Yay, my sister Amy’s new business Carbolicious got featured on Cake Wrecks today! No, not because she made a wreck of cake. Rather, it’s because she and her husband cranked out, like, 300 cake balls for the Petaluma book signing event. Way to go, guys!

Weekend Update: It was a nice weekend of being away from the Internet, mostly. Saturday the Snook and I had a quick breakfast at Cafe Giulia before driving over to Reverse Garbage to pick up a new filing cabinet. (Only $15!) Then it was over to the Peace Park to pick up our weekly veggie box. (Another artichoke! Yum.) Then I walked over to CarriageWorks for the first session of their Kitchen Garden Project. It was PACKED OUT. I stayed for the speeches and the film, then left to catch a bus to Newtown for SSK. Eventually I made it home and managed to extradite the Snook from Azeroth so we could go to Lane Cove for Venks’s birthday. It was a night of Persian food, belly dancing, cake, and laughter. We finally made it home at about midnight. Long day!

In contrast, yesterday I did very little. I finished some test socks for my Guild Camp class next weekend, and I baked Smitten Kitchen’s Date Spice Loaf. We had it with the suggested orange-cream-cheese spread, and it was very nice. Good way to end a loooong week.

Garden Update: Man, the weather’s been crazy lately! First it was hot, then we had that dust storm, and then this weekend it got really cold and windy. The plants are surviving, if not exactly thriving. There have been a few noticeable changes though. Our first petunia has bloomed! This pretty pink blossom appeared yesterday morning. I took a few other photos too.
Snow peas! They’re doing really well now that the slugs aren’t munching on them. (I followed Michael’s advice and put down coffee grounds, which seems to deter the little buggers.) We need to get our vertical structure in place soon so they have something to climb!

Sweet corn. Still growing! Not quite knee high yet, but it’ll get there.

Beans. I think the beans have been the most rewarding so far. They sprouted out of nothing into these tall strong plants in just a week!

Whoa! I nearly forgot that tonight is our long awaited Moon premiere screening. I can’t wait to see it.

Need a Monday morning pickup? Here’s a baby dressed as Colonel Sanders. HA!

Congratulations to Clare and Emily, who’ve bought a lovely old coach house in England and have started a blog to document the renovations. Who knew Emily was so talented at destruction?!

Speaking of Roald Dahl, this article about a major Anglo-Saxon treasure find in England reminded me immediately of Dahl’s story about the Mildenhall Treasure. Exciting!

Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Woman
Next week I’ve been invited to visit my nephew Kurt’s school to talk to 120 year three students about Roald Dahl. I’m putting a little presentation together, mostly of photos from when the Snook and I visited Gipsy House in 2000. I thought it would be cute to include a picture of me when I was in third grade, since that’s when my own interest in Dahl began. So I emailed my Mom today and she dug out my school pictures in her basement. This one was taken in the short window between when I got glasses in third grade and when we chopped my hair off (and spiral permed it) in fourth grade. See? I’m naturally a “dishwater blonde,” as we say in Indiana.

I don’t think I’d ever go to a boxing match, but I’d go to a chess boxing match!