All this and I didn’t leave the house

O.K.  fine, I do leave the house once a week to go to the Farmers’ Market and I also walk my dog, but my life revolves around my home and that’s the way I love it.  I know it’s not a life for everyone, but being by myself in my little studio with the occasional visitor is my definition of heaven on earth. I often have to pause and  consider how incredibly lucky I am to be able to make a living in the way that I do.
My weekly Thursday  trip to the Lunenburg Farmers Market is my social day.  It’s my time for chatting, shopping and hat selling and it is a highlight of my week, but when I get home I am toast and am always thankful for six more days of not leaving the house. 

This is Julia.  She was visiting from South Africa and circled my booth a number of times before finally allowing herself to be sucked in.  She was having a great time trying on hats and I wasn’t about to pass up on the opportunity to photograph such a beauty.

Pam was helping Cheryl Corkum sell her beautiful paintings at the market this week and was all dressed up for Canada Day with one of my hats.

Cheryl’s paintings are  at the market every week.

When the market was over, Pam came over and said, “Did you sell my hat?’  “Nope.”  I told her,  “It’s waiting for you.”  And off they walked into the sunset.  I would ordinarily have a hard time parting with this kind of hat so soon after finishing it, but Pam is Hat Junkie family.  One of the many women that have kept me eating through the years.  It couldn’t have gone to a better head.

Terri was visiting from the Annapolis Valley and off she went with this Suitcase Sarah.  I really couldn’t ask for better advertising than all these beauties.

Did I mention my new hat boxes?  For years I have been dreaming of carrying good quality hat boxes, the kind that will actually protect a hat.  They are made by a small company in the states.  The quality has exceeded my expectations.

I had another one of my regular Hat Junkies come visit me at the market yesterday.  She needed a hat for her son’s wedding.  I had two days before she needed to hop on a plane back to Manitoba. This is what I refer to as a hat emergency.  If humanly possible I am always happy to help. I received my marching orders (Do whatever you want) and got to work.  This is what I came up with.

When Louise came on Friday evening to pick up her hat we both knew it was all wrong.  Louise grew out her dyed hair and now instead of a brown bobbed cut she had a silver short cut.  The earth tones were not working anymore.  We spent about an hour rummaging through my ribbon stash and she put these two colours together.

I love when this happens.  Pink and silver is not a combination I would have thought of, but now I will.  I spent the evening on the day bed redoing the hat.  She came back the next day and we were both delighted.

And, of course, she needed a hat box to protect her new hat.

In case you were wondering what I did with the other flowers, they ended up on this wheat straw boater.  I named the hat, Marilla, for my favourite character in Anne of Green Gables.
I know  that last week I waxed eloquent about how I don’t make hats for the races, but then I got to thinking…If Anne Shirley and Marilla went to the Kentucky Derby what would they wear?  This is what Marilla would have made for herself and this …

would be Anne’s hat.

The details are mostly in the back.  Now I am officially out of wheat straw, but fear not, there is a whole new batch on its way to my local post office.  Imagine that!  I can order all my supplies without ever leaving my house.

If you also love to work from home and you live in Nova Scotia then please consider joining Homegrown Works, Nova Scotia’s home-based business association.  I started this association less than a year ago and we are seeking new members.  You can check out my latest Homegrown Works blog post HERE.  See you next week.