the good, the bad, and the ugly, part II

Jill and I went to the flea market on Saturday. We thought we'd have the kids along, but Max said he was too tired and everyone was still sleeping when we left!

Of course we were starving when we got there, so we went to the bakery right by the market. Shudder. Never again. Everything looked good, but it was definitely not. Bakeries are so not created equal.

It was a very rainy day, and some of the vendors had tarps over their wares. This made it difficult to see what they were selling. But it is still preferable to leaving everything out in the rain, isn't it? The smart ones had big umbrellas or tents over all of their stuff, so people could peruse and purchase.

Good. Loving this display.

We caught these bad boys playing poker. Love it.

ugly to me, probably eye candy to the right buyer

Keys are always good to me, and tiny keys are so much the better!

So very bad! I can't stand seeing books getting ruined like this, even if they are books I wouldn't want. Obviously they can't be sold now, what were they thinking?

Not the most attractive, but I always do enjoy a little acoustic guitar...

The rain made for some nice reflections. Reflections are always good in my book. (Well, except for the unwanted ones.)

I love numbers. And signs. Good.

Chandeliers = good. Taxidermy = bad. Ew.
(And how weird is it to display taxidermy next to a chandelier?)

More taxidermy! Seriously bad and ugly. I've never seen stuffed squirrels and chickens before (and hope to never again).

The ugliest thing we saw that day was thievery. We saw two people get caught in the act of stealing, and much yelling and pushing ensued. Everyone stopped and stared. A woman shook her head and then warned me to put my wallet away immediately and to move my sunglasses to the interior of my purse. She said that they catch 1-2 people stealing every week, and that there must be many, many more that they don't catch. So sad.

Thankfully, the good outweighed the bad and the ugly. Love these.

Is there anything in the world that is not improved by a little ribbon? I think not.

Lucas was so excited by this picture, he extracted a promise to take him along next time.

Ahhhhhh. Now that's a sight to behold.

Jill found these delightful button cards. Buttons with decorative cards are the most highly sought-after (as if you didn't know). And the button man remembered me! I love that guy. Also, I found out that he speaks Japanese, English, Italian, Spanish, and a little Chinese and Korean in addition to French. Impressive.

I wish I could have bought this whole suitcase and sent it off to Denise for her costuming jobs!

I wasn't kidding about the rain.

We found the best vendor ever that has been. No joke. I asked her if she was new, as I hadn't seen her before, and she said she has been in the same spot for two years. Why didn't I see her last time? Maybe I didn't go far enough. In any case, she is my new absolute favorite.

Seriously. Could these tiny fabric bundles be any cuter?? The answer is no, they could not.

She had fabrics, papers, notions, boxes... in short, everything great.

I have such a weakness for labels! I told her I wanted to buy it all. She smiled understandingly and said we could talk. I had to content myself by buying a couple of Christmas gifts. But I'll be back.

Jill was so excited to find this Italian Baedeker! (As seen in Room With a View, Baedeker guide books were the first ubiquitous pocked travel guides.)

It has beautiful fold-out maps! It was thrilling to see her find something that she loved so much, and it is a wonderful souvenir of her trip. I took a picture of her doing her fake crying which I always enjoy, but as it is not a very flattering photo, I will not include it here. (You're welcome, Jill.)

The tag on this coat caught my eye. Do you think if I made some like it and sewed them into Eva's clothes that she would adopt a "tralala" attitude? It's worth a try.

I tell you, the flea market never disappoints.