Perth Antique Show

We decided to continue on from Kemptville yesterday, to make a day--or at least an afternoon--of this outing we began before noon, under a blue-and-white sky belying the weather report of possible rainshowers.

Because it was such a hot day, humid and bereft of any relieving wind, it seemed as good a way as any to pass the time. We had seen advertisements for the past week appearing daily in the local paper notifying anyone who might be interested that the annual Perth antique show would be held on the week-end. We'd gone once before, many years earlier, and found it pretty dismal. But then, you never know, the entertainment value at the very least might be worthwhile. And nor could one discount the charm of a country drive on a hot summer day in an air conditioned car.

Passing through towns and villages, whistle-stops to larger, more impressive urban places albeit the latter without the visual appeal of the former was an alluring prospect. We passed rural car dealerships, golf courses , big-box-store malls seeming to loom up out of the landscape without nothing close about to justify their presence, farms with fields of wheat, and barley, corn and rye, and pasturage of sheep and milking cattle - and sprawling cemeteries.

And we passed the Rideau locks driving through Merrickville, a lovely town that credits itself with the "Crown of the Rideau" boutonniere. Its old dressed-stone buildings, mills converted into hotels, old farmhouses re-purposed to restaurants and century-homes lovingly restored, with colourful garden beds boasting their presence along the streets of the town all tremendously appealing; brief souvenirs for the questing eye.

From Merrickville, to the Mississippi River, and Smiths Falls, almost as charming a place as its neighbour, and then on to our destination, Perth. Another terrific Ottawa Valley town, with outstanding architecture in the form of old stone buildings, and homes, graciously sized and venerably appreciated by its current-day owners who have obviously spent no small amount of their personal fortune in ensuring their treasures have been fully upgraded while respecting the heritage value of their presence.

The antique show was held in the town's Legion Hall, with stalls set up in the main public room obviously used for all such social events. A slow and methodical stroll through the aisles brought to our notice some items of curiosity and attractive value, but we found nothing we had any real interest in committing ourselves to.

Until we journeyed outside to see what the stalls there had on offer. Usually, it is the interior of, for example, a fairground building that houses the cream of antique dealers' offerings, while in the outside stalls radiating out from the main building, more modest offerings are to be found. In this instance the old standby was turned on its head, and it was within the outside stalls that items of true aesthetic and antique value were to be found, to our delight.

Affable vendors, and articles of desire to those who appreciate art and antiques, and the craftsmanship of an earlier time.