Wordless Wednesday

Photos from Young's Jersey Dairy

Sponsor Love: Knot-Cha-Chá!™

I have my first sponsor and I am so excited to introduce you to her!

I've been reading Sharon's blog, Knot-Cha-Chá!™ for a long time and it has become one of the required stops on my blog list. Sharon is "a designer/maker, teacher, writer and spinner of yarns with a love of color, texture, and simplicity of line." Her articles on spinning (and the beautiful results) have made me want to learn to spin and her featured knitting is beautiful. In addition, she writes fun articles about her life and adventures and includes tutorials for some really beautiful projects (I Love the Understatement Necklace).

Her Etsy store, Knot-Cha-Chá!™ is full of gorgeous knitted and crocheted confections like this merino wool scarf (that I have been coveting) in a lacy ribbed pattern. Buy it for me, won't you?

She also makes hats, bracelets, wraps, cowls, and many other delicious handmade accessories. Be sure to check them out!

Thanks, Sharon, for being my first sponsor!

More information on sponsorship opportunities can be found here or by clicking the "Become a Sponsor" button in the left sidebar.

Happy Rainbow Electric Daisy Redux

Win $40 on CSN here.

Well, kids, I broke my right baby toe. At least this is what I choose to believe, as it is completely bruised, my entire foot hurts, I can't move it without extreme pain, and despite x-rays that looked okay, the Urgent Care doctor looked at the x-rays four times (in and out of the room) to convince himself that the x-rays were okay. So I am choosing to believe that I have a hairline fracture. All I know is that my toe HURTS!

I was given some pain meds, not really all that strong, but they do take me to a happier place - a sort of psychadelic joy land where my toe no longer hurts and I can skip through the fields with abandon.



*****

In other news, Rachel W. of Diary of a Dreamer has given me this amazing award! I feel so blessed that so many readers enjoy my blog. It is amazingly flattering, to say the least.



With this award, I'm supposed to share my blog's philosophy. I think that is summed up best with this post which I recently published.

And I nominate:

...my leigh ashley
English Muse
Everyday Adentures of a Curious Gal
The 60/40
Irresistible Icing
Housewife Eclectic
SPLITTERGEWITTER

Groovy Little Town

I went to Yellow Springs, OH today with eldest daughter, William, and eldest daughter's friend Lydia. Yellow Springs is possibly the grooviest town in Ohio with lots of import shops, organic cafes, galleries, and just that artsy, hippie vibe that goes with a tiny college town (the Extremely Liberal Antioch College is located here.

Traveling companions Kendall, Lydia, and Will

We had a great day. We started at the Sunrise Cafe where all food is organic, made from scratch (but they do, thank the lord, have Diet Coke), and yummy. I had a portobello, spinach, and fontina cheese omelet with more portobello mushrooms than I have ever seen in one place in my life.

They have two really cool walls of cups at the entrance.

Then we shopped import shops and just walked around the town. And it's such a Cool town. I've wanted to live there for Years.





You know those tress that you see on the internet that people have crocheted and decorated? They are EVERYWHERE in Yellow Springs.





The town is so colorful. This bench is clay over concrete.




Flowers are everywhere. This garden is in front of an artist's co-op store.

The Village of Yellow Springs is a wonderful place to visit if you happen to be near Dayton or Xenia, OH. If you have the chance to visit, don't pass it up. You'll be blissed out that you went!

Wise Prince

Enter for a $40 CSN Gift Card! Drawing Thursday! Click HERE.

All grown-ups were children first. (But few remember it).

I am very fond of sunsets. Come, let us go look at a sunset...

"Where are the people?" resumed the little prince at last. "It's a little lonely in the desert..."
"It is lonely when you're among people, too," said the snake.

Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Only children know what they are looking for.

source

"What makes the desert beautiful," says the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well."

"That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you're truly a wise man."



"People where you live," the little prince said, "grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for..."
"They don't find it," I answered.
"And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water..."
"Of course," I answered.
And the little prince added, "But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart."

All photos We Heart It

Quizamajigger

My buddy Roxanne of the GREAT blog The 60/40 tagged me to take this quiz, so I will!

From We Heart It

1. What's your staple, go to meal?
Pizza or Stromboli. It's so easy to make! I also make chicken and noodles a lot because the kids love it and it's easy as pie (actually, it's easier than pie).


2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want a long lost rich uncle to die and leave me a HUGE inheritance because at this point I don't have a clue! Although I wouldn't mind writing.


3. What book are you reading at the moment?
I'm not really committed to one book right now. I sort of move from one book to the next depending on my mood. Gertrude Stein's Paris, France is at my bedside, Friendship for Grown-Ups by Lisa Welchel makes it's way all over the house, and a Women of Faith compilation the name of which escapes me now is in the car.


4. How do you relax?
I like to knit, crochet, read, and sleep. And I like to get away for some me time. I usually go to Barnes and Noble and read magazines.


5. What color are the interior walls of your home?
Most are pale yellow, but Will's room is a Colonial blue and the inside of my closet is red (because I wasn't brave enough to use it anywhere else).

6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Jeni's ice cream! I can't say or blog enough about it! Their Dark Chocolate is so amazing and the Salty Caramel is like heaven (salty heaven, but you know what I mean). After Jeni's, all other ice cream pales in comparison.


7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?
Okay. So when I was a kid, I'd put myself to bed at 8. In reality, I need about 10 hours of sleep, but I usually go to bed around 2 or 3 and wake whenever Will does, which could be anywhere from 9 to 11.


