ysabetwordsmith | Today's Adventures

Today we caught the Flea Market Weekend at the mall. Not all the vendors were set up yet, but a lot of them were, so that was good. We got !!WOWL00T!!

We started at Rural King. They finally had the composted manure out, so we got 4 bags of that, which should be enough to do the tulip bed and maybe something else. I also picked up some bare-root plants: a bag of 3 'Purple Passion' asparagus, a bag of 3 'Mary Washington' green asparagus, a 'Karl Rosenfield' dark pink peony, a 'Festiva Maxima' white peony, a 'Brandywine' purple raspberry, and a 'Fall Gold' yellow raspberry.

Then we walked through the flea market.

Leeann Hodgson had houseplants, a few reborn dolls, some Vera Bradley purses, and household stuff. I picked out a bag of vintage buttons and a Maria arrowhead plant, which indeed has arrowhead-shaped leaves of redgreen. I know, humans can't usually see that, but I can see both the red and the green at the same time, which is cool.

Crystal's Freeze-Dried Goodies was there and offering samples. My partner Doug picked out Bit-o-Honey and Peeps. I sampled the peaches and was pleased enough to buy a bag for hot cereal. :D They were $7 each or 3 for $20. This is one of the vendors we often see at area events.

Our favorite dealer of used things had her booth up but wasn't there when we first arrived. We picked out stuff and stashed it with a friend who was watching her booth. When we went back later to pick it up, she was back and we got to talk with her. <3 My partner Doug got a panda Pez dispenser. I found 3 paperback books, several sets of tweezers and snips, a craft box, and a set of heavy-duty utility shears.

We also got a bunch of things from various people who didn't have business cards. These included a hank of 1/8" rope, a scissors sharpener, a rubber mallet, and a small pair of binoculars. I'm not about to pay ruinous price for something I know I'm likely to drop, but $10 for a half-way decent set of binoculars is worthwhile. Sadly nobody had corks; I was hoping to find one today so I can make a tamper for terrarium work.

One of the best finds is a large glass jar for my ongoing exploration of terraria. The opening is wider than pennymouth size, but smaller than I can get my hand into, and too tall for fingers to reach anything useful. It needs washing as the sides are a big murky in places, but it was only $1. So I can use this to practice with the long-handled tools I just bought. I'm particularly pleased because the mouth is big enough that I can fit a miniature park bench inside. That's something I want to make in order to practice with the mini-glue gun I bought at Joann's recently. \o/ We got a free reusable bag from that vendor too.

My partner Doug got a carton of pecan mini-muffins from Scones & Things, a booth we've seen at other local events.

We ate lunch at C & C Kettlecorn in the mall. We split a pulled pork sandwich, which was delicious, and they had a new thing called tater kegs made with shredded potatoes, cream cheese, bacon, and jalapeño. Doug ate most of the kegs but I had one too and it wasn't too spicy for me. So that was nice. We were too stuffed for dessert.

It has been a most productive day. :D