in season - peonies, local strawberries and local rhubarb

This is one of my favourite times a year to visit our farmer's market as some of my favourite things are now in season.

A few weeks a year, locally grown Peonies are available and it's such a sight - pails and pails of blooms! And so reasonably priced, you can pick up an armful to enjoy a bunch in every room of the house.

Rhubarb is also still in season, and something I pick up each time I can. We never tire of Rhubarb Crumble Coffee Cake, or Rhubarb Almond Muffins, or a favourite of ours - Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble topped with Vanilla Ice Cream. I also freeze it to enjoy through out the summer.

And local Strawberries have become readily available, and while I will eventually get out to pick my own for jam, we still can't leave without two pints - one to eat and one to enjoy over waffles or with our yogurt.

Within a day or two the Peonies unfurl into the most beautiful flowers and they smell so pretty.

This weekend I also stopped by the Oliver and Rust parking lot sale and grabbed another one of my favourite locally made pillows. I also used my market tote which I brought back from Nantucket!

In Season - Peonies and The First Strawberries

With our local farmer's markets back in full swing, the displays of local fruits and vegetables, cut flowers, and fresh-baked goods seem to become more abundant each week as more becomes available.

This week was a favourite of mine and it meant a special trip into a neighboring city's Saturday morning market.

For only two or three weeks in the year, a local Peony grower fills a stand with pails and pails of Peonies, in as many as half a dozen different varieties. I snapped a picture with my cellphone quickly to send to Ryan so he could understand my excitement.

She sells them for $4 a bunch (five stems) or 3 bunches for $10.

Needless to say, we each left with an armful of peonies.

Another favourite sight were rows and rows of little baskets mounded full of bright red strawberries.

Our strawberry season has officially begun and we are looking forward to when we are able to "pick-your-own", which will start in the coming weeks. There are few things as wonderful as freshly-picked strawberries, still warm from the sun.

These berries didn't last long. I couldn't wash them fast enough.

And no trip to the market is complete without taking home a treat - this week we picked a sticky bun and pain au chocolat and split them between us.

The Peonies found their homes all over the house. In the bathrooms on the vanities, on my night table, on the coffee tables and on the mantel.

Gorgeous.

The First Day of Autumn

"And all at once, Summer collapsed into Fall"

Oscar Wilde

I've always been sentimental about Fall.

I love each changing of each season really, but maybe I enjoy the arrival of Autumn so much because it seems to come suddenly.

Before we realize it, it's here.

The first day of Autumn is spent decorating the house.

I couldn't have been more excited to stumble upon this local farmstand.

This is Fehrhaven Farms on Hwy 3 just outside of town. She grows the most beautiful (and grand) pumpkins I've seen at one stand.

The brilliant colours of that majestic Maple tree made it even more lovely!

I can't wait to show you what I stuffed my trunk with.

Antiquing Resources

Recently I've received quite a few inquiries about where I find information on local antique shows, sales and auctions.

I thought I would share some of these resources with you.

Most of them are local to me, but you could use similar resources for wherever you call home.

One of my favourite things to do is make day trips around our area. This is how I discover great little shops. If I come across a shop I love, one that say sells vintage finds and things, I always sign up for newsletters and emails.

This is the best way to stay informed about upcoming shows. Usually these shops participate in a few shows a year, and with other, similar vendors that I will most likely love.

Some of the shows I've discovered this way are "A Day in the Country", Augusta's, Bob and Al's Barn Sale, Two Brother's and a Barn Sale, Ball's Falls Craft Show and Oliver and Rust.

Of course, if you're lucky, some of these small scale shows will turn into regular shops, like Oliver and Rust, and then you can pop in whenever you like!

Another great resources would be the Internet. There are three resources that I use often:

Kijiji and Craigslist

Auction Find Websites

Google

Ebay

Etsy

I am on Kijiji all the time. I regularly scroll through pages and pages of results for items I'm always looking for. I've snagged a few great finds on here, though it's always a little more complicated. Trying to arrange a viewing, or picking up an item is more complicated than just previewing it at auction or in a shop.

There is a website I often use for viewing listings for upcoming auctions called auctionsfind.com. Here auctions are posted for my province, by town or region. Then I can view all of the details of the upcoming auctions, and often even view photos of what's up for sale. Some local auction houses are Rittenhouse Auctions, Plato Auctions and Peninsula Liquidators.

