Day 115- The Keady Market

Day 115 Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Rest Day 2 at Jim and Mary's in Chesley Everyone was awake early this morning because we were going to the Keady Market. They wanted to get to the market early before it got too crowded. It was going to be deathly hot again today and even before 8 am we could feel the heat. There has been a heat alert in Ontario for the last couple of days. Most of the farms that we passed on the way were cattle farms. Jim said most of the cattle come from Alberta and some from Quebec. Even when we arrived the market was buzzing with activity. Some of the vendors have been here setting up since 5 am. Many of the vegetable vendors are Mennonites and arrive in horse drawn buggies. It's a good thing that we had hair appointments for 10 am because I could have browsed there all day. There were booths selling all kinds of vegetables- potatoes, squash, tomatoes, sweet corn, beans, peppers etc. and fruits such as blueberries, strawberries, and elderberries. My mouth watered looking at the many baked butter tarts and pies . Jams, pickles and relishes must have been lots of work for the vendors to make. One could buy various types of puppies, ( black lab, poodles, pugs) as well as rabbits, and birds. Mary was disappointed because usually there are also kittens to give away for free although she is happy right now with her cat, Cheezy. Several tables were selling honey and maple syrup and the smell of popcorn permeated the air. Other booths had jewelry, purses, tie dyed dresses, cute beanies and toques, children's toys, bed sheets, African sculptures, ball caps , lawn ornaments and used items. For children, there was a fishing pond and a giant giraffe air jumping tent. There were 2 sisters playing music at one end and David,a young University of Waterloo music student, dressed in a kilt playing Scottish music. There were cattle, mooing in pens, waiting to be auctioned off later in the day. That's what I call a great market! We drove back to Mary's house and Jim headed off to work. We walked down a couple of streets to Randi's house . She is an acquaintance of Mary who cuts hair. We're thankful that she is fitting us in on her day off. Boy, our heads look and feel better. Now I'll be able to see back through my rear helmet mirror with a clear view. Randi remembers Chesley when the spot where her house is now, used to be a farmer's field with a pond. We enjoyed our hair cut visit with her and shared about our families as well. On the way back to Mary's, we stopped a few houses across and down the street and knocked on Alison's door. Alison's family used to live in Sault Ste. Marie when she was young and we would see them at worship meeting every week. Dave used to run with her father, Willie, and people used to joke about how strange they looked with Dave so tall and Willie much shorter than him. They always joked that he had to take many more steps than Dave and had to work harder. I remember that her mother, Agnes, had a great gift for entertaining and cooking. In high school, Alison was also involved in cross country running like our children and going to Hiawatha park all crowded in the coach's big van. They moved to the Milton area shortly after our youngest daughter, Sarah, was born. Alison invited us in for a cup of tea and we caught up on each other's family. She and husband, Paul, have 4 beautiful daughters. The girls happened to be away at the Keady Market at that moment. I'm glad Alison had decided to stay home so that we were able to visit. It was almost lunchtime when we came back to Mary's . She made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches and meatloaf sandwiches for us. We should have lots of energy for tomorrow. I did a blog after and we all had a short rest. Dave rode his bicycle to the post office to mail a parcel and watched Young Victoria on TV. Mary was cutting vegetables, fresh from the market, for our salad to go with the summer sausages for supper. Over supper and dessert, we talked about some of the canoe trips that we have been on and that Jim has been on in the past. Some of these canoe stories were very funny.