It Worked! Twice!!

The sewing, cutting and re-fringing of Kim's shawl is done. And it worked! Isn't it gorgeous?

Tomorrow it will be sent off to her in Hearst. In time, I hope, for all the fancy, seasonal dining and dancing my son will take her to this December.

From knitting to fruit cake. Is that a leap? Fred and I are fruit cake lovers. Each year in the fall, I make a light one and a dark one. The light one is a recipe from my 'maniacal- marathoner' cousin, Chuck. Yep. Hard to believe. He not only runs, but bakes fruit cake. The recipe is called 'The Oatman Family Fruit Cake Recipe'. An historical old family recipe, I gather. It is delicious. You see it here in the foreground.

The recipe for the dark cakes - shown at the back - is from Velda - a family friend. It too is delicious. They have been made and marinating in brandy-soaked cheesecloth for a while now. In order to get Fred to take a break from his garage ceiling to put up our outdoor Christmas lights, I bribed him with fruit cake. In my sweetest little voice, I told him,
"We'll have our first slice of fruit cake, Dear, the day you put up the lights."

And it worked! The lights went up yesterday and we had fruit cake with out tea. Yummy.

When I told Fred that I had soaked the cakes in brandy, he suggested that the entire cake process from making to eating would probably be more fun if I drank the brandy. Hmmm. I bet that would work well, too.