The Country Decorating Show

I went to the local Country Decorating Show on Friday. The theme was 'home for the holidays'.

It's good to go early so you can leave by the time it starts to get really crowded. There is always a lineup to get in, as the show has grown considerably over the years. But Santa was there entertaining the customers, as well as a Christmas choir. There was lots of sunshine, but no snow, so it didn't feel all that much like Christmas. I did buy some art as pictured in the photo.

The lady next to me in the morning lineup was talking to a bunch of us in line. I decided it wasn't a good time to take a photo of Santa or to videotape the carollers. She had come with a party from the nearby town of Orillia. She told me they all work in the casino there, in various jobs. In fact, her son is a dealer. She works in one of the restaurants, I think. While the casino provides steady employment to a lot of people, she had stories of all the gambling problems the customers have. There are the high rollers, who will lose hundreds of thousands in one night. Then the people who pawn their jewellery to feed their habit. And of course, the house always wins. Something's not right here.

Anyway, the line moved quickly and I was soon browsing away at all the country collectibles. I sampled some shortbread cookies, some dip and applied some body butter to my dry hands, before I encountered an old friend. We decided to walk through the rest of the show together while we caught up on each other's news. It was as much fun as if we had planned to get together.

We spoke to a few of the vendors and discovered a lot of them are retired folk simply doing what they love part time. One man restored antique furniture, lovely stuff. Another lady owned a stressful flower store business but now does the craft shows. We happened upon a store selling lovely quilts and Christmas collectibles. They also had reasonably priced country furniture made from salvaged wood on display. It seems the furniture maker and his wife hold an open house in their country barn in the fall. This year, they all but sold out, so this was the only show the wife was doing. They spend the winter in Florida as they are also retired. At any rate, I left my friend contemplating the purchase of a new shelving unit. She wasn't completely sold on the 'salvaged' look, which I actually like.