Buds on our ornamental crabapple tree.

I'm drinking tea right now. This book always makes me want to have tea; it's just mentioned so often. It also makes me enjoy housework and really want to make preserves.* This is one of my favourite and most frequently read books as shown by the faded spine - it used to be pink - and worn corners. There is something so fantastic about Anne and the ideas she embodies. It was given to me as part of a box set sometime between age ten and twenty. I can't even remember who gave them to me now but I'm very glad they did.

Do you have a book you read over and over?

*Right now I'm thinking of trying out a recipe for Cinnamon Watermelon Rind Pickles but a bit unsure if we can finish off that much watermelon without drafting friends to help.

This is my favourite salad at the moment (from the Good Things in the May issue of MS Living). Ribbons of asparagus, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. It's so fresh tasting.

We're having some hot weather here - hot for us anyway - and I finally got around to making up a top that's been in the back of my head for most of two years. I was inspired by a top I saw in an online catalogue. I loved the lace down the front and the oversize ribbon ties. It took me a while (and several iterations) to find everything I needed to make my top but I love the way it turned out.