The weather the past week right into the weekend has been awesome for September. It was so warm yesterday even the locust were humming! We have had mostly sun and low 20's. Today it is more like fall, it isn't up to 10 yet and will only climb to the low teens but it's still sunny so that's OK.

Saturday was so busy everywhere in our area as it was our 10th annual 70 mile yard sale. I didn't have the fun of driving around scouting out the sales. I worked all day at the winery as did my daughter and a couple others. It was crazy with customers, there were a few yard sale items for sale outside but even though there were no special prices in the shop, all three of us were constantly busy! We poured wine samples, washed glasses, sold wine, filled shelves until we closed at 5pm. Paul was equally busy at the church. We had a big yard sale from donations. The proceeds went to our new church building fund. Paul BBQ'd all day at the church and the funds from this went for general expenses. Both made very good.

Instead of having my own sale, sitting bored crazy all day, I still feel freedom after all the donations of miscellanous stuff and some larger pieces of furniture were released from our house to give to the church. One chair that we gave, a good lazyboy (just needed some cleaning from stains) didn't sell. It was put out to the road and a "FREE" sign was put on it. As of noon yesterday it still hadn't gone. But the church is on a busy intersection on main street. I hope someone claimed it for their own.

Well this week we will be getting ready for the first day of Sunday School this year. We are renting out our basement as a kindergarden/daycare so I've been rearranging in my head the choir room and back entry for three of the classes. The pre-schooler will move down in the basement and will be able to use the daycare for their classes but it was an awkward area to set up the older classes. I was quite upset before church yesterday as an old organ was not sold at the sale and still occupied a large chunk of the entry room which is small. I took off down to the kitchen to have a cry. Paul came down and said maybe I should quit Sunday School because I let it upset me so when things don't go right. That just mad things worse. On top of that we are short a teacher/teachers for one of the classes. I teach the gr.3 &4 normally but would teach the grade 5+ class if someone would speak up and teach grade 3/4. If I shifted grades I would probably have only grade 5 'cause only 2-3 went last year and I don't think they are interested to continue. The grade 5 are all but two of my last year class. Last year some of the girls, Taylor and the twins, Kara & Kasey wanted me to teach them this year and "forever". So they would be thrilled. Anyway no one has spoken up yet to teach. I may end up teaching all the kids I had last year plus the new one that moved up from 2 to 3! I hope not...I may really be stressed then..even though I'd love them all. Oh yeah...from those of you who watched BB 8 this year, when I was crying before and a bit during church I said to myself "I'm just another Amber". Haha

Well I guess I better head out the door to work...got to be there in 20 min....don't have time to spell check or add graphics to day!

Have a great week!

Well I am proud to accept this award from one of my first and dearest blogging friends, Curtis. I would love to award this to all my blogging friends who make my day with their kind comments and growing friendship. But as the rule applies I am just to pass this award to only five. I have thought on this the last couple days and have had great difficulty picking only five but since I always follow the rules here they are:

Bobbie

Well that’s five but I could keep going as I have acquired so many friends and am constantly adding to my list of blogs to read/comment on. All of you have become very dear to me. Most of you (except the very newest) are included on the left column under "Blogging Friends: You lead what you think may be regular lives but all are fascinating to me as your local customs, communities, hobbies, and interests, are so varied. Some are the same as mine others so different that I am spell bound. All are unique and I love you all even if you aren’t listed here.

Well not much going on different around here. Just work, a bit of housework, a bit of deadheading the garden, sneaking to the beach for more seaglass when the tide is low.

Who likes yard sales? We have in this area every September our annual "70 mile yard sale". I'll be working that day but our church is setting up shop to raise money for our new church. Even if I wasn't working I'd rather drive around all day to the yard sales that will be everywhere than sitting in the yard after days sorting and pricing stuff. But I love to get rid of clutter! So we are going to donate a bunch of stuff. Like a set of Britannica from when my 28 year old was small and the rest will be mostly furniture we just don't use or have room for anymore.

Megan moved out last weekend. She still has some stuff to come get but any of the stuff she doesn't want will go to the sale. When work is less busy I'm going to clean her basement room and get my stuff that has been sitting in the way in the basement for a couple years. Most of that is my genealogy papers and stuff which I haven't looked at since it was moved out. Since I bought a "bring your own bed" I'll no longer need the space greedy single roll-away cot. I have a spare arm chair in the living room and a lazy-boy in my "studio" room. I also have my old standard CCM bike my kids embarrassed me enough I won't ride it anymore (I got it when I was twelve!). I felt at ease with the breaks on the pedals and could never be patient enough to learn to break with the handles on the newer bikes. So off it will go to. Also a TV stand and an enormous  lamp we got from my mother-in-law that I never used and never will!

My last entry I spoke about the smell of fall in the air. Since then as I've been walking around the yard in the evening I became aware of a sound of fall....Crickets. Maybe they are heard also in the summer but aren't as noticeable as they are in the fall. It's really a nice peaceful sound in the evening since most of the summer resident birds are gone along with their songs. 

But they can be annoying elsewhere. Compare them with water sounds like... the pleasant sounds of a rushing water fall, the gentle slap of waves on the beach. But just try to relax or sleep at night with a constant "drip..drip..drip" of a leaky faucet! Will it's the same with the crickets the chorus of a number of crickets in the fields on a cool fall evening is relaxing to the soul after a busy day.  What isn't nice is when one...and it need only be one...that slips in the house. This need only be in the basement but may be under a fridge or some far reaching corner of our living space. I believe that fixing a leaky faucet can often be much easier than trying to find and corner the culprit! I'm thankful...so far...that they've kept where they should be...outside.

Here are some interesting facts I found about Crickets:

• Crickets are known for their chirp (which only male crickets can do;...
• Crickets chirp at different rates depending on their species and the temperature of their environment. Most species chirp at higher rates the higher the temperature is (approx. 60 chirps a minute at 13°C in one common species; each species has its own rate). The relationship between temperature and the rate of chirping is known as Dolbear's Law. In fact, according to this law, it is possible to calculate the temperature in Fahrenheit by adding 40 to the number of chirps produced in 15 seconds by the snowy tree cricket common in the United States.
• There are two types of cricket songs: a calling song and a courting song. The calling song attracts females and repels other males, and is fairly loud. The courting song is used when a female cricket is near, and is a very quiet song
• To hear the mating call of other crickets, a cricket has ears located on its knees, just below the joint of the front legs.