etsy favorites... (going to the fair)

1) love is in the air, by irenesuchocki

2) reversible cotton bonnet, by anabelfuzz

3) americauna chick, by aliciaunderhill 

4) pink lemonade fine art print, by averystroy

5) toffee covered apples, by skippingstones

6) 1939 world's fair folding cane seat, from cathodeblue

i'm dreaming of the state fair these days. one of my favorite things to do in new york, was to drive up north and go to the fair with with our family. the rides, the food, and especially the animals... pure love. i'm a sucker for the fair... even though it was always a hundred degrees outside. we will have to find the local fair here... from what i can tell there are atleast two... one in october and one in the spring. the fair times two! and it it probably won't be a hundred degrees by then. i can't wait!

untill then we are enjoying the last days of summer. all the kids have already gone back to school here... though i can't really tell the difference because they were all in summer activities anyway before that. we are reading beezus and ramona (again, for sid this time). it is kind of sad to me that it seems like such a foreign world to my children... traveling to the library and the park all by yourself! they are in awe. the freedom from constant adult supervision seems such a new concept to them. this was so much the world of my childhood though. the books were so familiar when i read them as a child myself. i thought this world would exist a little more down here in georgia, but honestly i think parents are more fearful here than in nyc! i actually had a woman across the street lecture me because my four year old was crossing the street by herself... while i was in the yard working! i miss streets full of kids playing freely... i know they exist some places still (i have seen them). maybe i just need to find one for ourselves. anyway, has anyone seen the new movie? is it worth a visit? i hold these books so dear i am always skeptical?

we are seeing subtle changes in our own yard... the shifting from summer to fall. our garden is being turned over to new "crops" (while i am trying desperately to keep the eggplants still growing from hungry squirrels.. any tips? i put a bunch of my son's colorful plastic snakes all around it!). also, our yard has become a showcase for a whole assortment of new birds! i am enjoying watching them at the window feeders immensely... and have my little bird book out to identify them.

someone else is enjoying watching the birds too (can you tell she is hiding?)... 

bird watching is allowed only with the windows closed after they managed to catch a bird inside the house! oh, it was so traumatic... i came running in to a bird flapping and calling frantically all over my bedroom and the cat sitting in shock in the corner with a mouthful of feathers!! we managed to get the bird inside a pet carrier and amazingly she was fine and was able to eventually fly away. i never thought this would be a problem with indoor cats!

(oh man, after looking at this again i am seeing how dirty my windows are!)