We Are Grateful

 Dear Friends,

As the weather cools, little by little, we are grateful for the little things that are still feeding us from the garden. Our fall garden is coming along nicely, and we hope to see some kale popping up in our hoop house, so we can have an overwintering crop of it. Gardening is always a surprise and a gamble.

This is the time of year when we are often surprised by visitors of various shapes and sizes, who are beautiful in their own right. We are always amazed by the variety of God's creation! 

Surely He enjoyed Himself when He created these~

 The mints that we grew in pots have thrived in the wet soil around our outdoor faucet, and we love to snack on them when playing or working in the yard. They also make a lovely addition to salads and pesto!

Rebecca has taken it on herself to rescue the stuffed bears that Kaffeen the dog likes to chew on (note the missing eye on the right)~

And we finally got around to finishing the quilt top that my grandmother started back in the 1950s! This was quite a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Only one more star top to finish, and then the two that I inherited can finally be real quilts.

My great-grandmother's old button box has been put to good use as we've been mending clothing and sewing on buttons for new gowns (photos forthcoming), and we're also working on sewing the patches of a future quilt that we found at our favorite thrift store.

Evangeline found a little time to model our latest fascinator, as well as trying on the bonnet that we're trying to finish up by tomorrow. Don't you just love her freckled face?

Last but not least, our Cousin Hettie has arrived safe and sound in Liverpool, 1911 at our By a Lady blog!

Thank you, dear friends, for following along with our family adventures as we live our simple life. The internet has been a great blessing, in being able to meet all sorts of kindred spirits, from all over the world. Bless you all!

Love,

Marqueta

Happy Autumn

Dear Friends,

Audrey has been busy with her camera again, photographing some of the simple pleasures of home.

A nice piece of willow, a pointy stick, plus a piece of string can mean lots of fun!

It almost makes up for all the bites and scratches of fall!

Our washer decided it needs a vacation, so we thought we'd wash laundry the old-fashioned way. I'm so grateful I found a nice wringer at the local antique store!

The herbs are almost ready to come inside for their winter vacation~

~And the collards are still going strong!

 We have been outside enjoying the cooler weather each and every day, and our daily smoothie routine has changed to tea, toast, and honey for a treat. We hope that you are having a lovely fall, as well!



Love,

Marqueta

A Case for Creamy Yellow

Dear Friends,

It seems that everything has a bit of yellow in it this time of year! Don't you love the long-horned beetle in the photograph above? Yellow and black, in a very snazzy pattern!

Kaffeen is sporting a bit of yellow eyeshadow~

~And Little Red Hen's legs are a comely pinky-yellow.

There are yellow mushrooms growing on logs in the yard~

(These oysters were especially tasty!)

We thought that we might as well join the crowd, and made ourselves a dress of creamy yellow. The fabric has been languishing in the fabric stash for a good ten years now, and since it is very heavy, fall is the perfect time for it!

Now to get that housework done. . . 

 

Love,

Marqueta

***********************************

"I'd like to add some beauty to life," said Anne dreamily. "I don't exactly want to make people know more.  . . though I know that is the noblest ambition. . . but I'd love to make them have a pleasanter time because of me. . . to have some little joy or happy thought that would never have existed if I hadn't been born."                 

~L.M. Montgomery, "Anne of Avonlea"

Meet Hettie

Dear Friends,

I'd like to introduce you to Hettie, a sweet girl of 16 who has graciously allowed me to share the letters that she wrote back in 1911 and 1912 (Actually, she is a product of my imagination, and this photo is from the antique store, but I still hope you will love her!). She is embarking on a tour of Europe, and writing all about it to her cousin Caroline, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Just follow this link to "By a Lady," and read her first postcard home.

Love,

Marqueta

Celebrating Learning, Rain, and Mr. Graham

Dear Friends,

In the pictures above, our cat Senora seems to be trying to keep as far away from those wet hens as possible! The hens may not have been excited, but we feel very blessed to have received three lovely, soaking rain showers which have greened everything up nicely. Even our little fall garden is starting to sprout, which always fills us with wonder and joy.

Our autumn clematis has been showing off the splendor of its highly-scented, fairy-like blossoms. It is quite entrancing in the evening, when the seem to glow with a light of their own!

We celebrated Mr. Graham's birthday recently, and you can see that he had a super time!

The older girls have been watching "Little House on the Prairie," and have opened their own LHOTP school, enacting different characters as the mood strikes. Sometimes Mrs. Oleson is the teacher, and sometimes Mrs. Garvey! I was even "forced" to bake apple pies for them, since we had bought some Jonathan apples, and Jonathan is Mr. Garvey's name. :)

 

Of course, all this rain has made some really fun puddles to play in, which feel so much better than crusty soil and dried-up leaves!

"Nobody else but the rose bush knows how good mud feels between the toes!"

September's cooler days always give us the urge to do some sewing, so we're getting out dress patterns and fabric that have been gathering dust, and pulling out piles of denim to be made into quilts. Now how in the world do we sew and get the housework done, too?

May you be blessed, dear friends, with health, joy, peace, and prosperity with the start of a new season.

Love,

Marqueta

It's Fair Time Again!

 Dear Friends,

Come right up and buy your tickets to the year's most looked-forward to event in Dollton (where the Small Dolls live)!

Come see the pet show and horse race~

Take time to read some lovely hand-crafted books~

 And perhaps buy yourself a new apron or two!

The quilts are so beautiful this year~

~And the baked goods look positively scrumptious!

 Queen Hepburn is the hostess of the fair this year~

~And has her hands full keeping everyone in line!

This year the fair runs for two days, so there's still plenty of action for the dolls! We're glad that you could come along, and hope that you had a wonderful time, too.

Love,

Marqueta