The more I think of it, the more I’m convinced that my neighbor, Margo, shows all of the signs of (shhh, come closer) addictive behavior.
This is all hearsay, mind you. The way I figure it, anyone who has enthusiastic reports of a day spent rummaging through a hodge-podge of rubble is in trouble.
Margo has the compulsive desire to buy…anything but only if she can barter you down.
Just the other day she came pounding on my screen kitchen door. “Don’t dilly-daily, time’s a-wasting!” she shouted, wild with excitement. It was 6 a.m. on a Saturday and she thought we would be LATE and miss all the bargains at 22 garage sales she had circled in the newspaper to see that day.
I’ve been told that serious pack rats cannot help but take home a bargain. Margo has several: a lazy Suzan that does not turn, fondue forks, hat pins, a ship in a bottle, a flower press and Go-Go boots.
Go-Go boots? “I will add ruffles and make them line-dancing boots,” Margo said, snapping her fingers with inspiration. (She confided in me the other day that she already lost one boot.)
Needless to say, it didn’t take much convincing to tell Margo about a great place to find QUALITY hand-crafted items which were right here in our own neighborhood.
The Woodinville Farmer’s Market. It is open every Saturday at the C.O. Sorenson School parking lot until October.
This is not a slipshod event. This is a well-thought-out and organized group of serious craftspeople who have united to give Woodinville a class act.
“We hold jury over crafts presentations,” said Pat Talbot, board president. “We take the best of the Northwest and only they are allowed to participate after being judged.”
Pat continued to tell me that Gretchen Garth, the board secretary, started the process of meetings, phone calls and commitments back in January. The event now has 75 vendors who pay $25 a year and $10 each Saturday and no commercial crafts.
Pat herself was hurrying to set up her booth as she talked with me and passionately describe the market and introducing me to vendors. Pat’s own booth held beautiful original dolls, bears and horses made from antique clothing.
Below is a variety of other vendors you can find on Saturday.
Cyndi White takes Calabash squash and hollows it out, colors the inside with leather dye and makes exotic and unusual works of art.
Galina Rein is a porcelain artist well-known in her native St. Petersburg, Russia. She lives here now, and the detailed pieces of porcelain are exquisitely eye-filling in their delicate beauty.
Lillian Waterhouse started going to estate sales and collecting antique linens. She now turns them into decorative Victorian pillows and many other creations from these heirloom linens.
Dolly White makes special order birdhouses for the inside or outside of your house. Made from cedar that she has whitewashed and stained, they are fun, whimsical, and reasonably priced.
Billy Joe James, a woodcarver who is as jolly as Santa, makes unique Christmas ornaments and walking sticks.
Don Julien, vice president of the market, grows and sells his beautiful miniature roses.
Dorie Zante of Woodinville’s Zante Farm has shared her produce and smiles since 1977. She will tell you when to pick rhubarb and how to test a melon. She is a true gardener’s friend.
Jane Kaake of the Northshore Senior Center sells raffle tickets and copies of Vintage NW a published book of stories by senior citizens.
The Tonnemaker family brings fruits from the Royal City orchard every Saturday.
Tamara Jones, who left a well-paying job to fulfill her needs to be creative and self-employed, displays one of a kind pins, feathers, necklaces and more.
David Overland, who just turned 13, picks berries and sells them along with the cedar flower boxes his dad helps him make. With his red-stained fingers to prove it, he proudly states that he has made up to $50 on some Saturdays.
Another 13-year old, Krista Olsen, sculpts clay and makes beads that she turns into fun accessories called Krista Kreatures.
Youngsters talented in making or growing can have a booth. Call Grant Davidson, market manager. Getting kids involved in the market is a high priority. There are no membership fees and booth fees are pro-rated by age.
They also have buskers. Buskers? A busker is a talented and energetic entertainer. So you do magic? Puppet shows? Eat fire? Call Linda McCune.