What I'm Digging
A round up of this and that catching my eye this week
Happy Saturday, friends! You’re here. You made it.
This week started off strong, but then the smallest Englishman went down Wednesday afternoon. Alistair complained of feeling unwell when I picked him up from school, and further deteriorated once home, resulting in him staying home from school Thursday and Friday. As it’s remarkably challenging to get much done when tending to the needs of a sick wee one, I’m a day behind on posting my weekly round up.
However! I did get our holiday decor all up, which always feels like a win when you’re essentially changing the look of an entire level of your home. We’re now properly nestled in for wintertime revelry and stillness alike.
On to the round up!
*Y’all know I love a shrub, and this Cranberry Ginger Shrub from Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean is the seasonal refresher/digestive we all need.
*Continuing in the things-to-do-with-cranberries-aside-from-make-sauce vein, ever thought of pickling them? You should!
*Love the holidays but also fancy something a bit scarier than long checkout lines and crowded parking lots? How about a book detailing the monsters, ghouls, and witches historically associated with Christmastime? If so, The Dead of Winter is for you. As described by the publisher: “In The Dead of Winter, Cambridge-trained historian Sarah Clegg delves deep into the folklore of the Christmas season in Europe, detailing the way its terrifying and often debaucherous past continues to haunt and entertain us now in the twenty-first century.”
*I love a string quartet reimagining of a beloved hit. This version of Sweet Dreams Are Made of This has been on repeat in the Cove as of late, as my Englishmen can confirm.
*Get yourself a potato, and some floral wire, and some holiday greenery and botanicals and make this potato wreath.
*Finding the extraordinary in the everyday is one of my guiding principles in life, so small wonder that Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life As Sacred Ground by Mirabai Starr is speaking to my soul.
*Absolutely making this Panettone Tiramisu. Will probably make this Panettone French Toast, too. ‘Tis the season!
*Listen. I may very well be a 49 year old married woman/mother of two, but that doesn’t mean I can’t suddenly become a KPop fan out of nowhere. Specifically (and, honestly at this point), only of Stray Kids. The 8-member group took home the biggest prize of the year at last week’s MAMA awards in Hong Kong (basically the Grammys of KPop), and the tears I shed for these hardworking, talented guys, themselves all sobbing onstage, were genuine. Well done, SKZ. If any of you readers share my enthusiasm, let me know. My Englishmen don’t share my fandom, and I’m needing someone to geek out over them with!
We're planning on bundling up and heading to a luminary walk around Lake Tomahawk in the idyllic nearby town of Black Mountain later this evening. I’ve been indoors with Alistair for days, so I’m truly looking forward to festive sights enjoyed outdoors!
Whatever the weekend brings you, wherever you go, and whomever you do it with, may it be grand! Take good care.
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