Saturday Antique Fair

The day started rather jarringly for me: we were finally leaving to go see this antique show I had been waiting three weeks to see. As I walked down our sidewalk with my hubby, I saw something that freaked me out and I ran screaming back up to our little stoop, ready to go back in the house; poor ole Niles heard me screaming and he went to barking which sounds like "woo-woo-woo!" You just KNOW what it was; a gruesome old garter(?) snake; YUKKY! Now, funny enough, I have read two blogs that had snake incidents recently, but I hadn't seen our Mr. Snake this year, ( so I hoped he had left and went to Shanda's house ( Hee-hee) see her front porches and sweet tea blog; link is here on the blog list) See, last year, he jumped off the gutters of the house right in front of me! That was TOO much! Well, hubby chased him, he was coming toward me now!!!! OOOOH they can move; I'm really screaming now; so he gets the booger to go toward the wood pile; me. I'm like, "KILL HIM,KILLHIM!!!" This is what the MAN says; "Oh he's pretty, he's not a mean snake, he's good for us." My reply?" AAARRRRGH! ARE YOU SERIOUS! GOOD FOR US! HE SCARES THE DOO-DOO OUT OF ME EVERY YEAR! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME WITH A HEART ATTACK? ( Well, he doesn't have ANY life insurance on me, so rest assured he's not trying to do that; LOL)

Now, I'm finally in the truck, nerves jangled, muttering bad words under my breath about icky old sneaky snakes, and we're off for a wander around the Thumb.Today was the Sandusky MI Antique Fair. We wandered over there this afternoon and saw some fun things I would like to share with you. Our first stop was the Mennonite Bulk Store in Sanilac County. They have lots of good things for a country kitchen! Bulk spices, staples, vegetables and of course my favorite vegetable; chocolate candy ( nonpareils!!!) It is a small store on a farm, but it is really neat. The Mennonite ladies that work there, as well as the men, are very nice and polite. It is not fast paced, hurry up shopping. It is wonderful to see the cheeses and meats that are made locally and in nearby states. They also have a beautiful flower garden as you drive in, which I have taken pictures of to share with you.

We left the store and drove on to Sandusky, which is a town in what is called the sunrise side of the Thumb. Lake Huron is about twenty or so miles away ( Port Sanilac ) It is a beautiful town as I have described before, it is much like a old town in those black and white movies .It has a center square courthouse ( and State Police post ) Shops line the square and a few are down some of the side streets. They have gorgeous homes, both large and small. The people are very friendly there. It feels like stepping back in time to me. The pace is not hurried, people stop and talk on the street and there is none of the loudness of a city. It is surrounded by open country fields.

We walked around the square, looking at the wares for sale. There were more craft items for sale than true antiques, but I like a mix of things. They had many unique crafts as well as some good old standbys; one man made wonderful birdhouses from old buckets that were rusty, which is right up my alley. Sorry, didn't get a photo!!! There were fabric crafts,crochet/knitting, jewelery. food items, even Tupperware. Interestingly enough, there were bikers, mainly from a Christian riding group which was cool (although we did not ride today, The weather guys said it would be stormy and raining; they were WRONG!!!) I did take a picture of a bike with the neatest trailer. It will be in the album below (hopefully??)

After the tour around the antique/craft show, we visited with our new friend Greg at his shop; Sandusky Antiques. I took lots of pictures. He has a great green thumb; you'll see in the pictures. He also has so many neat items in his shop. I asked if he has a website, he is working on it. When he gets it up and running, I will post the link on this blog. He is the nicest guy and so knowledgeable about antiques. One of my favorite rooms is the one he built from beautiful old doors; they are on the walls,ceiling everywhere! What a cool idea. I tried to photograph it for you, but I just could not do it justice; you'll have to visit and see it for yourself. Take a look at the photos, you'll see how many wonderful treasures there are in his shop. And I only took pictures of a limited few; you should see ALL the treasures. There were some stained glass windows in the front of the store that looked like they were from an old church; they had that wonderful point at the top. I am pining for the flag!!! My hubby said he thinks it is a 48 state flag; I didn't count; I just liked the texture and the pole!!!

Leaving the shop, we drove up and down a few streets looking at other shops and mainly houses. I love to see what other people are doing with their homes. They have some lovely yards and homes! I saw a few I could live in!!! I also took some pictures of our countryside to show you what our "country life" looks like. The cows are fantastic; there were so many cute babies! One cow was doing something natural when we drove up ( to another cow ) Couldn't get that photo; my hubby said it was two females vying for dominance! Well! LOL! Aren't you glad we aren't cows? Personally, I don't have the drive or the energy to go through all that! I guess I'd be the "dominated" cow LOL!

I hope you enjoy the photos from today. I especially love the Amish buggy signs; they are all over the roads out here. The sound of the horse hooves on the road surface transports me back in time to a simpler era when we didn't have todays worries. It's kinda nice to escape the modern world sometimes!