~Disappointed and a Giveaway~

We have had gorgeous weather here for over a week but unfortunately Sunday it rained all day.  The Heritage Festival was an outdoor event.  It was located in one of my favorite local towns.  I thought that it would be wonderful to be there and participate in such a fun event.  But it was an outdoor festival and rain or shine.  Well, the rain came and of the 28 vendors who were supposed to line the busy main street of this town, only 4 came.  I was there bright and early, the first one, I set up with high hopes that it would clear out and maybe turn into a good day but the rain carried on all day.   My greatest disappointment came when I realized that there was space in the building where the fundraising for the Heritage Society was taking place.  No one checked on the vendors throughout the whole day.  The only sign to draw attention was right outside the building and we were located about 1/4 of a mile away on the street.  Those in charge didn't even realize until late in the morning that only 4 vendors were there.  We were not even offered a cup of coffee throughout this miserable day.  It would have been wonderful if they had invited us into the building, since there was so few of us and it could easily accommodate us.  I felt that in the end they were only concerned with receiving the amount that we paid for our space but not with the comfort or success of the vendors.  Needless to say, no one stopped at the booths and I did not have any sales. 

I did take the time to visit Brown and Hopkins Country Store.  It is such a fun place to visit and I always stop in when I am in the area.  I was also able to enjoy some of the many antique shops that line the streets of the town.  At least that made the day a bit more fun and brought me in out of the rain for a bit.

Here are some of the extra things I made for the show.

Fun Fall Signs

Boo banner~sorry it's so dark.

Fall banner

Market bag

Market tote

I have about 6 different market bags completed and all those scarves, now I need to figure out what to do with it all.  I will be keeping the boo banner and one of the fall banners because I love them. But I do have an extra Fall Banner that I would like to GIVEAWAY!!  

Rules:

If you would like a chance to win the banner leave me a comment. 

 If you would like me to put your name into the giveaway another time post about the giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post.  

The giveaway ends on Sunday, October 4th.  

If you are interested in purchasing one of the scarves or market bags I've posted you can email me.  There is a link to my email in my profile.  Thank you!!

~Getting Ready for the Fair~

The crochet hook has been flying lately.  The Heritage Days Festival will be on Sunday and I have been working and working to fill my space.  Thought I would share some of the things that I have made.

This is my favorite scarf.  It is called Trail of blossoms.  Love it!!

I love the blues in this ribbon scarf.  Dd wouldn't change her shirt to take the picture.  Hard to find a good model. LOL

Same yarn but a little different.  It is thinner and the knotted ends give it a different appeal.

Market bag

Crocheted Purse

It is completely lined and has a couple of pockets.

Bamboo handle purse 

This bag is also lined with pockets made from a toile fabric.

So far, this is what is completely finished.  I will continue to work until the day is here.  I hope to get at least 6 market bags completed.  I am also working on some dishcloths.  I have another bag that I  hope to finish today but I'm not sure if it will be lined.  

I'm praying that there will be a good crowd of people and the rain will hold off.  This is an outdoors fair.  I do have a tent which will help.

~Swap Goodness~

sI have participated in a few swap lately and wanted to share with you all the treasures I've received and some I've sent. 

I made a dozen or so of these pot holders for a  pot holder swap.

These are the wonderful pot holders I received.  Sorry the picture is sideways.  This happens to me occasionally when I upload pictures here. I have no idea why.  They are fine on the computer.

I received this great tote bag for a tote bag swap.  It is completely lined and I love the embroidery.  Again, sorry it is sideways.

I participated in the yarn and Christmas ornament swap that CT was having.  I received this great package from Dawn.  Her blog is filled with all her gorgeous crochet projects.   The yarn is from Debbie Bliss's Eco Fair Trade collection.  The crocheted angel ornament is great.  She also made a wonderful ornament out of vintage buttons.

This card she made is so cute.  In the package she also included  some Christmas napkins and coasters.  Isn't it all wonderful.

I forgot to take pictures of the yarn and ornaments I sent out.  CT posted some here.  I get so excited to send out the packages on time that I forget to take pictures before it is all wrapped up.

~School, Competition and Sad New~

Last week was a total blur.  I blinked my eyes and it has passed.  We received some very sad news on Monday.  My sister in law's  (brother's wife) nephew passed away.  He was only eight years old, he was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy when he was a baby.  It was very sad for the family, despite his disease he was not sick at this present time.  He is in a better place but those he left behind miss him terribly.

Back to school for everyone last week.  I spent time watching my nephews while my sister took some classes she needed.  We were back into our full schedule with schooling.  Much of our time was spent working on memorization for our local Bible Bee competition.  Saturday, we went for the testing and it was very intense.  I was proud of the kids and how hard they worked.  There was so much to do and they never complained.  The testing took all day on Saturday.  There were long periods of waiting for their turn to answer oral questions and recite.  The kids had to sit on their own without talking and the parents were not allowed to speak to theme either.  All of the kids there behaved so well for those long periods and waited quietly for their turn.  At this time, we are waiting to see the results of the test.  The top three hundred students will go onto Washington, D.C. for nationals in November.  

On Sunday, September 27th I will have a booth at a local Heritage Days Festival in my favorite local town.  My booth will consist mainly of crochet items.  I have completed some scarves.  I have some bags started.  I hope to make some pumpkins and other fall items, crocheted dishcloths and facecloths, and plenty of market bags in varied sizes and different yarns.

I wanted to share some of the scarves that are ready to go so far:

This scarf is made from the absolute softest yarn.

It has great texture to it and I love the tans and browns running through the black yarn.

Mohair madness~great colors and the stitch came out beautifully with this yarn.

Simple and beautiful with the color tones.

Lovely mohair with gorgeous fall colors and just a touch of gold running through.

I had to buy this yarn for it's fun Halloween colors.  It is such a fun yarn.

Doesn't it say Halloween every time you look at it?  That is what I kept thinking and enjoyed creating with it.

~How Does Your Garden Grow~

This has been a very busy week.  We have started back to school with our full time schedule.  Getting back into the routine after a long break takes some time.  I don't think we have it all figured out yet but we're working on it.  My dd is a junior this year and there is alot of work on her plate.  My ds is in 7th grade.  I can hardly believe how big they are.  It seems like just yesterday they were so little and so dependent on me.  

The garden has been trying to survive this crazy summer.  We went from a very cool, cloudy and rainy June and half of July to a almost three solid weeks in August of 90 degree temperatures with high humidity.  I don't think the plants knew what was happening.  Overall, it has survived pretty well.  I have learned quite a bit to help me grow a better and bigger garden next year.  I started everything in the garden with heirloom seeds from Seed Savers Exchange.

This is how the garden looks now.  

This is my gourd plant.  It has gotten a late start because of the crazy weather but I hope it will do well.

My first little gourd.  I have three or four of these growing.

This is a rose of sharon our dear neighbor gave us.  She didn't think it would bloom until next year but it is blooming beautifully.  I am so thrilled.  Rose of Sharon is one of my favorites.  She has a gorgeous one in her own garden.  What a sweet, sweet neighbor she is.

Gorgeous bloom!

I did lose my squash plants to squash vine borers.  At first I didn't have any idea what was wrong.  I did some research on the internet and once I came across this article I knew exactly what had happened.  Next year, I will know ahead of time and will take measures to prevent it from happening.  The garden is an ongoing learning process and I am enjoying it so much.