8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?
Way too much time. I read TONS and TONS of blogs. Usually I have around 300 posts to page through; some days I can do it in an hour, most days it takes much longer, and on bad days I just mark all as read.

So now

Manda of There is a Time. . .
Cora of Heartfelt and Homemade
Beth of Be Yourself. . .Everyone Else is Taken
Relyn of Come Sit By My Fire

You're it!

Romantic

Go here for your chance to win a $40 CSN giftcard!

I was thinking about Romanticism last night. Not romantic love, but the idea that nature and aesthetics and feeling can be romantic. The Romantic writers, artists and musicians (among them were Keats, Edgar Allen Poe, Shelley, Beethoven, and Chopin) believed in the seperation of science from nature, awed in the untamed personality of nature, embraced the idea that emotion could overtake and be strong and all-encompasing (which was in direct opposition to the Victorian viewpoint of control), and that these ideas could be interpreted into music, art, and literature.

I am a Romantic. No doubt about it. Though I am a biologist and physician, I believe that there are some things that science can't explain that that emotion is a driving power. I have loved Chopin since I was a child and thrill over Puccini's operas. My favorite painting is "The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse. One of my favorite books, that brings me to tears every time, is "Frankenstein," a classic of the Romantic period

"Who is this? And what is here?"
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."

Lord Alfred Tenneyson

As you can see, Romanticism is alive and well.

Friday Follows

The CSN giveaway is here. Go enter it to win a $40 Gift card!

It's Friday, time for all those crazy follows!! While you're at it, enter my CSN Giveaway for a $40 gift card. Welcome to Dropped Stitches!

Giveaway and Dining Room Dreaming

Currently, our dining room is our middle son's bedroom. It hurt to give up that room. We actually used it, sat down as a family to eat Sunday meals, did the whole Norman Rockwell thing.

I've been fantasizing about decorating the room when we get it back. Pale yellow walls, my grandparent's secretary, and a few pieces of carefully chosen dining room furniture.

So I got myself over to CSN's Dining Room and found a few items that I could stand to live with!

I've always wanted an Oriental Sideboard. The Ming Dynasty Sideboard is a thing of beauty, understated, yet oriental in feel, and that great Oriental red mahogany color.

We need new chairs. Our table has two leaves and can seat 8, but the chairs are loose, squeaky, and I'm sure they are going to break out from underneath us any day now. I love the glamorous styling of the Woodbridge Home Designs 5312 Series Side Chair, and the color would match my existing antique table well.

And I found something for my kitchen. Remember, my kitchen is vintage, pink, and aluminum. And it is really large. With the table out of the center of the kitchen, I'll be able to place an island, something I've wanted since I moved into this house almost 10 years ago. I am totally in love with the John Boos American Heritage Grazzi Butcher Block Kitchen Island. I could just marry it.

CSN has more than 200 stores selling everything from pet accessories to bath towels, furniture to light fixtures. And right now they are giving away a $40 gift card through my site!

There are several ways to enter the giveaway:
1) Leave me a comment below about the giveaway.
2] Follow me - if you already follow, this counts, too - and let me know about it in a separate comment.
2) Post something about this giveaway on your blog and let me know in another comment.
3) Post about the giveaway on Twitter (I'm erinswallace on Twitter) and let me know in another comment

I'll be determining the winner by random number generator next Thursday, June 30, at noon. Good luck!

Release the Child Within

Think about yourself as a child. What type of kid were you? Always running, jumping, laughing, making a game out of everything? Were you mellow, loved to read, inquisitive about the world? Perhaps you lived in a world of make-believe, where you were the princess or the Indian or the rock star. Maybe you were a bit of all of this, with a little goofy thrown in. Where did that child go? My guess is she lives somewhere inside of you right now.

When was the last time that you tried to use a hula hoop? That you spun around until you were dizzy? A child can take something like a parachute and thrill over standing under it all day long.

What happened to your inner goof? Your silly child within? Is she still there bursting to get out, or does she let herself shine?

Where's that kid that was going to be a superhero or a rock star? Where's the dreams and the wishes, the desires? What do you wish for now?

Children have unending wonder about the world around them. The joy of discovery is paramount. Have you ever seen your toddler's eyes when they learned how to stand or crawl - that overwhelming happiness? When was the last time you looked at the world with the wonder of a child? The world is an incredibly wonderful place to be.

Children can take any opportunity to play, imagine, find something new to accomplish, to make new friends, to Have Fun. The world is a playground that they are using in new ways every day. They haven't figured out yet that they aren't artists, private eyes, basketball stars, ballerinas. Not enough people have convinced them otherwise yet. They dream of being archaeologists and veterinarians in their free time. They haven't figured out that the world is a little too complicated and busy for that yet. They are unflappable dreamers. What are the dreams that you have given up on? Could these dreams, perhaps with a little prodding, still come true?

Take some time today to play with your kids. Don't take them to the playground and watch them slide, get on the slide with them. Let them lead the play, discover the world through their eyes. Have a tea party with your daughter, an unrushed, carve time out of your day for it tea party. Pretend you are the Queen or a Duchess. Play the way that your child plays. Not only will you discover more about your child's dreams and imagination, you may just release that child within who has been dying to get out.

Similar prints erinjane illustrations, $16, Etsy

All photos, except where noted, We Heart It