3 French Hens Market in MorrisWell. Saturday was a long day, but we kind of enjoyed
it. It was midnight when we finally got home from the Three French Hens market. Morris is really pretty, too, much nicer than
it was years ago when we were last there. They've made a really nice park along the canal where the market was held and when
they have these events during the day, the vendors set up right next to the water. Because of the dark, last night they held
everyone closer to the road. I don't think the stretch of lawn between the road and the canal is more than a hundred feet
deep, so even while we were closer to the road last night, we could still appreciate the reflection of all the lights on the
surface of the water.
This first image is a view looking downstream toward the two trestle bridges where our tent
was set up, it was taken from a foot bridge closer to the lot where I parked our truck. The next image shows one of the vendors, I had no idea why she
and her partner wore such ridiculous hats! Then we found out it was a contest for the best hat decorations.
 Here, Allan is taking a little break after the first rush of
customers had swarmed our tent. In the background just above the left side of Allan's head, you can see the hem of a long
white dress that another vendor was wearing. I call her the "Great White Witch", you'll see her again later.
As a point of reference, the Great White Witch is standing in the farthest west isle of the market. To the left of
this image, just behind the trees, an enormous trestle bridge joins another slightly smaller bridge at the edge of the canal.
The straw bales in the bottom left corner of the photo are part of a council ring that was set up around an elevated iron
burn basin in a depression in the lawn. One of the Hens sold pre-packaged "S'mores" kits complete with sticks for
roasting marshmallows over the open fire. Farther to the left, about thirty feet from the water's edge, a little waif of a
woman was giving basic beginners calligraphy lessons. We decorated the corners of our tent with hanging votive
jars. Everyone seemed to like this small detail. Because of all the other electric lanterns in the background and neighboring
booths, you can't see them very well in the darker images, but they did add a pretty twinkle to our booth.
 The man with his thumb in the air was selling
fresh produce off the back of his old truck. He told me he was donating all the proceeds to Hospice. Our booth is just behind
the little shingled building to the left of this image. The blue tents are information centers.  The woman beneath the blue tent is one of the Hens. All three
of them wore black skirts and black T-shirts with their Hen logo printed on the front.  The next few images show views of the isle to the west of our
tent Now, prepare yourself, the next image shows the Great White Witch...  That device that looks like a flashlight in her hand is actually
a wand... She handed out little bundles of broom straw to all the women who stopped in her Halloween display booth and when
she did, she told them, "Fly away on your broom!"
Our first customers were a pair of older women who
were a lot of fun to visit with. One of them asked about our staghorn fern, she wanted to know if she did the right thing
when she tried to feed a banana to the staghorn she used to own. I paused to think before I answered that question and, in
my bewilderment, I posed a question in place of offering an answer. I asked, "How did you administer this treat?"
Well, that amused them both very much, they said I stated my question "very delicately". From there, the conversation
fell apart into humorous fragments as the two of them kept saying they needed to leave this "poor young man alone"!
When I asked about the bundles of brush they were holding in their hands, they explained about the witch in the neighboring
isle. One kept beating our plants with her bundle and shortly after I asked them where the nearest bar was, I told them to
stop beating our orchids with their "switches". At that, they fell apart and wandered off into the crowd... never
to be seen again.  The next few views show our booth after dark   The Hens husbands and boyfriends wore T-shirts that said "Henpecked"
above the market logo Henpecker #2 The fire pit outside our booth produced a lot of smoke, but it
was nice. Most of the time, it went straight up into the sky, but every now and then, it filled our booth with smoke!
Little Miss Calligraphy can be seen at the base of the tree to the right of the image, she has her hands in the air. More views of our booth... This is a view heading toward the water in an isle upstream from
our booth  I like the way the light travels through the next few images.
People were moving all around me as I took these shots of an entrance to the Canalport Park.
Behind the arch,
there's a large circular seating area with tables and chairs and just beyond that, a full size replica of one of the barges
that used to travel the canal is built into the ground so that the deck is level with the grade of the park.     This next image shows the back end of the barge, it's part of
Morris' "Heritage" and on it's bow, a little Boy Band was performing.  Cluck cluck cluck, BAWCK! Bawck, cluck, cluck... cluck... 
Allan explains all
about tillandsia to some customers...
  Our friend Ryan and his girlfriend, Ashley came to see us last
night. They stayed with us till the very end and then helped us pack and load our trailer! A little "S'mores" waif ... and a dead child
 One of the Hens erected a Barricade over a cord just outside
our booth. This deterrent saved countless lives... The sky was beautiful that night as the lights came on at
dusk It was a wonderful event and we are looking forward to the next
'3 French Hens Market' October 10th from 8am to 2pm.
We hope you and some friends can visit us then.
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2009.09.13
2009.07.01
2009.05.01
2008.12.21
2008.10.19
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