Claremont Village Street Art Faire

Every year on the last Saturday in the month of October the city of Claremont Ca., hosts it's street faire with an emphasis on the arts.  This year there were over 600 vendor featuring foods, arts & crafts, local businesses, and the local police and fire departments.  This was my first year to attend and I have to honestly say that I was a bit overwhelmed by the thousands of people who showed up and the huge amount of vendors to stroll past.  It took me nearly 3 hours to see everything.  And it was HOT outside!

The entire downtown area was blocked off and parking was a nightmare.  It was in the 90's that day and most of us had to hike at least a 1/2 mile to the festivities   At least I was able to burn my calories for the day.  There was a lot to see and do.  I was a bit disappointed in the arts & crafts on display, it was a bit swap meetish.  Oh well, I was able to find a few Xmas presents. 

My favorite booth was the Audubon Society.  They had several birds there with their handlers.  The sweetest was the baby owl.

And the kids were having a ball with the bubble machine, and going around to all the booths trick-o-treating for candy.  Most of the children had on their Halloween outfits.  And so did the dogs.  There were 100's of dogs dressed for the occasion.

It was also really nice listening to the Claremont Youth Orchestra under the large oak trees in front of my favorite yarn store 'Colors'.

And it was also fun to rock out to the street bands as well in front of the 'Folk Music Store'.

Will I go next year?  Naw, once was enough  :)

My Newest Find - Colors Yarn Shop

Colors is by far one of my favorite yarn shops to date.  Alumni Breeana Johng turned me onto it because it's right down the street from her college (Scripp's) in downtown Claremont.  It's only been there a little over a year, and it is bright and fun with lots of great yarns and fiber related gifts.  It's magical!

And I highly recommend it if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet.  Not only do they offer knitting classes but they also teach hand spinning and dyeing, with lots of special events on the weekends.

What I especially loved was this yarn painting that someone made for the store.  I used to teach yarn painting in the 80's, looks like it might be coming back.  Only instead of using the nasty acrylic yarns this one was full of hand dyed and hand-spuns, lovely!

Sooooooooo, crafty 3-D students of mine, for 10 whopping points of EXTRA CREDIT, find someone who drives to take you up, and visit Breeana while you are there.  And enjoy the sights in the Claremont Village, so many great places to eat and shop while you are there.  Also, an incredible Chinese antique store kaddy-corner across the street from Colors.   It has amazing pieces of handmade furniture to die for.

Day Trippin' Again

This time Jim and I were off to the cities of La Verne and Claremont to see the craftsman architecture and to visit their old town shops.  These photos are a bit dated, we took this trip in early January 2011 when it was still chilly outside, there was snow on the local mountains, and the air was so clean and clear.

We got off the 57 Freeway going north onto Arrow Hwy and cut thru the town of San Dimas where all the facades on the buildings look like the old west, and walked around a bit and enjoyed the downtown area.

Next we passed thru the city of La Verne, and it's great Victorian homes and tree lined streets, founded in 1887. 

As we were coming into Claremont we passed the sign for the Pomona Colleges.  Many of our Whitney students are alum of these fine schools. 

This is downtown Claremont, one of my favorite towns to visit with delicious bakeries, great music stores, unique clothing shops and great local eateries.  Plus because it's a college town it has a very special ambiance that always makes me feel good when I visit.

The town was founded over a hundred years ago, and is known for it tree lined streets which are gi-normous and gorgeous.

When my son Zach was a little boy I used to bring him to this Folk Music Center, one of his favorite destinations and always a special treat for him, located on the main drag in Claremont.

So many instruments from all over the world, and all shoppers are invited to try them out.

Only the little one I had with me that day was not so little LOL.  Jim spent at least an hour trying out many of the guitars, banjos and bass pieces.  Above he is playing a homemade washtub bass.  When Jim was a teenager he started his own boy band, and taught his friends to play a variety of homemade instruments such as the one above, as well as the spoons, jugs and washboards.  They called themselves the Even Dozen Jug Band, and played in many a hootenanny.  Hootenanny, how old are you anyways?  Those were the good old days, right?    

You can see he's having way too much fun!