When I'm planning a day trip, I also google the towns. I try to discover articles on the best places to shop and eat. I recently came across a list of the top ten antique markets in Ontario. You can find that here. We have quite a few antique shops near us. In Niagara on the Lake there is Queen's Antiques and the Lakeshore Antique Market. In Jordan there's Creighton Antiques by appointment. Towards Fort Erie there is Augusta's. Green Barn Antiques and Antiques on the Ridge

I'm also constantly searching ebay for smaller finds like ironstone, transferware, cutlery, artwork etc. I have a US post box across the border to help with the shipping costs. It's only about 40 minutes from our home. However, with the exchange the way it is, it's not always as great of a deal in the end., so it's important to keep that in mind when bidding on an item.

Etsy is another great online resources for finding small antique "shops" and fun vintage pieces. Something quite exciting recently are the pop up handmade markets. A group of local Etsy shops all come together for a weekend. Usually there's a wide assortment of things to browse, though most of them are handmade gifts, and not necessarily vintage shops. But it's still fun. Two local ones would be The Handmade Market, and Heirlooms Artisan Market.

Then there are the larger shows. There are a couple that I love to attend each year.

Christie's happens in the Spring and Fall. I believe it's the largest antique show in Ontario, if not Canada. It's only about an hour from here, so it's not too bad. They have a website if you google them.

Then there are the shows that are in the States; Brimfield's, Springfield Antique Show and one of my favourites, The Country Living Fair.

Now, I've never attended either the Springfield of Brimfield shows, but they are on my list. The Country Living show however, I attend almost every year; sometimes in Rhinebeck, sometimes in Columbus. To be honest, I prefer the Columbus show.

When I attend these shows, I make a weekend of it. We scout out all of the best malls, markets and shops in the area, and map out a weekend of treasure hunting. If I go with Ryan, we camp, and if I go with girlfriends, we all share a hotel room and stay up late watching cheesy shows with a glass of wine and lots of giggling.

I really just spend a lot of time exploring. I'm quite intentional about searching out places to hunt and I'm not afraid of climbing through old barns and driving across the countryside to spend an afternoon at an auction or show. 

I love it.

Hopefully those few resources prove to be helpful.

From Market

I came home from market today with a colorful assortment of produce.

Bright red Royal Gala apples were in - sweet and crisp.

Red potatoes for a Potato Corn Chowder.

Golden Beets that will be roasted with goat's cheese crumbled on top.

Heirloom Carrots - some for the chowder and some to roast.

And this wonderful Eggplant! I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it this week - possible Eggplant Parmesan, 

Weekend Snippets

I can hardly believe that included on my list of things to do this weekend was back to school shopping.

How is that even possible?

I won't pretend though that I'm not excited for the Fall that's around the corner.

And it seems that each day it gets a little closer as the nights seem to feel slightly more crisp, and every now and then a maple tree seems to have started donning it's brilliant Fall colours.

Willen is up at the cottage for the week with Ryan's parents until we return for another week, so Hudson and I have been spending some time, one on one.

We spent some time driving around on Thursday afternoon, visiting some local thrift shops and market stands.

I was quite pleased with what I managed to find.

A couple of scrumptious buttertarts to be enjoyed later - and no, they aren't my mom's. She's humble enough to agree that there are a few other local treats that can rival hers.

Every now and then, I have something specific that I'm looking for, and while I could just order one online, I know it's something I could find for quite a bit less, and so I set out in search of it. This particular time, I was looking for a basket planter to hang on our door. I had seen a few different ones online filled with mini pumpkins or flowers that really loved the look of. I simply couldn't bring myself to spend a decent amount of money on it when I was convinced if I just looked, I could find a more reasonable choice. And in the end, I did! Two actually.

The particular one isn't much of a planter, but it will be perfect with evergreen boughs and sprigs of  berries tucked in it.

It was quite a bargain at $3.99.

And this one, which is a proper planter, was $4.99.

Another clear sign that Fall is on it's way is the October issues of subscriptions that have been arriving.

This lovely knitted cream throw was another thrift store find. It was $7.99. I couldn't resist bringing it home, even though I really didn't need another cream throw! I just kept thinking of all the love and time that went into making this blanket... and now it's sitting on some rack for eight dollars.

The beautiful grey herringbone throw was my anniversary gift from Ryan. We celebrated 7 years last weekend and he lovingly picked out something that was a traditional seventh year anniversary gift - wool. Apparently, by year seven the couple has grown comfortable with each other. The modern anniversary gift is office supplies, which made me laugh, until I found a beautiful Kate Spade day planner. Along with that I ordered a calligraphy return address stamp with our new address on it.

Us celebrating at a friend's wedding.

And finally, a trip to the farmer's market provided us with a colourful assortment of fruits and veggies.

All locally grown - how fortunate we are.