Cute creatures, more crafting, and shakshuka

It started as an outdoors sort of fun week, but the rain drove me back to cosy stitching on the couch and more reading in bed 😊

📚 I've nearly finished a couple of books, which is good because I am way behind on my Goodreads Reading Challenge. (On my maths, I need to finish 3 books a week between now and the end of the year to meet the wildly ambitious goal I set in January, so I'd appreciate any recommendations for short books!)

🧵 I'm working on a few little cross-stitch pieces and I also decided it's time to get back into other crafts, so I picked up some beads and buttons to try out a few ideas. More on this in coming weeks.

🍅 Fun kitchen things this week included Friday Night Nibbles, where I made a pretty good attempt at warmed olives with thyme from the garden and a splash of olive oil to go with a platter of cheese and marinated seafood. On Saturday I enjoyed shakshuka for brunch, which is eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce (and also one of my favourite weekend brunches that someone else in the Bevilacqua household cooks).

🐦 When there was a bit of afternoon sun, I did take some walks around the local lake. I spotted a few little birds, including a pretty blue wren, and some tiny flowers, but more importantly ...

🐣 The ducklings have arrived! Every year there are several families of ducks and other water birds around the lake, and so far I've seen at least a dozen ducklings. Together with the warmer weather, I find visiting the cute new arrivals provides a little extra motivation for me to get outdoors.

I can't promise next week's fun things will be as cute, but I'm sure they will still be good. Wishing you a fun week ahead!