Spring shall plant and Autumn garner until the end of time. ~Robert Browning

Happy Labor Day everyone! I am acting upon the meaning of the day. Lots of work and no play. Only fitting, right?!?!

The sun is finally poking out of the clouds and the sky is a muted blue. I had forgotten what it looked like! For the past two weeks, the weather has been unsuitable for hanging clothes out. For three days straight it rained without stopping. The rest of the time it threatened, or sprinkled. At first it was a nice BREAK from laundry-but THEN, THEN it became a burden. I found out that our dryer's heating element needs to be repaired-and so my ONLY option for washing clothes was to hang (which I ONLY do in the summer anyway.)

If it hadn't been for the fact that I have been bringing out cooler weather clothes, we wouldn't have had clothes on our backs!!! Today is the first (and last-at least for this week) day that the sun has shone and rain didn't fall. I have been taking every opportunity to catch up as much as I can. Especially with the added laundry from overnight guests...towels, sheets, etc. Friday we are expecting MORE company and if I didn't get the towels and sheets washed TODAY-it would be b.y.o.s (bring your own sheets) So far, I have hung three loads and I am HOPING for a fourth to be dried tonight. If I can hang the fifth out at dusk, it might be dry enough by tomorrow morning to take down before the rains comes again. It is SO nice to see the sunshine and feel SOME warmth!
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The birthday party was a complete success and Little Miss has been dressed as a princess from morning til night since she opened up her 'wedding dress' at the party. I was SO glad I got that for her. We also got her a castle tent which she loves too. In fact, when I woke up this morning, I heard her footsteps coming UP the stairs-when she woke up she headed straight to her castle. I may even let her start taking her naps in it. I am not sure yet. As with anything though, there is much to do in the way of cleanup. Ten children don't exactly keep things clean, ya know? It will be a while before things are back in order. It is a good thing though, because everytime I have to 'deep clean'-it requires more than my usual 'tidying'. I actually have to DUST and VACUUM! It's a good motivation-which I need these days.
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The lady who shared the monarch chyrsalise with us saw how excited we were about the butterfly and so brought us two monarch caterpillars to take home with us this week. So-we can see the WHOLE process! Hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday we will be able to go to the library to get a book about Monarch butterflies. I hope you didn't tire of the chrysalise photo's because there will be MORE coming soon-of caterpillars too!
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"The earth has rolled around again and harvest time is here, the glory of the seasons and the crown of all the year." ~Carolyn Wells

Our garden is now yielding a PLENTIFUL harvest which requires the next few days to be canning days. More zucchini relish, some cinnamon pickles, and something with tomatoes. I may try to make spagetti sauce or something from cherry tomatoes. It would require a lot but I HAVE a lot. Too many too eat. I also have a watermelon here that I would love to make those cinnamon watermelon rind pickles-IF anyone is willing to share a recipe!
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Lastly:
Some FUN projects in the works!!

When my parents came this past weekend for Corynn's birthday-they brought along that children's hutch that I purchased at a yard sale for $3.00. THAT is going to be a FUN project and one that I CAN'T wait to start! I will be taking a picture of that soon too!

I bought a TREMENDOUS amount of fabric at JoAnn Fabrics the other day. They had large remnants for 90% off!! I got about six different fabrics at between 2-4 yards EACH for just cents each! They also had a whole selection of quilters fabrics for $1.00 a yard. I bought several different patterns, each with several yards. I will be making some winter dresses (and matching bonnets thanks to Kim!) for Corynn in the next few weeks. I also got some solid fabrics to make myself a shirt or two. LOTS of fun sewing to do! Hopefully I can get this dryer fixed so the pre-shrinking can get done! :-)

WELL~that is what is on my plate here today and in the coming weeks. Fun stuff, to be sure!