As we did last June, Mel and I went to Perth on Saturday for the Lanark County Pride Parade, held each year on the first Saturday in June.

Complementing our parade activities were visits to the Farmer's Market and Perth and District Public Library as well as another self-guided food tour. On a self-guided food tour, you pick the destinations and the menu items—sampling something small in each place.

The Perth Farmers' Market is a delight, offering an eclectic mix of products. You can find candles, soaps, jams and jellies, cheese, baked goods, pottery, cut flowers, honey, wood pieces, apple products, knitted items, Korean food, Filipino food, and lots of garden produce. We were attracted to Samantha's table, as my daughter recognized her company—Windblest Apothecary—as being from my home village of Ferguson Falls. Samantha makes and sells botanically infused tallow soaps and creams. The Perth Farmers' Market is open Saturdays from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM from Mother’s Day weekend to Thanksgiving weekend. It's an inviting place to begin a Saturday visit to the town.

For my family, every food tour in Perth begins (and sometimes ends) at the Fieldhouse. This bakery and restaurant makes the best sandwiches and baked goods, and welcomes visitors with smiles and warmth. As we did last year, Mel and I shared a veggie sandwich (roasted squash, pickled onions, garlic-infused goat cheese, walnut pesto and greens) and house salad (tender lettuce, crisp cabbage and bright radish, with a delicately applied green goddess dressing).

Tempted though we were by the North Folk Cafe's baked goods, we settled on sorbet. We chose a kiwi sorbet laced with ribbons of strawberry. We ordered a small scoop, which came in a tiny bowl with two spoons. It was perfect to take out to the patio to enjoy on the warm, sunny day. It was refreshingly tart and plenty big for our second course.

One of the great things about Perth is that so many things you would want to see are located close together. In between the Fieldhouse and the North Folk Cafe is the Perth Pie Co., which had been on our to-visit list for at least a year. We opted for the smallest "pie" we could think of—a pecan butter tart—accompanied by a decaf latte with oat milk. Though pie isn't really our thing, we wanted to try the Perth Pie Co. in part because of its friendly and welcoming vibe.

Whenever we go to Perth, Mel and I like to visit the Perth & District Union Public Library. The staff are kind and helpful, and the building is comfortable. If I lived in Perth, I would make a habit of taking a book to read outside on the lawn overlooking the Tay Basin. On this visit, I perused a 1972 reprint of the Illustrated Atlas of Lanark County (1880) and Illustrated Atlas of Renfrew County (1881). It was interesting to turn to the page that showed the location of my mom's farm, just north of Ferguson Falls.

After traipsing about the town, including a walk through the always lovely Stewart Park, we decided to return to the Fieldhouse for one of its fabulous cruffins—a croissant baked in the shape of a muffin then filled with a sweet, tart filling, such as lemon curd and fresh raspberries. Alas, they had run out of cruffins. A morning bun—a croissant swirled with cinnamon sugar—was the suggested alternative. Our kind server warmed it up for us and brought it out to the patio with a butter knife, to facilitate our sharing it. The morning bun was as good as my memory of the cruffin, so we concluded our food tour with a sweet smile.