Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine begins to prepare...

There will be fruitcake, oh yes, with homegrown dried fruit. There will be rum balls, from the ancestral family recipe. There will probably be acorn cakelets, and apricots stuffed with chocolate. There will be hot artichoke dip, and cheese, and quince jelly... There will be visitors here in just over a week, and there is a lot to do to prepare!

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Somehow, in the washing up yesterday, my most favorite breakfast bowl (handmade by my friend Kaðlin) had a chunk chipped off the lip. Not enough to make it unusable, but broken pottery is sad. I keep a mostly worn down Alundum* stone next to the sink, for just such occurrences, to smooth out the edges of chips, or glass. (I usually use Alundum stones to grind down the surface of cloisonne, as it is just enough harder than glass, and when used under water, does quite a nice job)

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A note to self, do not buy arugula in a big bag from the farmers market, as it all goes south in one fell foop! and is impossible to separate the sad bits from the still good greenery. Better to buy in small quantities, or better yet, try growing my own... Hmmm is it a warm weather green, or a wintertime green... must look up. Wondering if could be grown indoors??? I love it, but only ever want a small amount at a time

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	capsicum-free persimmon ketchup	2 walls painted	wooden AC support
2	candied grapefruit peel	neckline has dots	damaged shoes
3	x	new lid worm bin	paper recycling
4	x	x	-
5	x	x	-
6	x	x	-
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - the small abundance that allows me to offer hospitality, the gift of the trees with fruit to share, and the knowledge that some of my friends will be here next weekend...

*Alundum stones are chunks of white aluminum oxide abrasive, and come in various grit sizes, the ones I use most often are 150 grit...