And sometimes it takes more than a lifetime to know

Thank you rattlesnake charmer for introducing me to this gem of a singer. I love his folk heart. How lovely are these words he sings? How wise?
If you have a broken heart or a battered soul
Find something to hold on to or to let go
To help you through the hard nights like a flask filled with hope
Darlin' do not fear what you don't really know
Cause it won't last - your worries will pass
All your troubles they don't stand a chance
And it always hurts the worst when it's the ones we love the most
Darlin' do not fear what you don't really know

I am so glad to be back home and back to the business that I do best- (kiddos and mom hanging out minus stress!) It was a great weekend and it filled me with a spirit of kindness and community again and I met many cool folks and learned a lot! My wood products were the hit and what I will focus on next year. I am beat down tired, but Mondays can often feel like this even when you don't live on the street for three days right? So I am sure Tuesday will be a fresher day. I missed my computer and all the lovely people that live in it...

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According to all sources, the street's the place to go

More from a day of rain and Prideparade and Comfest. I was a bit sad about the storm that messed up my tent and ruined a few things, but after it was all washed away the evening unfolded just perfectly. No one but myself was surly I noticed, so I had to knock it off. There is so much positive energy in this community festival that you simply must assimilate or you might melt into a pool like the wicked witch if you stay sour. I let it go and had an amazing night with friends and family. Joe drank many beers and I have not seen him so relaxed and carefree for a bit. Back to real life tomorrow. xo

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On the side of a hill in the deep forest green

I think there are definitely a breed of folks who are suited to festival living. I was falling right in the middle of the continuum yesterday as I felt old and tired some parts of the day, but would then be energized and refreshed randomly by a lovely person (or funnel cake) a few moments later. I am happy that the response has been positive and folks seem to like our stuff! Yay! I also had the treat of meeting her and her and her and also getting to see her again (God I love her and never get to see her!) It is really cool to meet some local bloggers that I read and I enjoyed putting the face to the blog. They were lovely! Finn and Blaise has a blast with all the people and sights and sounds. They danced all day! (The porta potties were a bit much for Finn though!)
I type quickly this morning as I have to pack a cooler, chug java, pop Tylenol, and motor. I got festival soul to develop.

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I Can Go for Miles if You Know What I Mean

Today is the first day of the festival where Little Alouette will have a booth. I am excited and terrified. I hope the energy is wonderful and I hope the folks like our wares. I will pretty much suck at posting until Monday, but after some rest on Monday I will be back with full force! Yahoo!


1. DSC04778, 2. Comfest 07, 3. Comfest says bike, dont drive, 4. Comfest-ers, 5. DSC07143_2, 6. Comfest 2007 Pride Parade

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This is the dawning of the rest of our lives

One of my girls crushes tagged me to answer some questions about myself. I am doing two of these type tags this week and it is actually quite good timing bc I am swamped with work for the festival that starts in the morning and I am very brain dead and utterly lacking in creative juices. So dear divine Jos, here are the answers:

What did you do 10 years ago?
I was living on the island of Mykonos. Wow. I was rubbing shoulders with the fancy and free and writing self indulgent poetry. I had no idea that I was about to meet my soul mate soon. I was very very free and leading a pretty charmed life. ( still am in a bunch of ways)

Five items on your to-do list:

1. Suck it up and rent our house that is not selling.
2. Join freaking WEIGHT WATCHERS.
3. Finish flooring the upstairs of our home with sambuca bamboo
4. Write my novel like a maniac in August/September
5. Relax a bit more

Snacks I enjoy:
pretzels and goat cheese
ice cream for sure
trail mix ( archer farms/Target)
dill pickles

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I would find and buy thisI would give so much away
I would start a commune and make everyone live there with me

Places I would live:
Mystic Ct, Church Stretton UK, and Mykonos

Jobs I have had:
You must go here and laugh at my life- I wrote about this last year

I am so slammed right now I will say- Play if you like
kiss kiss

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I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain

Won't ya please go check out the new fabulous BLOGNOSH magazine!!!!
It rocks and I am a lucky little girl bc I get to be an education channel editor!
So send me cool education posts from you or around the web!!!!
amytsharp (at) gmail (dot) com
BlogNosh is cool bc it promotes blogs and you can go there and find interesting posts from all over the web in areas that interest you most!
Go check it out now
Yahoo!

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We're all looking at a different picture/Thru this new frame of mind

When I met up with the fabulous BOSSY
I also got to meet other cool ladies and one of them is sweet Amy from Pretty Babies and she has tagged me for a meme about 6 random, unspectacular quirks that you possess.
Well, I am pretty quirky all the way round, so this should not be hard.

1. I didn't really watch TV until I was 25 years old and now I am a tivo whore with a sick predilection for reality shows.

2. I don't like to share Milk based products.

3. I can make an entire room full of small children settle and come under my spell. I am like the pied piper. ( But not with my own kids!)

4. I don't mind the sensation of a wedgie.

5. I have irrational fears of tiger and lions.

6. I always kiss the plane right before I board. I try and not let the flight attendants catch me but sometimes they do and they look at me in a weird way.
OK...So here you and you and you and you and you and you are tagged. Tell me yr quirks! xoxoxoxo

Lookie at some more of the lovely little wee chairs for Friday's festival

swooning
need a girl!

