Saturday Market #7: It's a Tie Dyed, Hand Forged Boutros Innertube Extravaganza

I forget how very different this marketplace is than anywhere else. It just feels like regular old everyday life to me on a Saturday, the routine of the day is fun, but gets same-ish day to day. Like anybody gets to feeling about work I suppose. Then I look at the pictures I've taken all day long, and hmmmm, it looks pretty crazy. This week what occured to me is what a wide assortment of really unusual things you can find at Market any Saturday.
Of course there's lots of tie dye at the Market, including tie dyed toilet paper, but tie dyed shoe laces? Levana Appletree's got them for you.
Recycling is an artform and a way of life in Eugene, and is getting more sophisticated all the time. Here as evidence, a striking use of innertubes, one of many wonderfully imaginative bags by Tyler Dones.
And haven't we all hankered for a t-shirt tribute to Boutros Boutros Ghali, only to scratch our heads as to where to find one? It's right here on Daniel Dronsfield's table, up in the top right corner!
Then there's Ben Barrett, possibly the most dedicated and determined strolling vendor in history, strolling the Market all day with a wide selection of hand forged iron items.
Not something you see everyday, unless you are in Eugene on a Saturday. There was more, there always is, but you should come see it for yourself.

Saturday Market #6: May, Schmay!

That's what Jenni said, when the topic of the eternally gray and chill day came up - "May, schmay!" After a sweet, gorgeous springlike week, of course Saturday's forecast calls for rain once again...
Despite the chill and grayness, folks managed to have a great day, warming up with some freeform dance moves to the music of Kudana. The marimbas did not make the sun come out, but at least it didn't rain!
As happens every year, we did our Mother's Day Giveaway. Over 50 generous artisans gave me great goodies-some gave multiple treats-to give away, everything from jewelry to soaps to candles to artwork to doggie treats and everything inbetween. Musician Bridget Wolf even got in the spirit and donated one of her tapes (yes, tapes do still exist!). It's always fun to make people happy, several folks even recruited their moms to come and help them choose from the pile of gifts.
We also had our first Saturday Market Youth Talent Show, organized by Beth Rose. Angel Torres-Mann and Hanna Miller, students of Laura Kemp, played, as did the Koko Lovetet, a jazz group from South Eugene. All of them performed very well, and seemed to have fun doing it. That's the important part! Two more dates for Youth Talent are coming up soon, June 9 and June 16, with lots more talented youngsters in the lineup.
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See you Saturday…

Saturday Market #5: Again With The Layers…

No real great reason for this particular photo at the top, except I really like it. It's Fiona McAuliffe's sticker display. I stopped by to take a photo of her and the lovely Hazel for the Mother's Day ad. Here they are:

It started out as another Saturday that was all about the layers. How many? Fiber content? In what order? Do standard undergarments count as layers? What time did you finally get to take a layer off? It must have been about 2:30 when most folks were able to stand in a sunny spot and take off the polar fleece. By the time Ichele and the Circle of Light were done and it was time to pack it up and head home, it had turned into a lovely afternoon. Here they are, working their magic:
A couple of posts back, someone asked about our progress with the new recycling stations. I asked Geo and Alex, and it turns out that they are being very effective. Every bag will always still get sorted, but it goes a lot quicker when the compost bags are already mostly compost. All this customer cooperation is allowing us to compost an average of 1,100 lbs of food and paper waste every week! This week, we'll work on refining the signs a bit, to reduce the confusion about cups. The clear cups and the waxed cold drink cups can go in the compost, the hot cups are plastic lined and go in the trash. Just today I heard that in about a month, we'll be switching to compostable hot cups as well, and possibly compostable lids as well!
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Saturday Market #4: Takin' It To The Streets

Ah, the buskers (street musicians) of Saturday Market! They add so much to the ambiance.

Frequently my Market Moments are music related, even when I'm not at the stage. Last week there were two brief ones that stand out. I was out and about with my camera a lot, getting ready for the monthly website update, and as I zipped by the corner there was Undermind with his recorder or maybe it's a homemade flute, playing with a nice subtle drum track, very sweet, not extremely melodic, but fresh and catchy, unusual and most pleasingly ear catching. If you're interested, you can find Undermind's music at www.undermind.tk

Then over at the Farmers' Market, my first chance to walk through this season, Mark Ross and a very attentive fan. Another fun little snapshot of the day. The Farmers' Market space was expanded somewhat over the winter, so it's not so squeezy to walk through. Nice!

And then there were the Pojama People. If you saw them, they probably gave you a Market Moment, playing Frank Zappa, having a blast doing it, sounding tight and great. Delicious! And the sun was out at last, hooray!
You can share a Market Moment right here too. It's simple to post your story, just click on the pencil at the bottom of this post and type in the comment box. You don't have to have a blogger account or even divulge your true identity - just click on the Anonymous button to remain so. When you're done, push the orange "publish your comment" button. If you want to read comments, just click on the "comments" link.