The Birth of Labor Day

The movement for a national Labor Day had been growing for some time. 

In September 1892, union workers in New York City took an unpaid day off and marched around Union Square in support of the holiday. But now, protests against President Cleveland's harsh methods made the appeasement of the nation's workers a top political priority. In the immediate wake of the strike, legislation was rushed unanimously through both houses of Congress, and the bill arrived on President Cleveland's desk just six days after his troops had broken the Pullman strike.

1894 was an election year. President Cleveland seized the chance at conciliation, and Labor Day was born. He was not reelected.

In 1898, Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor, called it "the day for which the toilers in past centuries looked forward, when their rights and their wrongs would be discussed...that the workers of our day may not only lay down their tools of labor for a holiday, but upon which they may touch shoulders in marching phalanx and feel the stronger for it."

Read the entire article here.

I'm grateful that work is not what it used to be!

Enjoy your weekend, y'all!

Thrifty Thursday-Buying Used

I've never been much of a shopper.
Clothes, especially, just aren't that important to me.
I'd much rather spend any "mad money"on gardening tools or plants.


We are debt-free and plan to stay that way.
We decided to pay cash for as much as possible,
and use credit only when ordering things online.
(Some of Lil' Guy's food is ordered online 
to get a better deal on allergy-free items.)
When we do use credit, 
we pay off the balance each and every month.
One way we stay on budget is by thrifting.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I started thrift shopping for clothes for myself.
Now I can't see doing it any other way.

Take these scrub pants.

They are the perfect thing for someone with my "nighttime challenges".

Being over 50, I sometimes wake up too hot 

and have to throw the covers off.

These keep me covered, 

but are light enough to be comfortable.

The thrift store where I bought these items

has a great selection of clothes,

especially women's things.

Most t-shirts like this are under $4.

This shirt is tailored for smaller folks like myself.

It looks like it's never been worn.

A few dollars for a piece that I can wear with shorts, jeans 

or over a skirt is a good deal in my book.

I found this scarf for Sister.

She often needs a little something to cover her neck

to protect her during the colder winter months in NC.

These felt pieces were only a quarter each.
Felt can be used in so many projects.
I'm thinking of using them to line drawers.
Love the chocolate espresso color.



Finding bargains is one way to stay on budget.
The fun part is never knowing what treasures lie in store.

Have you been thrifting lately?

Wordless Wednesday

These two bloggers are posting today in our series.

Make sure you stop by!

Mary@Homegrown on the Hill

Tammy@Our Neck of the Woods

Tuesday Tidings

We've gotten tons of rain in the last two months.
In fact, Big K and I were saying
that we've gotten more rain in the last few months
than in all the eight years we've lived in Central Florida.

 

These peanut plants came up on their own this year.
Last year was the first time we had attempted to grow them.





With the leaves looking a bit brown,
I decided to see what we had going on under the ground!

Here's what I found.




Several shoots were popping up underneath the soil.




Peanuts for years to come...




They hang onto the roots and you just pull them off.




Considering that we didn't even plant these,
I'm thrilled that we got anything at all.
After letting them dry out,
we'll roast them and make homemade nut butter.
I may throw some of the delicious concoction into my next smoothie!

Here are a few more lovelies in the garden this week:

sweet potato vine

crape myrtle buds

basil

thryallis

We may get some green beans yet!

morning glory blooms awakening

The zinnias in the garden are attracting so many butterflies.

What a blessing it is each day to look out and see them

fluttering about in carefree fashion.

The passionflower vine has been a great addition to the garden.

It is the host plant for these wonderful gulf fritillaries.

The zinnia is one of the nectar plants that keeps them fed.

They seem to be most active in the mid afternoon.

Usually I am too slow to catch them at work,

but they were all busy and didn't even notice I was there snapping away.

 Yesterday, during my early morning check on the garden,

I spied this critter forming its chrysalis.

A few short hours later,

it was nestled comfortably inside.

Looking forward to seeing this gulf fritillary

spread its wings.

We love our natural pest control company.

Embrace this Tuesday and see what happens!

backyard farming connection hop

Farm School Summer Series Week Ten

Can you  believe August is almost over?
We've still got at least another month's worth of heat and humidity,
but planning (and planting) of the fall garden is underway.

Thankfully, overcast skies made our work a bit easier.

Today we focused on tomatoes.
These seedlings started last month
were going to make their way into the main garden.

These are the Celebrity variety.





This is what they look like when they're all grown up.

One row had been completed, 
so we were on to filling the rest of the pots with these magical treats.

We posted Lynn's method for planting these here.

After watering in these new transplants,
we moved onto the next tomato task.

These cherry tomato plants were looking mighty tired.
They just didn't perform as well as expected this year.

We tore them out and cleaned up the pots to ready them for

a couple of Roma starts.
These were first attempted earlier this year,
but we didn't have much success with them.
Hopefully, the timing of planting will improve our chances.

We gingerly place them in their growing space
with a loving thought for their health.

Much of the okra is still doing well.
It's one of the few crops that will bounce back in the summer.

Faye showed me this cool retractable rake.
It can be used in narrow spaces,

or fanned out for larger areas.
Made of aluminum, there's no need to worry about rust or corrosion.
Pretty neat gadget, huh?

In the next few weeks,
we hope to transplant more seedlings
and get a jump on the fall growing season.

Enjoy the slower time of year  
to reflect on future gardening goals.


"Rest is not idleness, 
and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day 
listening to the murmur of water, 
or watching the clouds float across the sky, 
is hardly a waste of time."
-Sir John Lubbock

The Farm School posts begin here.