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From Perth to Perth
Oct. 7th, 2012 07:16 pmWhen I was in Scotland, I sort of did a double-take when I heard people refer to Scottish place-names like Banff, Hamilton, Stornoway... and Perth. I know, of course, that if I were to say I was from Perth, the likely question would be "Scotland or Australia?" Not too many people (unless they were from this immediate area) would think of Perth, Ontario. In fact, there was one person in our tour group who was from the Australian Perth.
In any case, it's become something of a family tradition on the Thanksgiving weekend to go on the Perth studio tour, visiting artisans' studios between Perth and Maberley while enjoying the autumn weather and colourful leaves, taking a few pictures, making the odd purchase, chatting with the friendly folk out in the country, some of whom we've been seeing year after year and others whom we're meeting for the first time. En route to or from Perth, we stop off at the cheese shop in Carleton Place for fresh curds and Balderson Oktoberfest.
Sadly, the number of artisans participating in these studio tours seems to be shrinking, although it was encouraging to see a few completely new ones this year. As well, there is less variety in the kind of goods available than there used to be; there are lots of painters, printmakers and potters, but not that much of anything else any more. And the sad fact is that one can only buy so many works of original art for one's home, however appealing those artworks may be! There used to be more places selling clothing (there was one weaver this year), jewelry and leather goods (none in either category this year) and soaps, for example. Still, the fact that there were only seven stops, fairly close together, as opposed to perhaps twice that many in the tour's heyday, made it a realistically leisurely day's journey. And there WAS a stop that had jam, salsa, butter tarts and other good stuff to eat - we bought quite a bit there.
One thing that's been consistent throughout the years we've been going is the harvest lunch at Brooke Valley School. We almost always have their vegetarian chili, with some sort of home-baked goodies for dessert. And this year was no exception.
We had glorious weather for it - it was mostly sunny and coolish, and didn't start to rain till we were on our way home. We plan to return next year. More details may be found at www.perthstudiotour.com
In any case, it's become something of a family tradition on the Thanksgiving weekend to go on the Perth studio tour, visiting artisans' studios between Perth and Maberley while enjoying the autumn weather and colourful leaves, taking a few pictures, making the odd purchase, chatting with the friendly folk out in the country, some of whom we've been seeing year after year and others whom we're meeting for the first time. En route to or from Perth, we stop off at the cheese shop in Carleton Place for fresh curds and Balderson Oktoberfest.
Sadly, the number of artisans participating in these studio tours seems to be shrinking, although it was encouraging to see a few completely new ones this year. As well, there is less variety in the kind of goods available than there used to be; there are lots of painters, printmakers and potters, but not that much of anything else any more. And the sad fact is that one can only buy so many works of original art for one's home, however appealing those artworks may be! There used to be more places selling clothing (there was one weaver this year), jewelry and leather goods (none in either category this year) and soaps, for example. Still, the fact that there were only seven stops, fairly close together, as opposed to perhaps twice that many in the tour's heyday, made it a realistically leisurely day's journey. And there WAS a stop that had jam, salsa, butter tarts and other good stuff to eat - we bought quite a bit there.
One thing that's been consistent throughout the years we've been going is the harvest lunch at Brooke Valley School. We almost always have their vegetarian chili, with some sort of home-baked goodies for dessert. And this year was no exception.
We had glorious weather for it - it was mostly sunny and coolish, and didn't start to rain till we were on our way home. We plan to return next year. More details may be found at www.perthstudiotour.com
