swap box, crewel cowl, and link love (grab a cup of tea, it's long!)

I received the most fantastic swap box in the mail this week from Austen! I sent her a beautiful bowl and a few other little things, and she sent me the most gorgeously wrapped, perfectly perfect assortment of things that I adore. Including that sweet little white cup which fits perfectly on my kitchen windowsill, delicious granola in a vintage Crown canning jar (I didn't have one in my collection until now!) and dish cloths which she knit! With little loops on the corners and everything! And a sweet little heart cookie / biscuit cutter and a teeny Moleskine notebook... I had so much fun opening it, and I love that little reminders of her are all around my house! Thank you, Austen.
Last night, I whipped up a linen crewel cowl (try saying that five times fast!) from a chair cover I found at Frenchy's ages ago. In true Sherrie-in-a-hurry fashion, I eyeballed the entire thing - not a measuring tape or straightedge was used for the entire project. And I love how it turned out.

Nice and light and Springy, I think.

Thanks so much for all of the sweet well-wishes for Phillip! The total visit time at outpatients yesterday was 1 hour and 15 minutes; quite unlike the 6 hour marathons we had before. A minor miracle, folks! The doctor said that his ear is still not healed, but is better than Tuesday (also to be thankful for: he's miraculously seen the same doctor all three times), so he prescribed a different antibiotic for a shorter time. He's pretty much back to his old self, Thomas and I are fine - I think we're pretty much over this one!

I'm in a blessedly quiet house right now. A and P are at soccer, Thomas is napping. I have the windows open, I hear birds at the feeder and the bulbs coming up. Okay, so maybe I don't hear the bulbs, but I know they're there are growing, and sometimes that's enough.

I have some links that I've been saving up to share this weekend. I know that I've been sharing lots more links than usual as of late, but I get such great feedback from readers that instead of keeping them to myself, I'm happy to pass them around.

Everyone's blog posts these days seem to be about garden planning. You know what? As much as I want to be a planner and execute everything exactly as I envision, that's just not the way I roll. (See crewel comments above). And that's okay. I might have a vague notion of what types of things I want to plant, I buy some seeds, and just kind of, well, plant them!  One thing we tried last year was seed tape. Although it's a bit more expensive than seeds, it was much easier to plant with Phillip's 'help' than loose seeds. Guess what I came across this week? You can make your own seed tape.

My hair tends to be oily. I'm thinking of trying some dry shampoo; maybe just using cornstarch? The break next week might be a good time to do some testing.

I still haven't done any freezer paper stencilling. There's a great tutorial over here. Maybe I'll get something fun done over the break. P has a birthday party to go to, so maybe we'll make something together.

I've been wanting to try grinding my own flour for awhile. Looks like fun! Anyone have a grinder out there? How do you like it?

Tea infused oatmeal. Definitely on my to-try list for my break next week.

How to parent without labels. Love, love, love this article. Singing my song!

I've been meaning to tell you about the Makers for weeks now. Go and soak in the beauty.

Austen did such a great job on this that I want to try it, too! I'm thinking a giant version to hang on the wall would be awesome.

Novella Carpernter's Urban Fam. Those goats are SO cute. I want some goaty kisses! I love how matter-of-fact and straightforward she is about everything, especially related to slaughtering animals.

There. I see that the sun just peeked out, so I think I might go sit on the step with some tea. Do you have any great links to share? Leave them in the comments, if you do. Have a great weekend!