Halfway through the day at Brimfield, Steve texted for an update, on just how much damage was being done, I mean what treasures I had found. "I'm coming home with a trash can for the garden and some handkerchiefs!" I replied. And really, that's about as crazy as my purchases got at Brimfield this year! Each year, I think I come home with a little less, though my real reasons for going haven't changed. Truly, I love the experience - the people watching is seriously fabulous there, I tell you. It's such an interesting study in humanity, and our culture, the things I see there and the buyers and sellers of all that stuff. And you know how much I love old things - wandering all day through oddities and beauty and oh, the textiles! But I am clearly not a big-deal antique buyer or collector, for that matter. I like mostly looking at Brimfield, and making careful choices about what I bring home (Is it useful? Is it going to clutter up my home even more than it already is cluttered? Do I really really love it or can I just appreciate seeing it and move on?).
There's also the issue of the pricing on things. Being lucky enough to live in this part of Maine, in the land of SO many antique and flea markets, there are better 'deals' to be found closer to home. Still, there's something about so many things gathered in one (big) place to assure that you'll find what you're looking for. Every year, I visit a few of the same vendors to stock up on my necessities - things I don't collect, but rather that we actually use in our day to day. Things you just can't really buy as pretty as they used to make. Handkerchiefs being at the top of that list. Pillowcases and linens too. So, we found our linen lady, in the same spot she always is, and stocked up there. Similarly, there's the silver booth, where I can replenish my supply of spoons in my particular chosen pattern, for it seems that spoons walk out of my kitchen every day and never come back, much to my puzzlement. There are also notions and textiles that I inevitably pick up for some crafty project I have in mind or another (Annabel's birthday being at the top of the list, hence the pink, pink, pink).
Those are the little things I plan on coming home with. And then there are the surprises. Like a trash can! I mean really now, look at that cute thing. A completely impulsive purchase, but one I'm pleased with. I intended it for the garden, but I think I might just plant some tall decorative grasses in it and make it a front porch planter instead - at least for this season. And the dresser and end table I hemmed and hawed on and looked and looked and eventually went back at the end of the day to purchase them both. I love them. I am working on brightening up our bedroom a bit, and this is just the right start for doing so.
And with that, another Brimfield is behind me (I can never bring myself to attend in the heat of July and September is just too full to pull away for antique browsing). Always a treat, often a curiosity, and definitely an inspiration.