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This is no ordinary love

She is by far
my favorite painted lady.
Helga Testorf
The Helga Collection
by Andrew Wyeth
I love her hair- the perfect color of strawberry blond.
I love her deliberate stillness and mystery.
Were they lovers?
Where is the collection now?
I heard it was sold to an American buyer and is poof- gone away from the limelight.
When you are really really wealthy you can probably find things and have things.
I will play the lottery next week and make it a quest for a Helga.
Seriously, if i ever strike it crazy rich that is the first thing I want.
Isn't she lovely?

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If I were a chicken I'd lay the most beautiful eggs

whoo whoo loves the crafty crow?, originally uploaded by turnsharp.

can you guys vote for Finn's owl please in the breakfast category?
GO HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Death came and hung her coat

In my novel there is a bit of Virginia Woolf. She is woven in and out a bit and I have been day dreaming about her. I want desperately to visit her estate in Sussex owned by the national trust this year. If we don't sell this other home then Joe will go alone to England this Fall, but if we do mama is so taking a train by herself to Sussex!!!!


I want to walk along the river Ouse and let my mind wander. I want to find that small particle I am still looking for, that thread that catches and straps the book together a bit better. I am searching here in Ohio, but I feel like I could discover more there. I think about TS Eliot and the Bloomsbury group and how I always thought I might have made a good beatnik, but now rather think about how I would have made a good Bloomsgal. I love reading about the English collective of modern thought. I love watching films and documentaries. I like the way they dressed.

I had the pleasure of knowing a woman for a little while in Athens, Ohio who was a Woolf scholar and at that precise moment in my formative brain molding, I did not get it all. I was uncertain why someone would want to dive so deep into Woolf.
I am starting to get it now. My mind grew and unfolded and every time I read Woolf now I see that spark in that scholars eyes-
I feel that spark in my own eye.
It flickers like a beacon to other women artists.
It shines.

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I'll take ya till ya all spun up/pitter, patter doesn't matter what you got

She couldn't just have one party.
She had to have two.
Bless her.
My head has a champagne halo all around it.

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Go to him now, he calls you/ you can't refuse

Walking at the farmers market Finn hears him from a block away.
Bob Dylan is here mom!!!!
Of course my camera ran out of juice and I only got a snippet, but I got that first snippet of Finn giving to the arts. Finn has pocket money for the market each week and he normally and wisely buys a sweet treat from the bakery, but today he wanted to give his money to Dylan. (He really thought it was Dylan and no amount of reasoning would fly)

I told him sure. Go for it, it will feel good.
Joe and I used to buy art even when we were poor bc we knew that it would always make us feel rich. I also like to give money to those brave artist who sing out loud for us all. I have tossed coinage all over the world in guitar boxes and I hope that Finn continues to do so. I hope he becomes a missionary of artistic evangelism and I feel so lucky that I was there for that first toss- that moment that welled up in a small boys soul.

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In the washing of the water will you take it all away

I have been embracing my inner ecocheapchic this week. I collected the simple materials and made my own laundry detergent today. I felt like a pathfinder in the previously unexplored area of frugal and eco laundry arts. It was simple really.


Grate a bar of soap...You can use Ivory or Fels Naptha- I used a micro planer tool.


Scour yr local haunts and find washing soda and Borax.


Mix 1 cup Borax, 1 cup washing soda, and grated bar of soap.


Package Pretty and enjoy.

I might add some essential oil next time for scent- but I just washed a load and it smells fine- just clean.

It is cleaning day. Finn washed floors for me. I can see the bottom of my sink again. Things are better. Finn is going to visit the Olentangy Indian Caverns today with his auntie and uncle and me and Blaise are gonna chill. I think it's a John Hughes DVD kinda late afternoon. Happy Weekend. xo



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Don't just stand there/ let's get to it

So instead of paying bills and sorting out my house (the state of Sir Finn's room?!!! ) I decided to play dress up today. I am slightly freaking out that in a month I will go to Blogher and will be surrounded by fabulous and frump free mamas! I used to love fashion and would dress up daily and revel in the threads, but now I mostly look like a train wreck.
I have that little spark inside of me still and I fan the flame every now and again, like this weekend I go for part deux of my big fat Kurdish wedding.

The Ohio wedding party is happening and I will rock it somehow, but for Blogher I have to plan at least five outfits and I might pass out from the stress. I am trying to not spend a lot of money on clothing right now bc it is no secret that I am not at my goal weight. Blah. It just sorta happened, I just sorta did not lose the weight from Blaise and poof all of the sudden it is 16 months later. I sorta suck.


I would love this dress if she made it in my size. Swoon.
So, I will try and pull something together. I did buy a little cheap frock from Target. Yet somehow I do not look as cute as little miss shim and sons in it. Oh well.
I also found the little gold shift that I bought in LA last year and will sort out the destruction I caused by throwing it in the dryer and rock it perhaps? I found some other things in the deep recesses of my closet and will try. I need advice people. What can I do on a budget to look fabulous? Where can I buy a few things to freshen me up? I think I am due for a bunch of blond in my hair and a brow wax too! Please don't tell me that my bubbly personality and charisma will make me gorgeous. I already know that :)
I need concrete beauty tips and tricks to reverse the damage done in the past year of staying home with my children! :)

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