This is getting to be a habit.

And it’s a good one.

I was on assignment yesterday, once again joining a group of shoppers, collectors and antiques lovers on a one-day excursion to the Brimfield, Mass., flea markets. Sorry I was too wiped out to file a report last night, so wanted to give you a taste of the morning-to-noon-to-night adventure today.

JoAnn Basile was again behind the outing, something she’s been doing for more than 10 years. She’s an antiques dealer with some 20-plus years’ experience. You may have popped into her former shop, Jo-Antiques, when it was in Nyack. But these days, at least once a year, she heads up a trip to the famed fields.

Brimfield is actually a series of markets, its origins dating back to the 1950s. It’s held each May, July and September with some 20 shows operating independently alongside a stretch of Route 20… a sleepy little road that becomes quite a scene during show days.

Here’s just a glimpse of “action” along the road. (Sorry for the first one’s bad “angle;” we were on the bus, after all):

This time around, there were 31 of us who took the bus and hit the road just before 7 a.m. yesterday. By 10:30 p.m., we were back in Nyack, unloading our treasures.

This marked my third time with “the group.” Many come every time — and I have to say, since my first one last May, I’m now three-for-three (and can’t see stopping).

Anyway, I wrote here on the blog — and in the Life & Style section of The Journal News — about last May’s trip.

In September, I went again as a “civilian.” This time, it was such a fun group, I thought it would be great to chronicle not only my day but what my fellow shoppers were scooping up.

So, yesterday…

We’ll start off with JoAnn Basile herself. Truth be told, she picked up a vintage Christmas card for $1, I believe, soon after we arrived (she collects vintage Santa Clauses, among other things). She said “That’s not really a purchase.”

But her sweet little doll, which came a while after, was:

I wandered the fields with Basile, Maureen Caunitz of Nanuet and Pat Cunneen of New City, really nice women that I met on previous trips. We had a lot of fun.

By mid-morning, I had picked up an anchor pin ($8) that I will put on my new blue-and-white canvas beach bag; a brooch with a little picture of a lady; and this mermaid figurine ($15).

This makes two mermaid-themed items I now own… one more and I’m on the way to yet another collection.

(And since everyone was so willing to pose for pictures I figured I had to do the same…).

As we wandered the field and various booths within each, I did run into my favorite husband-and-wife antiques dealers — Al and JoEllen Finnie of New Rochelle. They have side-by-side booths on the Quaker Acres field.

JoEllen specializes in vintage jewelry, fashions and accessories and textiles. She has great hand-stitched bags made out of vintage fabrics, too.

I asked her if SHE had any time to shop — and yes, she had been able to sneak away: “I was given two hours to shop,” she said with a laugh.

And she did well, buying these fun hats, which she was then going to sell:

And Mr. Finnie? “You know I never shop.”

He does, though, always have unusual finds that have great stories. This time around, he showed me a batch of paintings done by David Immerman, a New Rochelle artist whose 1930s works he had on display:

…

A few random quotes heard along the trail: “It’s just so overwhelming.” and “I smell hot dogs and they smell good.”

Random images from the day:

So, back to the “story” …

Here’s Caunitz taking a pause at one of the fountains of this great garden-antiques booths (can’t believe I don’t have any shots of Caunitz and her treasures; she even bought a little rug for her beach cottage):

It wasn’t as hot as it’s been on previous times I’ve gone, but these are days with a lot of walking, so it’s always good to take a break.

When we took a breather for lunch, we had a mini “show-and-tell.” As you shop, you tend to lose track of each other and catch up again, so sometimes you miss what each other buys.

I showed a few of the felt “knee-hugger” elves I had found for one of my sisters (she has more than you could count):

Cunneen held up this really lovely cloisonne bracelet that came with matching earrings.

Who was it for, I asked.

“I think that might be for me,” she said. (And fair enough, since she spent the latter part of the day carting a really pretty comforter set that she picked up for her daughter).

We also caught up with fellow bus passenger Lynn Caporoso of Country Cottage Antiques in Scotch Plains, N.J. She and friend Karen Frost seemed to have enjoyed the morning. Caporoso had bought a set of plates, for her shop, that she would go back to pick up later in the day.

And did Frost buy? “Not yet, but I will,” she said.

