Today

We decided to go out for breakfast and go to the antique show at the fairgrounds despite the fact that we are trying not to spend any extra money so that we can save up for a new car or truck or whatever we decide to get.

So, we thought we'd try a restaurant downtown instead of one of our usual spots for breakfast. I like to go to locally owned places when we can, so when we passed a bright yellow what must have originally been a House of Pies building now called Clay's Restaurant, we knew we had to stop and try it out.

What an odd building, it looked really big from the outside, but inside it was long and narrow with the kitchen right smack in the middle. On one side of the kitchen there were two rows of booths with one row of tables in the middle and on the other side of the kitchen were four booths with just an aisle in between that lead to the restrooms. At the entrance there were at least four signs advising us that the restrooms were for paying customers only. We're in homeless people's country here, folks! Yes, Bakersfield has a huge homeless issue like most larger cities do.

As we were seated we noticed that each table had a coffee carafe on it. Now we're talking! Fill up that carafe so we never have to pause in our coffee drinking while waiting for a refill! Ten points earned here!

The food was good, I had a cheese omelette that was made with cheddar, swiss, and parmesan. A little too strong with the swiss, but the combination made for a little more interesting of an omelette than just cheddar. You don't get potatoes with your omelette at Clay's Restaurant, but you do get a choice of toast or pancakes. Good pancakes!

I don't think I'd go out of my way to go eat at Clay's again, but when you go to Clay's Restaurant and Clay is actually there seating you and working the register, that's kind of cool!

The antique show was not worth the five bucks each it cost to get in, unless you are looking for incredibly overpriced dishes and glassware. The lighting in the building is bad, so each booth had really bright lights shining on their tables which made me feel really strange and kind of headachy, like just too much brightness and sensory overload or something. We didn't see much that we would have paid the incredibly high prices for, but I did find two books to cut up for pendants. So, not a total waste of time.

So what did I accomplish today? Not a whole lot, but I did get a lot of pictures taken so I can work on my etsy, shophandmade, and artfire shops. New year, new look, so I'm retaking all my pictures on some different backgrounds and doing some rearranging between shops. Keith accomplished a nap all afternoon.

Another Pleasant Saturday

We had another fun day today, although tiring because we are so old and out of shape and walked a lot, but...fun anyway. (Keith is taking a nap as I'm typing this).

Today was the semi-annual Peddler's Fair, which I've blogged about before, and which is held at the outdoor Kern County Museum.

The turnout of vendors was a little less than in the spring, and a lot of them had the same old stuff as last time, some had just plain old junk and I wondered how they would even make back the rather expensive booth fee selling just plain old junk. But I found a few magazines and books for pendants, and this sign, which we debated about while we went around the show, and then decided to go back and get. If I had decided not to get this I know I would have gone home and been mad at myself for not buying it. As it was, the other sign that the vendor had for a toss game was gone when we got back. He had a couple of big white and aqua motel vacancy signs that we were really tempted by, too, and now I'm sorry I didn't grab one.

Here is the sign. It's pretty big, about 2x3', and I'm assuming it came from a carnival game booth.

And, I found this chick and bunny salt and pepper set, which I know isn't vintage or anything, but was cute and cheap.

And this little half of a salt and pepper set.


And then, we were hungry and didn't want show food, so we went to the Five and Dime Antique Mall and had some diner food and shopped a little there, too, where I found this little duck on sale for only $2.00!


Not that I need ducks or bunnies or fawns, but it's been a long time since I bought any of this kind of stuff, and the price and the cuteness were right!

Old Time Peddler's Fair

Today we went to the Old Time Peddlers Fair that is held at the Kern County outdoor museum each year. We used to sell crafts at this show, never made much money but it was kind of a fun show to do. I'm SO GLAD we decided to not do this (or any other) show anymore. This weekend we are having the first heat wave of the summer with temps getting up into the 100's. It would be miserable to have to sit out there all weekend. We went early in an effort to beat the heat, which really didn't work cause it was already getting HOT out there. The museum is made up of all kinds of old buildings from the early days here in Bakersfield all laid out on little dirt paths with lots of trees, kind of like an actual little town. They just moved an old house from our end of town out there to fix up. The houses and buildings are done like dioramas where you can look in the windows and see what it might have looked like way back when.
This is the first house you see as you come into the museum. The vendors at the show set up in front of all the buildings.
Obviously this is the General Store.
The five star hotel.
And the courthouse with the jail conveniently located underneath.

We didn't buy a whole lot, I was mainly looking for old books to cut up for pendants and collages, and scored with a few good ones. I found a 1932 childrens music book with some cute illustrations in it for $1.00.
We almost bought a drive in theatre speaker stand, complete with two speakers, but thought $75.00 was a bit much for something that really wouldn't go with our house and we really wouldn't have any place to put.

This is new since we were last here. An old gas station complete with pumps and an old market sign
And this used to be on an old Chinese restaurant downtown. We had noticed that the sign had been taken down and were so glad to see it at the museum.

Now I'm tired from the heat and Keith is taking one of the many naps that I'm sure he'll indulge in this weekend. So, the rest of the day will be a lazy one, I'm not even going to clean the kitchen. Not that I clean it that often anyway.

Antique Shopping

Yesterday we decided to go downtown and wander through our favorite antique store, The Five and Dime, which is inside the old Woolworths' building downtown.
Complete with luncheonette.
I love that word, luncheonette, that's something you don't see anymore.
I was looking for vintage childrens books to cut up and use in pendants and collage and found some good ones yesterday, along with a vintage United States puzzle and a game with tiles that I think I can use as charms in a bracelet. I love the illustrations in the old childrens books, they are just so sweet, one of the books is about a little rabbit and a crow and they are dressed in little jackets and hats. One of the books is a take-off on Dick and Jane but with Alice and Jerry instead.
We were starving so we ate lunch at the old Woolworth's lunch counter, I mean luncheonette-they had a very limited menu, hamburgers and a couple of sandwiches, but hamburgers and fries hit the spot for us. There are hardly any restaurants in downtown Bakersfield, so your lunch choices are very limited-it's a big downtown and urban blight has hit it pretty hard. Most of the stores are boarded up or pawn shops and of course the porn 'theatre' which is actually in an old theatre. It's kind of sad to see such a depressed area of the city, but I don't think they can revitalize it like many cities have done, it's pretty far gone.