Germany! Now we're international! Anyway, as always, we would love to hear your feedback on the stuff, the prices, the look of the pics, whatever! Check it out on the link at left!

Beaver Tales

Forsythias in bloom! They're so pretty!

Ok, so I maybe have an auction problem. I admit it. But there is no other way we could afford a chair like this one. I almost think the auction is more fun when you're on a really tight budget, because you have to be much more strategic. If there's more than one thing you want (and there always is!) you have to be really careful about what you bid on, and how high you bid, but if you're too careful and you save all your money for one item, that item could easily go way above what you can afford. It's fun.

We also went to Derek's 30th birthday party this weekend. It was super fun, we're really enjoying getting to know all our new neighbours. I just can't get over how totally friendly everyone is. I'm sure it's partly a small town thing, but I'm also sure that can't account for all of it! Oh well, we'll just count our blessings. Near the end of the party, everyone decided to go for a walk to the park. Our house is right beside, so we had twenty people or so tramping through our house, as most of them had never seen it. Talk about surprise guests! It was a little messy, so I'm hoping next time we have people in, we can impress them with how much it is improved! We need to post before and after shots in all the room, as all the really nasty ones have disappeared. It was fun walking around the neighbourhood in a big group like that, though, as we all felt comfortable peering in the windows of the empty houses! The house beside us has been empty for longer than we have owned our house, and I've never had the nerve to look into the windows. A man in town bought it and has been fixing it up (although he hasn't touched it since we moved in!) It's really nice inside, with huge beams in some ceilings, and beautiful tin in others.
Then we discovered the beavers! They are in the river at the mouth of our little creek. They've cut down several trees from the abandoned property, but I don't know where they are taking them, as there is no evidence of a dam. Still...whales in the fall, and beavers in the spring, it's like a nature sanctuary around here!

Speaking of which, our property has really been coming alive over the last week. Things are blooming, and little plants are springing up all over the place. It's so much fun to move a pile of brush and discover some plants.

Pearl told me these are peonies. They look like aliens right now!

And the blackberries are coming back!

And the garden's not the only one who has been busy - Jai and I have been busy producing things to sell in the Farmer's Market. It's been like a miniature toy factory around here! Jai's tops look beautiful in the big new bowl he turned, sitting on the new sidetable we bought at the auction.

I sat outside all afternoon, sanding pull toys. It was so hot and gorgeous today - 25 degrees. It was a beautiful summer day.

Riding Queen

It's Free Junk Month here in Nova Scotia! All month different towns and counties have a day where the citizens can put out 20 different items for pickup. Anything you want. Then people (like us) drive around and root through garbage piles picking up whatever they want/need. It's like a giant garbage swap. Above is a picture of my new bicycle! Jai got it for me today. It just needs a good cleaning, and some air in the tires, and then I will be a riding queen.
I rescued some dinosaurs from the junk we pulled out of the attic and set up a dinosaur park in our garden, too. As you can see, they are ferociously guarding my lilac implant.

Three cheers for junk!
Junk! Junk! Junk!