We've had previous pleasant experiences attending the annual Perth antique show so my husband decided for us (with my eager consent of course) that we would head out there on Saturday, as an excursion and an anticipated pleasant walk-about to peruse the offerings in the booths assembled in the interior of the old Legion Hall and around and about on its generous exterior greenspace, once again.

The thought of the drive on a perfect summer day was attractive enough; recalling our surprise at the quality of some of the objects that antique dealers from other parts of Ontario tend to bring along served as another spur, and so, soon after breakfast we set off. The drive was beyond pleasant, in the variety of scenes that took our attention and the pleasure they brought to us.

We saw farms, and fields of oats and corn, we saw the high flighted passage of a great blue heron, the first we've seen yet this summer, and also a vulture with its telltale dihedral winged form coasting on the vigorous wind that maintained a comfortable breeze for us further down in the landscape, throughout the day. We recalled that the year before it had been hot and muggy and there was light rain; not so this year. Nicely warm, the sun lovingly glancing at us and everything else it shone beneficently upon, from the crops to the cattle we saw grazing in fields.

And we saw yellow loosestrife in bloom, bugleweed, Mullein, Queen Anne's Lace Viper's bugloss, Black-eyed Susans (surely early in bloom this year!), daisies, trailing lotus, buttercups, cattails, and more in colourful array of drifts here and there alongside the highway.

And we looked admiringly at some of the stone-faced houses that people who prefer to live in rural isolation built, here and there between forests and farms, wondering what it was that drove people to that kind of lifestyle distant from their fellows. There were old stone homes lovingly given new life, carefully restored to their original condition and those who take that trouble to honour the architectural past must indeed be a special breed.

And speaking of the past, there, as we drove past, eyes agoggle, was the sight of a herd of Buffalo grazing and at rest, their raggedy coats still moulting winter's hair. But they aren't Buffalo although early settlers named them as such. They're American Bison, a breed of bovine animal species that once roamed the prairies of North America in untold numbers, more recently reduced to 'protected' status where once they stood the risk of extinction because they had been so mercilessly hunted out of their native habitat.

When we finally reached Perth, the day wasn't very long in the tooth. Parking at the Canadian Legion Hall lot represented a little problem; this year's attendance seemed heavier than last. It's such a lovely little Ontario town, is Perth, with its stately old stone heritage homes lovingly restored and proudly lived in, gardens hugging them tight with the passion of pride. Old stone churches, and old stone bridges over the Tay River that runs through the town. The shopping areas in the town are charming and the shops resemble a crossover between Old Tymes and boutique.

We wandered the building to scrutinize the various stalls, and quickly discovered that the show had turned into a mostly jewellery-hawking venue, but then that seems to happen with most of these antique shows; a preponderance of jewellery always on display; 'estate' jewellery has an especial appeal to many, both men and women.

But there were other booths, one in particular whose vendor had come from Stratford, Ontario, whose displays were rife with excellent objects from paintings to porcelains, Continental furniture to bronze sculptures and beyond. There is where my husband lingered and spoke at some length to the dealer, a man straight out of a Dickens novel.

Eventually, I was able to prevail upon his sense of curiosity to venture outdoors where the vast bulk of the dealers tend to congregate, setting up their booths in the fresh open air, and where magnificent old maple trees give their generous shade to the park-like atmosphere there. Nothing to write home about on offer there, though we did see a dealer from whom we'd purchased several prized objects the year before.

My husband eventually returned to the dealer within, to look more carefully at a large bronze sculpture. When we returned home it was yet early in the afternoon. Ample time for us to luxuriate in the out-of-doors further, with a long lingering walk in the ravine.