Jimmy Buffet used to sing a little tune that went something like, "Wish you were here, the weather is beautiful," or was it, "The weather is here, wish you were beautiful?"  Regardless, we were in Waterville Friday and Saturday at the Rustique Divas Vintage Market and the weather . . . it was mostly beautiful and so was the "funky junk!"

We're sorry you missed it, though we hope to inspire you to jump in your pedal car next year and follow us to Waterville for the Rustique Divas Vintage Market.  And here's why . . .

Neither funky junk vendors nor professional antique show promoters, the Rustique Divas pulled off an antique and funky junk show so well you would have thought they had waved a magic wand and made it so. 

The Rustique Divas (Windy, Kim and Jenny) are fund raisers for the Waterville Parent Teacher Organization who had a vision (that didn't involve selling candy bars at 2 bucks a pop).  So they did a little visionary planning and then diligently worked the plan with virtually no marketing budget.

It felt like the whole community took a stroll through our spaces . . . and by "community" we mean we had customers from Winthrop, Coolee City, Tonasket, Wenatchee, Cashmere, East Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Omak, Yakima and, of course,Waterville.  (We actually hauled an old buckboard seat from Yakima all the way to Waterville only to meet "almost neighbors" from Yakima who hauled it back because their buckboard needed a seat!)

We camped out, showered in the high school gym, had pizza delivered to the park, strolled through Waterville to see the Douglas County Courthouse lit up in all of its historic glory, visited the museum, bonded with vendors, met some of the most gracious customers . . . and laughed a lot! 

We had an absolute blast . . . We hope you can join us in Waterville about the same time next year!  

Here are a few pictures . . . let's start with the animals . . . since the North Central Washington Fair was in progress a few miles from Waterville proper . . . and our critters were caged at the vintage market instead of riding the carnival rides at the fair!

This is the most adorable of all the ride-a-longs on the planet.  Made in Portland, Oregon eons ago, the "Pony Van" has a painted wooden head, a galvanized steel body and cute little wheels . . . . all it needs is a cute little kid to propell it forward!  (Agent 99 used it for about a year as a container for source of inspiration . . . aka, magazines :)

Is there anything more fun, more amusing to a tike than a spring-loaded Wonder Horse?  We think not!

Tiana, one of our more diminutive customers concurred!

 This little duck quacks and waddles and flaps its wings . . . Agent 99 has a penchant for vintage toys.

While this brass frog is not old, the detail is wonderful and we think he's funny . . . with his crown, postured with his folded hands behind his back and the best part, he has wings to soar with the eagles too!  Our Frog Prince came home with us . . .  even though we don't actually need him because we already have our very own Prince Charmings.

Kitchen staples!  Old Pyrex . . . not really funky junk, more structurally functional implements for manufacturing things in the kitchen :)

Why no, you can't have too much vintage Pyrex!  We love to spread our love of "All things Pyrex!"  (No, you are not seeing things . . . Yes, Pyrex made an all yellow set of nesting bowls . . . which are not very common.  Collectively, in all of our years marketing old things and funky junk, we have found one set -- the one pictured.)

Agent 99's infamous 3 foot stack of vintage tablecloths took a pretty big hit in Waterville . . . in inches, it lost slightly more than 18 and it wasn't trying (or dieting)!

We're thinking, well really judging from the shear number of vintage Christmas tablecloths that sold, that Waterville must still actually celebrate Christmas . . . the way we all remember, at grandma's house . . . instead of the way it is for some in a big city -- anonymously at movie theaters and restaurants.

That's it . . . now, go and mark your calendars for about the same time next year (August 26-27 or so) so you too have a perfectly good reason to jump in your pedal car and visit historic Waterville and the Rustique Divas Vintage Market 2012!  About 8 months from now we'll share the details about the Rustique Diva's 2012 Vintage Market so we can see you there. 

The weather will be beautiful and so will the funky junk!