What I'm Digging

Happy Friday, friends! We've had an interesting week, to say the least. Tuesday witnessed my first knitting class. I must admit, it's not a skill I intuitively picked up straightaway. Quite the contrary. I figured out making a slip knot and casting on, but actually making a knit stitch? What? How? Where? I was totally lost. That's alright. I'm a tenacious sort of gal, so I'll figure it out, one way or another (big, heartfelt thanks to all of you that set me suggestions on Twitter for books, websites, blogs and videos on gettin' 'er done).

On Wednesday, a book idea I'm pretty passionate about was turned down by a literary agent I've been chatting with. That's alright, too. I'm not done with the idea yet, so I'm squirreling it away and letting it simmer for now. Wednesday also presented the death of our two hot water heaters. The average lifespan of hot water heaters, according to our plumber, is 8-12 years. Ours were 8, and totally bit the dust. Hello huge unexpected replacement expense! Yesterday we had a new, single water heater installed. My mom came over and offered me a bit of a mental and physical reprieve by playing outside with Huxley in the garden (or, as he calls it, the "gar-dy"), reading him countless books inside, and otherwise smothering him with the love and affection he so very much enjoys.

Tonight, my friend Jenny is coming over for dinner. The nice twist is that she's bringing the meal with her. She's been on a Middle Eastern food kick lately and will be festooning us with meat pies (MEAT! PIES!), some sort of yogurt sauce, and an arugula salad, while I provide the dessert (I'm planning on making Diana Henry's "Middle Eastern Orange Cake with Marmalade and Orange-Flower Cream"). Tomorrow, I'm headed with some lady friends to Double G Farm to test out some of Lance's firearms. I'm still trying to "find my weapon" for my hunting pursuits. That excursion will be followed up by dinner at the home of some beloved friends (who, by the way, are building a chocolate factory!).

The weather is amazing right now. So much so, in fact, that I'm writing this from my covered porch, where we recently relocated the breakfast table to in order to create a larger play space for Huxley in the kitchen. The wind is blowing, the temperature is just right, I've got a hot mug of cardamom coffee beside me, and Huxley is busying himself by moving things around on the porch (he watches Hubs and I constantly moving things around and about the kitchen and gets all "business" when he starts moving things himself-right now, it's candleholders and little bits of soil from some dormant houseplants).

Here's my round-up of this's and that's that drew me in this week:
*The Jam Labelizer (via Marisa).
*Beautiful beets!
*The stories of Gilt Taste are incredibly well crafted.
*Chocolate Earl Grey Cake? I'm in.
*Locals, come meet your farmers!
*Coconut muffins.
*The Edible Balcony looks like a great read for urban growers.
*Learn how to cure your own lox.
*Having just taken on knitting, now I'm ready to quilt, too!
*It's the season of citrus and these preserved lemons (and salty lemonade recipe) look great.

Wherever you go this weekend, whomever you spend it with, whatever you do, may it be grand!

*Our tiny Englishman is pictured above in the goat pen from last week's visit to Red Wing Farm. I've got goats on the brain, friends!