Last week was a school vacation in Monroe County, and we had planned a little roadtrip with friends who are still teaching. Unfortunately, they had to cancel, but we decided to head out anyway. Tracy would like to find a new coffee table, so we started at a local furniture store. We found one we like quite a bit, but haven't made a decision yet. Earlier last week, we found the perfect table, but it is way out of our price range so we're still on the hunt.
Our destination was Rio Tamatlan, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in nearby Canadaigua. We took the scenic route although it was a gray and cloudy day. There are a lot of antique/vintage stores along Routes 5 & 20. We stopped at one on our way, and I picked up a couple of blue Mason jars to use in my studio to hold twine and buttons. I also found a vintage camera there, still in its box with the manual. I have no idea if any camera I buy has any value or not, and I don't really care. I purchase one if it's relatively inexpensive (less than $20--the least expensive one I've ever bought was only $3) and I like the way it looks. I'm particuarly attracted to Brownie cameras by Kodak, since those were my first cameras.
Lunch was delicious, as always. I had a combination plate with a tostada, a sope, and two flautas.
I brought half of it home, and enjoyed it again the next day.
On our way home we stopped at the Ontario Mall Antiques. We've driven by it hundreds of times, but never gone in. It's billed as the largest antique store in New York with over 1000 dealers displaying their wares. You could spend days here and never see it all. I did, however, pick up three more cameras.
Another Kodak, according to the tag, from the late 1930s.
About the same vintage, and also a Kodak.
And a little Brownie Flash. It's an unusual shape and in very good condition.
I had already started a shelf for the cameras when we redid the living room shelves. Here's how it looks now. I put the camera with the red bellows on the media center.
My last find was purely decorative. I walked by this little metal sewing machine and fell in love with it, probably because it's red. I was pretty sure I could find a spot for it in my studio, and I did. You may see it crop up as a photographic prop some day.
I love it next to my antique wire basket filled with felt. Recently we've spent a lot of time purging and cleaning out, so this little shopping excursion seems to go against the tide. I'm sticking with the theory that you should be surrounded with things you love as well as those things that are useful.
