Archive for July, 2010

Local troubadour Stevedore Steve might have sung about “Lester the Lobster from PEI,” but in Saint John, he’s at the City Market, of course.

Now, I have a confession to make.  It’s the sort of thing that has made many a land-locked visitor to our city proclaim, “What a waste!” and made my mom-in-law shake her head in disbelief.

I don’t eat lobster.

Please don’t misunderstand — I certainly have nothing against those who do!  It’s just not something I crave.  I’ve had one lobster roll in my life, because I felt it was my civic duty, but I’m just not a lobster girl.  (Now, ice cream, on the other hand …  There’s something I just can’t get enough of!)

I realize, however, that I am in a minority when it comes to this issue, and this has recently been brought home by the fact that I have family visiting from Alberta.  They have already made one trip to Billy’s Seafood Company, and I suspect they will be visiting Lord’s Lobster tomorrow, to stock up before boarding the plane home.

The City Market is definitely the place to head if you’re looking for seafood, and if you order something battered and fried, save some for me!

Incidentally, I’ve just discovered that Lord’s Lobster does sell lobster in a form I find tantalizing: the gummy version!

Green is my favourite colour, and I especially love green glass.  So when I saw these gorgeous, huge green stained glass earrings at the Market, I stopped dead in my tracks.

At only ten dollars for the pair, they were certainly reasonable, and the workmanship on these handmade beauties was impressive.  (I was envious at how smooth the soldering was.)  But I couldn’t quite decide to adopt them.  Were they too big for me?  Was I too old for them?  So many questions, and so few answers.

Yet every time I headed uphill in the Market, I found myself pulled towards the earrings.  Karen, they called.  We’re right over here. And so I would go visit them and debate some more.

Naturally, my many visits to the green earrings did not go unnoticed, and I had the opportunity to chat with Vicky Walker who, along with her sister Patsy, are the proprietors of mysis&i.

Vicky has been doing stained glass work for about twenty years, and, I learned, was the creator of the earrings in question.  (Besides stained glass earrings, mysis&i also sells the coolest little earrings made out of guitar picks, amongst their many treasures.) The talented Vicky also designed their sign, and she and her sister accept commissions for their very unique artwork.

There were many other pieces of delicate  jewelry and artwork for sale that I admired, but nothing was quite as insistent as the green stained glass earrings.

Needless to say, they finally came home with me, and I just love them.   Thanks Vicky, for creating these gorgeous adornments (and for not charging me rent as I made up my mind).

As part of the 2oth anniversary of the Saint John Buskers Festival, the Saint John City Market is getting in on the act.  The Music Pitch is a “collection of musicians from every genre,” and is running from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM up until Saturday afternoon.  Performances take place outside at the Germain Street entrance, or, in the case of inclement weather, in the food hall solarium.

Here is the schedule for today and tomorrow:

Friday

• 11:00 AM — Tupahn
• 12:00 noon — Calysto Steel Band
• 1:00 PM — Jam, Spots & Hospitals
• 2:00 PM — Marbin
• 3:00 PM — Tupahn
• 4:00 PM — Wet Grow Light

Saturday

• 11:00 AM — Ruth Dunfield
• 12:00 noon — Calysto Steel Band
• 1:00 PM — Tupahn
• 2:00 PM — Jam, Spots & Hospitals
• 3:00 PM — Zingaro Quartet
• 4:00 PM — Marbin

Check out the provided links to learn more about these traveling musicians, and be sure to enjoy their “limited time performances” here in the Port City.