The Doll's Fair~Happy Labor Day!

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for coming by Merry Hearts Cottage today! We hope you enjoyed a lovely weekend.

We returned yesterday from a little trip to Utah, where we attended the 40th anniversary celebration of Grandma and Grandpa Graham. It was a lovely family reunion, and we were thankful to have been able to see everyone there.

This morning, the backyard was busily transformed into a fairground, in preparation for the annual Doll's Fair. Although we must confess that it may not have been as fancy as Tasha Tudor's, it was definitely creative!

Benjamin Franklin did quite well as the ticket man.

One of the main attractions was a siamese tiger!

There were horse races~

A dog show~

A vegetable display~

Many exhilarating rides~

And giant chickens? ?

There were also wholesome refreshments for all~

And many hand-crafted items for sale.

In short, it was a day to remember, and much nicer than the fair going on down the road, with all the crowds and loud noises!

May all of you be held in the hollow of the Lord's hand throughout the upcoming week.

Love,

Marqueta

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These Simple Things

These things I delight: The shape of a tree,
A wide-open gate for much company,
A hackberry fire, snow in the air,
Books at my hand, and a deep, soft chair.
I am fond of bird music and innocent fun,
The prayer of the earth when a shower is done,
The laugh of a child and the rhythm of tear,
The sigh of a bud when the blossom appears.
I love the sharp fragrance of a balsam and pine,
The scent of warm bread, and the wild grapevine.
The breath of new snow, spring water that flows
Are high in perfumes with the scent of the rose.
I've a zest for the eating of honeybee meal,
The tang of the cress with crab apple peel,
For the flesh of red haw and sassafras rind
To quicken the palate and kindle the mind.
I delight in rough towels and take special pride
In sheets that are hung in the dew and sun-dried.
I love a flat pillow, wind in my hair,
And a quilt that is woven with silence and prayer.

~Jennie Harris Oliver

Sunshine and Shadows

Dear Friends,

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Mr. Graham's birthday with his family, and going to his "A Little Princess" play at the local theatre. We are always left feeling a little sad whenever company goes; like after all the presents have been opened on Christmas! We spent the rest of the day trying to get back to "normal" and getting our homeschool routine down.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of our little Victoria's birth and death. She lived only two hours, but will forever be in our hearts. We wanted to go to a local lake to have a picnic in her honor, but our van wouldn't start, so we consoled ourselves by having a birthday tea with the Tall Dolls. The tea party was quite a lovely affair, even including cake and ice cream! Our doll Victoria, of course, blew out the candle, and we sang to her in leiu of the real Victoria.




Later the dolls played tag outside, but paused long enough to have their portraits taken with their mothers by the biggest sunflower we have.






Our orphaned kittens, Liberty and Justice, have been growing like weeds, and will be nine weeks old tomorrow.

According to the cat thermometer, it's hot on the couch!

Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

Of course, Frankie, yours are beautiful, too!

We feel thoroughly blessed to have passed through the learning experiences that the Lord has seen fit to give us. We now know what it is to lay a child to her eternal rest, and we know that although we always will miss that child, there is a spirit of peace and comfort that accompanies our greatest losses. There is no need to fear, for the Savior is near. We only pray that we will be worthy to someday be with all of our loved ones again in heaven, and never have to part.

May the Lord bless you and yours today. Please take some time to let your loved ones know how much you truly love them, for life is a fleeting and fragile thing.

Love,

Marqueta

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“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.” ~Anonymous

Happy Tasha Tudor Day!

Dear Friends,

Welcome today to our part of the world. We thank you for coming by, and hope you've had a lovely week, as well! Ours was spent busily preparing for Grandma and Grandpa Graham. They are coming to visit us and see Mr. Graham perform as Captain Crewe in "A Little Princess" at the local theatre.

We wanted to share a little of our humble celebration for our dearly departed Tasha Tudor, whose birthday is today. Although she is no longer on the earth, we feel that her spirit is just as strong as ever.

AnnaMarie made this clay figure of Tasha and her goat and dove~Too bad the camera wouldn't cooperate and made blurry pictures!

AnnaMarie also made a fruit ice for us this morning (And decorated it with mint and flowers) out of frozen apples and bananas, with a little organic lemon flavoring for just the right touch of citrus.

Too bad the angel isn't edible! ;)

Later in the day, we had a tea at a local park~

Perhaps Mr. Graham is going over his lines in his head?

We used our forget-me-not teapot to remember little Victoria, who was born and died last year.

And watched "Take Joy" and "Take Peace", the video biographies of Tasha Tudor.

All in a all, it was a pleasant way of remembering the lady who has been such an influence in our lives. May her memory be always kept alive.



Love,

Marqueta

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"The past wasn't as romantic as people seem to think. There were many hardships, especially for women. They usually had large families of six or eight; they were pregnant most of the time or nursing when they weren't. Think of all the spinning and knitting and sewing and cooking and woodgathering. It was constant. No wonder that saying, 'Man may work from sun to sun, But woman's work is never done.' I don't say they were unhappy, but I think they were tired most of them." ~Tasha Tudor (Somehow this quote seemed appropriate after our week of deep cleaning!)

To Everything There is a Season. . . .

. . .And this is the season to clean the house!

Dear Friends,

We won't be on the computer much this week, as our in-laws are coming to stay this weekend. After having lived out of doors most of the summer, we are looking around and seeing that we have our work cut out for us! My, how things get out of hand when one's back is turned!


We are extremely grateful that we've had a nice, soaking rain over the weekend, so we do not have to worry about our green babies perishing in the heat of the sun while we tidy up inside. Instead of stressing ourselves out over the amount of work to be done, we are choosing to be glad that Grandma and Grandpa are giving us a chance to really bless our home ;) . All the same, we will be taking lots of nettle seeds, ashwaganda, and milky oat tincture to help us deal with the stress!


Clarice at Storybook Woods reminds us that this Friday is Tasha Tudor Day~try to leave an hour or so in your schedule to have a special tea to honor her birthday. We'll be gathering her books from the four quarters of the cottage and arranging a little vignette in the parlor, which we hope will be clean by then!


We will look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs when we can. You bring great joy to our lives.

Love and blessings to you,


Marqueta

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"While the son must be taught some business in life, there is one business which should always be taught a daughter-the business of housekeeping, in all its departments." ~Mrs. Julia McNair Wright, "The Complete Home"

Nature Notes~ Edith Wharton Need Not Fear...

That I will outdo her own works in scope or execution!

Dear Friends,

What a beautiful, sunny day we're having here. It's supposed to get up to 90 degrees, which will make the squash and tomatoes much happier than the cool 68 degrees we had the other day.


The girls and I have been trying to keep up with our nature journals, before the warm weather ends and we have to do it more creatively! Everyone was assigned the task of gathering five different trees around the yard, and to make imprints of the leaves on paper.

You'd think it was a crime scene, if you didn't know better!

They also were to press another set of the same leaves for comparison, and these two sets of leaves will reside next to each other in the girls' journals.

Soon it will be time to go on leaf walks, collecting the brilliant colors of autumn to iron between waxed paper and make into other crafts. Perhaps we'll obtain some beeswax from our local honey vendor and dip the leaves this year.

It would be quite a task to dip burdock leaves!

May you have a very merry day, dear friends, and may you enjoy these last precious weeks of summer.

Love,

Marqueta

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"If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play! If she would have the courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day, out in the fields, or with a favourite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures, or in bed, without the children, life would go on far more happily for both children and parents. The mother would then be able to hold herself in "wise passiveness’ and would not fret her children by continual interference even of hand or eye - she would let them be." Charlotte Mason