Welcome to the weekend at the cottage! Here are a few things that have been happening around here lately, including some of what’s caught my eye out there on the internet. Grab a cup of coffee or tea (or maybe treat yourself to a hot chocolate or a glass of wine if it’s after five o’clock somewhere) and settle in for some reading and browsing.

It just so happens that today is Valentine’s Day. And that’s all I have to say about that! Just kidding … I did have the pleasure of seeing all my Little Misses today, and of course I had some treats for them. Best of all, I made the cookies you see in the picture above with the two older girls: standard chocolate chip loved up with pink and red smarties. The girls were thrilled to be able to share these with their Mommy and Daddy.

Out and About

Baby it’s cold outside! After a week of copious snowfall and now sub-zero temperatures well into the double digits, it’s definitely winter. The forecast tells me it’s going to be warming up again soon, so I made a point to get out today to take some winter wonderland photographs. After our cookie-baking session, Little Miss A and I ventured to the park. We talked about looking for the beauty that’s all around us, and took lots of pictures. She especially wanted to capture the ripples on the water, and I was happy that I was able to catch a picture of sorts of the two of us. Can you spot us?

Around the Web

This baking pie in a bag business just sounds like too much fuss to me, but then again, I think I’m a pretty good pie maker. But how would you know, as there’s almost no pie on the blog? Time to remedy that!

In 2014 I had a great gig writing for the “West London Neighbours” supplement of the London Free Press. Unfortunately, it ceased publication in less than a year, but some of my articles still live online. I thought it would be fun to share them here, starting with this one about a local Indo-Asian food store.

I used this guide to making coconut macaroons over the holidays, and will be sharing my results on the blog one of these days. What did I learn? They’re ridiculously simple to make! Tasty, too.

Recap

At the beginning of the week I shared the story of my granddaughter’s carnival-themed first birthday party (all credit goes to her Mom; I was just the guest photographer!), and followed that up later in the week with a dreamy chocolate almond spread (my take on Nutella for grown-ups). Check them out if you missed them!