Monday 4 May 2009

Bank Holiday


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I'm sure there's a 'natural' conspiracy in the UK. Mention the words 'Bank Holiday' and 'market' and the temperature plummets and the heavens open! Fortunately we British are made of stern stuff and are undetered by a little rain. We made an early start to go to Denton Street Market this morning. It's only a few miles away but we like to go early and get parked (sad or what?). There was a good variety of stalls selling everything from bric a brac to burgers and lots of plant stalls. My DH will probably have a much fuller report on his blog later today.

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Anybody with a stall under cover was on to a good thing. I'm not sure how this band were managing to play as their hands must have been freezing! I think the chap on the right is actually playing a harmonica not blowing into his hands! They are called The Ono Band and are based locally. All their efforts raise money for charity.

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It's not often that I buy paintings but I couldn't resist the colourful and vibrant paintings on Mike Thomas Monroe's stall. He used watercolour and collage to paint really happy pictures and at only £5 (less than 3$) he was giving away the little French boat that I bought (below). Mike was telling us that he used to work for the Northern Lighthouse board ferrying people out to the lighthouses near Oban, Scotland. What he didn't tell us was that he had found Spanish Treasure from a sunken ship in 2006 and is a published author. He was selling his work far too cheaply imho but what a charming man!



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10 comments:

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Sounds like you had a good day in spite of the weather and the boat is absolutely gorgeous, a bargain indeed!

We have "bank holiday overcastness" in St. Ives, didn't fancy a walk after all that, curled up watching a movie instead ...

Heather said...

It's chilly and horrid everywhere today - glad our boiler is mended! Love the little boat painting and think you are sensible getting parked early or you'd have even further to walk and more time to get cold and wet. Glad you didn't let the weather spoil your morning.

Mrs Mac said...

We struggled for somewhere to go! Eventually, online, I found details of an art exhib. at a church the other side of Colchester. We really loved some of the pictures- K's favourites were some bird studies in acrylic, simply brilliant. My favourite was a mixed media pick of woods and bluebells. The artist, instead of trying to pain all the bluebells, have dyed or painted some tissue paper with purple and blue, and applied this around the base of the all the trees. I loved it. But it was £70! One of the bird ones was £145.

We did still hum and harr a bit, despite the prices, but concluded we didn't really have anywhere to put them. SO we had a cup of tea and came home :)

Gina said...

Shame about the rain but it sounds as though you had a good day anyway. We managed another day in the garden.

Genie said...

Hi Julie
at least you braved the weather,
i stayed at home and had a play day, Most of the work was already partly done, ATC backgrounds were done ages ago.
Love the painting you bought, what a bargain.
Have a good week

Unknown said...

glad you had a good day anyway - I like the pic with all the umbrellas - very typical. The little boat is delightful.

Lesley's Creations said...

Hi Julie. Sounds like you had a great day bad weather or not. I'm afraid we didn't venture out this bank holiday we stayed in and vegged. What a gorgeous little watercolour boat and at a bargin price. Getting there early paid off. So your definatley not sad!! xx

Becky Mairi Farrell said...

mmm I would like one of those collage paintings, and would pay more than £5 for it too!

Timaree said...

I love his use of color and the freedom of his painting. I think you got a very good buy here.

Timaree said...

I tried googling his name for a web site but came up with a lot of sports stuff. You wouldn't happen to have his site or blog addie would you?