A GEM-BOREE

This weekend I visited my old pal and trusty California travelling companion Wendy Zelsman at her home in Lakefield, both to catch up and to collect the vintage leather Mickey Mouse Club stool I purchased last winter from the now defunct Circus “curious & unique home furnishings and antiques” shop in Peterborough. I had to schlep the stool home on the Go train but it made for a curious and unique accessory. And I am always curiously and uniquely accessorized.

After rolling out of bed on Friday, we trekked to Bancroft for the 53^rd annual Bancroft Rockhound Gemboree housing Canada’s largest gem and mineral show spread over two vast buildings. We wandered around for over four hours until Wendy’s husband Howard read us the riot act and reminded us that their dog Comet back home could only cross his legs for so long.

There were tons of DIY supplies, including these silk tassels which have a multitude of uses, not only for stripper’s pasties.

I know that these pieces of quartz are dyed but the colours are so yummy.

A selection of peridots, which happen to be the August birthstone. In fact, a peridot was in a quasi-engagement ring of mine, not because it was my birthstone but because I liked the setting. The ring lasted longer than the relationship.

A display of Baltic amber, of which I have tons. My dad brought me back bags full from a return trip to Lithuania. These stones have bugs fossilized inside, making them all the more valuable. There is no yuck factor involved; they are quite dramatic.

This is an amazing Afghani silver disc, allegedly 150 years old, that Wendy especially lusted after. The vendor told us he would return home to remote villages, knock on doors and offer cash for antiques. It was a good story even if it may or may not be true.

Wendy posing thoughtfully in front of a friend’s fireplace that houses a decoy over her left shoulder that she has her eye on. I preferred the Zen head hanging on the mantel.

Me in my florals beating my way through the underpants in the jungles of Stoney Lake.

This is the perpetually-animated and terminally adorable Atticus, Wendy’s grandson, who is doing his best Baryshnikov while test-driving a tutu which I’d bought for his imminent baby sister, due next month.

 

FLEA MARKET STRATEGY

Intrepid traveler that I am, I spent last weekend in beautiful downtown Lakefield and environs visiting my pal Wendy Zelsman, with whom I have adventured for decades, including yearly trips to California driving down the coastal highway from San Fran to L.A. in various permutations of convertibles -- including a memorable “shit brown” rust-bucket -- all the while massacring hit songs at the top of our lungs. 

During one trip, we test drove every brand of tequila in assorted dive bars from Sausalito to Merced, arguably the armpit of California. Can’t remember what brand we judged the best.  

Wendy is a nurse and as such, had the perfect remedy for tequila hangovers, which invariably involved more tequila. No tequila was harmed during this last trip however; mainly because Wendy had either run out or misplaced it.

While banking at the CIBC prior to catching the bus to Peterborough, I noticed this little fellow mimicking the bank’s penguin mascot, which ranks right off the chart on the cuteness Richter scale.

My fave shop in Peterborough is CIRCUS “curious & unique home furnishings and antiques” at 382 George St. This skull is painted by artist Jimson Bowler, who also made the amazing one-of-a-kind necklaces which accessorize it. Bowler needs to have a one-man pop-up show in Toronto, he is that innovative.  You aren’t going to see these pieces at Holt Renfrew.

The Virgin Mary beaded curtain in The Benevolent Stranger boutique at 212 Hunter St. in Peterborough which demarcates the entry to the women’s sex shop behind it. I bonded with the curtain because I have one of Our Lady of Guadalupe which ushers in something less esoteric in my house. It’s in the kitchen doorway.

Natalie Williams, the cool owner of The Benevolent Stranger, which looks like a hippie dippy head shop from the outside but actually stocks funky clothing and accessories and here’s the best part  – it doesn’t smell of patchouli.

The Saturday Farmer’s Market in Peterborough is a must. There is everything from produce to fuzzy cat kitsch to Russian borscht, which is just as yummy as my mom’s but I would never tell her so for fear of reprisal.

Nicole Laureen Lewis, designer behind Gon Dancing, at her booth where she sells handcrafted apparel she’s made from 100 per cent recycled materials. Her arm and leg warmers are killer.

These are the grey patent leather brogues that got away from me at Talize thrift store in Peterborough. They are men’s but I am not prejudiced. They were too big to even stuff with thick socks. But I am over it. It’s not like I will go bare foot.

A coat at Talize that looks like Chanel but is actually Joe Fresh, marked at $49 but with the original $149 price tag. It was rather out of place with the other coats on the rack which were priced in the $20 neighbourhood.

This “Crap Taxidermy” book makes for a perfect stocking stuffer for the person on your list who has everything. It is outrageous. Just pour yourself a stiffly-spiked eggnog and enjoy.

 

The obligatory horns and reindeer head circa 1943 from the Lakefield Fairground Sunday Flea Market. The toboggan did a photo bomb.

How could I not take a photo of the doll lamp at the flea market? What tutu-obsessed little girl wouldn’t want one?

I bought this Scottish hat from vendor Chris Palmer, who chided me for wearing the feather incorrectly in the front. Palmer is endearingly irascible, reminiscent of the Marty Millionaire brothers, owners of the former MM furniture shop in Toronto who routinely threw me out of their shop.

A pair of hilariously repurposed toasters in the snack shop at the flea market. As clever as they are, they are actually outdone by the jaunty jester cap worn by the vendor.

HALLOWEEN HIJINKS

I schlepped to Lakefield for the annual Halloween (or as we call it, Hallowine) party held by irrepressible Gail Grant in a space adjacent to her house, which is essentially a community hall. There is the requisite deejay, lots of tunes, BYOB, pot luck, ghoulish decorations and a dance floor. You can come only if you promise to boogie. We danced our faces off – or at least my pal Wendy Zelsman did. Wendy went as a Day of the Dead-head and her gummy face stickers kept peeling off -- which was just as well because it took much abrasion to get those suckers off. Then again, she got a cheap acid peel.

My lip print on napkin under glass. When the red wine drained, it made for a cool coaster.

Spotted this dude with two bananas in his pants pocket, the quintessential visual for the old saw “Are they bananas in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?” When I suggested he had six-shooters in his pants, he ignored me. He must have been gun shy.

Wendy Zelsman’s hubby Howard trying to twirl his eyebrow-penciled-in fake moustache in his guise as a Day of the Dead gigolo.

An equestrienne complete with her horse, one of the best costumes of the night. She had to keep dancing because she couldn’t sit one out.

Gail, moi and Wendy in costume. Gail went as Venus Flytrap, complete with fly stuck on her chin. Wendy was aforementioned Day of the Dead-head and I was a military person in official jump suit, free with purchase at a Lakefield flea market. I bought the cap, an official Mussolini issue, at a flea market in Arezzo, Italy. My gun, purchased at a T.O. Dollar Store, kept falling out of my belt loop.

A fishing lure and hot mermaid suitable for framing at Dwellissimo shop in Port Hope. This unassuming one-of-a-kind décor and home accessories shop is a must pit stop.

A selection of awesome and affordable Moroccan bags featuring hand-tooled coins at Primitive Designs near Port Hope. They are way more high fashion than hippie-dippy. Don’t let the cheesy robots and dinosaurs outside the sprawling shop deter you.