Buried Alive

This year the theme of our fair booth was "Daniel in the Lions' Den." I've started decorating the whole booth to convey a Bible story so that even if kids don't pay much attention to the crafts or coloring pages, they still get a bit of Bible just from walking past. It turned out pretty nice, though of course I ran out of time to finish all the details I had in mind. Oh, well, there's always next year!

We tried several new elements that I was really happy with. Not the most flashy of elements, but VERY helpful. One was having a small storage area. I brought over a set of shelves from the church and covered the front with brown paper. It was SO nice to have a little corner to tuck away supplies in. The other was a trash can, something that seems rather obvious but we've never managed to have one before. Next year we must remember to bring a mirror too, since all the kids want to look at their faces after they get them painted.

We had a great turn-out in the booth this year.Caleb said at one point he counted 17 kids in line at once to get their faces painted. A lot of the kids are becoming familiar faces since they come and see us every year. It's fun to watch them growing up, and it's great to be developing relationships with them. It's also special to be able to do all this for free just to make them happy. It's my prayer every year that God will use our booth to bless them in a way they will always remember.

The kids' booth.

Our craft table. I finally used up enough of those
crowns to justify buying a new craft next year!

The coloring and painting table.

Our stunning portcullis that Caleb helped me make.
After the fair it became a stunning tomato support in my garden. 

Fair time is a lot of fun, but it's also very tiring, especially when the days are hot. This year, Thursday was perfect---very comfortable and mild, but the weather made up for it the next two days. Sabbath was 96 degrees, and we were in a building that was even hotter. Everyone was melting until late in the afternoon when a thunderstorm rolled through and dumped a waterfall of rain onto the fair. After that, it was a little cooler, but I did have to redo a bit of my face painting since I was using watercolor paints this year.

By the end of a day of stewing in my own juices for hours, there wasn't a whole lot left in me to tackle other jobs when I got home. So it was that my garden was left unsupervised for 4 whole days. An unfortunate mistake, since it spent the entire time developing a plot to grow monster zombie vegetables and take over the world. I arrived just in time Sunday and stole all the prototypes. Sure, I saved the world, but who's going to save me from being buried alive in squashes?

But don't worry, folks, I have a plan. I am hoping to partner with some entrepreneurial spirited young people who have one thing I don't. OK, two things I don't. Time....and cuteness. I will provide the vegetables, they will provide man-hours to sell them, and we will split the money. I feel it's a win-win for both of us. Most importantly, it's a lose for the vegetables!

One of my pickling cucumbers.
Dill pickle, anyone?