Sure enough when we met back to get the bus, she indeed had bought an embroidered tablecloth and this sweet watering can (that she thinks was once an oil can) — a perfect accent for her red kitchen:

And Caporoso’s finds also included a beautiful pair of Czech lustreware candlesticks — for just $70. Take a peek:

When I saw Ilana Perles arrive in the morning, I knew she’s be one to watch. She and her husband, Lenny Perles, own and operate Transformation By Design in Suffern. It’s a great shop and they are such nice people. This time, Perles was on the trip with her mother, Sunny Kornbluth, who I’ve met when visiting the shop, too.

I didn’t know Kornbluth went on the trip: “I don’t think I’ve been in four years. This should hold me for four years,” she said, though you could tell she had enjoyed the day (even buying Ilana a really unique little purse made out of a vintage rug).

We had passed the ladies at one point during the day when Perles showed off “something” she just bought — she thinks it might be a patent model. Even the dealer wasn’t sure what it was.

If anyone has any ideas — besides a tea strainer, which we ruled out — let me know.

Anyway, by the time we met up with Perles again, for the bus pick-up, she had plenty of other finds.

Among them: a doll’s bed that her mother’s going to make quilts for; a vintage toile magazine holder; this stunning 1960s silver cup with unusual details and stones:

Josephine Missero of Cresskill, N.J., another trip veteran on the right, below, scored a few porcelain hands for $20 each. She was showing them off to Millie Marrero of Stony Point, who’s also a regular.

I hit it off with Marrero when I first met her, since we’re both nuts for costume jewelry.

She did very well on that end today, too. She stopped by one of her favorite booths and scored a whole bag of vintage baubles for just $40 such as this piece:

For a bit of drama and flair, I looked to Ellen Binder. She grew up in Suffern and now lives in New City. She had this lovely hat on (though didn’t want to be in the picture, even though it was so cute!) — but she said she was going to a bridal shower for her friend at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon in Manhattan soon. (I was so jealous; I’ve always wanted to go there). But anyway, she bought the hat for herself and a pair of white gloves for each of the ladies going to the event — and talked the dealer into parting with them for $2 a pair:

Gail Melis of West Nyack is yet another trip veteran.

She again came back to the bus with a cart full of finds. Here she is showing them off:

Melis didn’t have a game plan, she said, other than to look for “just anything that caught my eye and is priced right.”

That included Bashful, which she bought as part of a “lot” of items from a single dealer:

Connie Gilmore told me that I had to see the bracelet that her partner, Mickey Fried, had picked up. (Gilmore and Fried are the owners of Village Gallery & Framery in Suffern).

Well, Fried was more than proud to show off this Navajo bracelet in sterling. She said she spent quite some time learning its history from the dealer; it’s a “storyteller” bracelet, with a pattern that passes along a tale. (again, sorry it’s a bit blurry):

It was created by Alvin Begay (which was determined by his jeweler’s mark, a feather) and was for a fellow Native American, as opposed to the “tourist” trade. She was already wearing it along with these two bracelets she got on her last trip here:

Also, Fried has a way with the funky eyeglasses — and was able to add to her own collection, picking up two pairs of vintage 1980s pairs for less than $20 each:

When Basile plans the trip, she doesn’t fill every last seat; instead she leaves room for “merchandise.” So there are some spare seats for people to store their finds, as well as the bays of the bus.

We all started to pack it up before heading off to dinner nearby at Picadilly Pub in Sturbridge, Mass., (and a shopping nightcap at the Fairground Antique Center, which just happens to be above the restaurant — how’s that for convenient?).

Before pulling out, we even had the bus driver (thanks, Joel) take a photo of the group — Basile wanted to send it to Rivertown, a monthly publication in Rockland County where readers send pictures of themselves around the world. As long as someone’s holding the magazine, they’ll put it in, I think.

Here’s a sneak peek of us, then:

And before we headed off to dinner, I caught up with Carol Faber and Stuart Weiss of Norwood, N.J.

On previous trips, they have made some pretty hefty purchases. I remember helping load their vintage 1950s metal porch glider onto the bus last May.

At the end of the Brimfield day, I asked them what they found on their travels through the fields?

“We stuck by the rule,” Weiss said. “It had to fit into my hands.”

I guess this does follow the rule, though it’s still a bit over-size. They got a poster of “The Wizard of Oz.”

If you looked at it very closely, you could see that it was an intricately created work that wasn’t painted – its pattern was actually created by words, the first chapters of the original book.

When I was taking this picture, Faber followed the “Wizard” theme with the following comment:

“There’s no place like Brimfield…”

Have to agree…

The various shows of Brimfield continue through Sunday, with the rest of the 2008 schedule including July 8 to 13 and Sept. 2 to 7.