Our first home came with a high-ceilinged living room, lots of wavy glass windows and a big empty garden.  I spent hours thinking about what to plant in that garden and consulted plant and seed catalogs for inspiration. One catalog was devoted to apples and taught me that you could grow something beyond the five varieties I regularly saw in the grocery store.  For a while I thought I’d plant some dwarf pears and a Pink Pearl apple tree along the sunny southern wall. But then I opted for roses and a redbud tree that died after the first winter. When we moved I wished that I’d raised Pink Pearls after all–just to see the beautiful rosy flesh described in the catalog.

This week I stopped by a small produce market on my way home from the city and happily discovered a bin of Pink Pearl apples.  I brought a bagful home and discovered that the flavor was pleasant enough but the pink flesh was even more lovely than I’d expected. If I had the space and sun I’d plant a whole orchard of them now.

Here are a few other unexected delights from the week:

I’ve always wanted to know how to celebrate the Day of the Dead (Nov. 1 & 2).

If you ask me, churches converted into bookstores are super sacred.

Glassybaby is opening a store in San Francisco!

I always suspected I was really a Southern Belle lost in snow country.   Which has been confirmed by this Time magazine survey asking what state do you belong in (Georgia, in case you were wondering).

Seth Godin’s pizza wisdom.

Do you like sad music?  Me too.

Speaking of sad, check out these sad etsy boyfriends for a good laugh.

And finally, it seems like I know a lot of  tired new moms right now. Here’s wishing them and the  3 Queens in this video some nap time this weekend.

3 Queens from Matt Bieler on Vimeo.

Happy Day of the Dead!