Tagged!

Angela at My Year Without Spending has tagged me with a very special award.  I am honored to receive it, and happy to share the information that is requested of me once accepted.  According to the 'rules', I am to share 7 things you wouldn't necessarily know about me.  Here goes:

1. I do not like drinking milk.  Never have, really.  I can have milk in things, but just can't stomach the thought of sitting down to drink a glass of milk.  Yuck.  Comes from growing up milking goats, I think.
2. I wish I was a dancer.  I love how they move, how they walk through space.  Long legs and graceful bodies are just glorious to watch.  Wish I could do that, but chose music with my short legs instead.
3. I want to write a book.  Someday I want to publish.  I don't know what it will be about, but I really want to write one.
4. I do not like dirt on my hands.  I looooove to garden, but can't stand the feel of dirt on my skin, especially when muddy soil dries on my hands.  I really can't stand it when it gets under my nails.  Makes my skin crawl.  Kinda strange for a gardener - don't ya think?
5. I always wanted to have many many children.  I have 2 wonderful boys and I wouldn't change that for the world.  But as a child, I always thought I had a minimum of 6 kids. (yikes!)
6. I would like to live in a house I built myself.  Made of recycled material, wood, glass, etc, I would love to design and build something that would keep me safe, warm, cool and dry for the rest of my days.  Perhaps I'd have a little garden out back and a few animals.  I'd enjoy the quirkiness of the place, and know there was nothing else like it anywhere.  It would have to be off the grid, of course.
7. Lastly, I wish I could speak another language.  Any other language (beside music).  To be bi-lingual would be dreamy.  Traveling to another country has always made me anxious.  Going somewhere where I already knew the language would be terrific!  A good language to learn would be french, spanish or german.  Or portuguese.  Or argentinian.  

Now, for the second part of this award... I get to pass on the love!

Barbara at Second Surf

Cory at Pink Dogwood Blossom

Stacy at Goldenbird Knits

Jamie at Inspired Mess

Linda at Natural Suburbia

Wendy at Urban Homestead South Africa

Melanie at The Glue Stick Chic

I enjoy each of these blogs for the honesty, creativity and insightful thoughts they share.  Make sure you visit them when you have the chance!

Thanks to Angela for passing on this great award!  You will want to check out her blog as well.  It's full of terrific ideas for cooking, living simply and taking care of the earth in a mindful, less stressful way.  

Have a great day!

Tag! I'm It!

While I was away, I was sneakily tagged by Cory at Pink Dogwood Blossom.

Cory just started a new blog, using a title near and dear to me - I have always loved dogwood trees, since I was a little girl, actually. In fact, when my father passed away several years ago, we planted a dogwood tree in his honor. It graces the front of my walkway, being passed and admired by everyone who comes to call. The interesting thing about this dogwood tree is that for the first year after being planted, it bore no leaves or flowers. I was so sad, since we have planted it for such a special and important occasion. One day, I looked out at the tree, and decided it needed a fairy bell. Funny thing was, I had no idea what I was talking about! I just knew it needed a fairy bell to call for some special energy to help support this tree. So I set off to find one from Ebay, for lack of a better place at the time. What I found was a sweet little brass bell of a hummingbird. Once it arrived, I hung it on one of the inner branches of the little, leafless dogwood tree. During rain storms or light winds, I could hear that little hummingbird bell ringing away. This was at the beginning of summer, after the dogwoods in this area had bloomed. Wouldn't you know it - within 6 weeks, the lower part of that dogwood was covered in leaves!! The following year, more of the tree was covered in leaves, and each year after that, leaves seemed to be climbing up the trunk. During the 3rd year, small blossoms appeared. The leader of the tree (the part that grows the highest from the center of the trunk) remains bare. I find this reminds me of the reason I planted the tree, and the reason I hung the fairy bell. I don't dare trim the bare spots for fear of damaging the tree, and losing sight of these amazing events.

The fairy bell rings less often now, being that it is buried among so many thick leafy branches. But if I peak way inside, I find it hanging there, so faithfully.

Cory tagged me to share 6 things about myself. So hear goes...

1. I say purple is not my favorite color, yet if given the choice, I will almost always choose something in a purple hue.
2. I do not like to eat fish, but I love hand-made plates with fish on them.
3. I do not like to window shop.
4. I could stop a train with my urge to check out flea markets.
5. I adore avocados.
6. I think a day at the beach with a good book is a day very well spent. (Who cares about the laundry??)

There you are - simple and now, over (phew). When you have the time, go over and check out Pink Dogwood Blossom. There are some pretty great photos of Rocky...