West Seattle Street Fair

This weekend is the West Seattle Street Fair - Friday through Sunday, July 10-12. It's a great community festival and everyone turns out for it. It's at "The Junction" on California Avenue. So all the restaurants up there set up sidewalk cafes, spilling out onto the streets. The shops bring tables out to the curb and have little sidewalk sales. There are beer gardens, bands and evening street dances. There's a huge kiddie playground area with those big blow up thingies to jump on and in. Fun for everyone. And shopping. Handmade crafts, arts, import stuff, and great goods. Plus a bunch of commercial sales-y stuff like chiropractors, vinyl siding, insurance, and nursing homes - soup to nuts at this one, but in a good way.

Friday and Saturday hours are 10am-8pm. Sunday is 11am to 7pm. I'll be in the north block, about mid-way, facing East (booth #102). Sorta near Matador's, maybe up a few booths or so, if you know where that is. It's the next little bunch of booths up from where I've been the last couple of years in front of Jak's.

So, that's the business bit. I know, right? It's all business and no play around here any more. Boring.

Here at the studio, it's been a holiday weekend of play. My last bit of summer for a while. I've got shows scheduled for the next 5 weeks in a row and I'm feeling a little blue about it. At the moment, the very cusp of the show blitz, I'm regretting that decision. But it's necessary. I have to make hay while the sun shines. And I'm going to need a lot of hay to catch up this year.

July is smack dab in the middle of summer and it's so full. The Tour de France and Bastille Day - I love to sip rose' and celebrate that. Birthdays. Setting up my calendar of fall shows. Starting to make all the fall soaps and plan Christmas. Harvesting scads of tomatoes - all that early hot weather has my tomato plants just loaded with fruits that are a few days away from turning color. The new Harry Potter movie at the Imax. I want to can stuff this year - pickles at least, tomatoes, maybe jam. Picnics. I've got stuff to do man, and all this working 7 days a week for a month and a half just doesn't fit. Phoooey.

What are you guys doing? Having any fun?