A huge thanks to Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm for being a sponsor again this month. I've already talked about what the farm does and that they had the first ever Yarn CSA (great gift for a knitter, with an option for raw fleece for that spinner in your life, just saying).

If you haven't checked out Susan's blog, A Shepherd's Tale, I'd like to take a moment to encourage, no insist, that you do so. It's an amazing insight into just how much work and how much joy goes into keeping a huge flock (is that the right word) of sheep and goats and everything else she does for her business. In the last month she has documented how the farm has had a whole bunch of little ones born, this one, Alabama, is so darn cute, just look at this happy face, had a birthday (happy belated birthday!), shown us Arno's Big Adventure, showed off some new yarn, such a great color, let us watch the chicken hunt, has the annual Shearing Day festivities complete with food and music and demonstrations of spinning (hello, excellent reason to be a shareholder!), shown off happy sheep and goats (I love the picture of one perched on top of the rock).

Then Susan went to Texas where she held a dyeing demonstration, got some darn good cowboy boots and visited the cowgirl hall of fame, announced some fabulous shareholder benefits, announced Shepherding Camp, and then travelled off to PEI to drop her annual load of fleece off to get it all spun.

People, this is more than I do in a year and she managed to keep a blog. I'm flabbergasted.

Susan also has frequent giveaways, and even if you aren't a knitter her posts on things she thought we might like are full of incredible stuff to explore. As always you can watch the lamb cam and see pictures from the farm of goings on around the farm and recent births. A Shepherd's Tale is an awful lot of fun to keep up with.

I had the chance to spend a delightful afternoon at Curio Confections with a friend, sipping cool wine on a warm afternoon and eating as much yumminess as I could handle. Everything here was so good I kept wishing I hadn't eaten lunch. I chatted a bit with one of the owners who told me that the place is still a work in progress but I found everything about it to be charming already. They are set in an old house and have seating in the front as well as in a back room with lots of windows that felt like a bright porch in the afternoon light. Curio Confections has only been open since the 23rd, and until next week they can only accept cash so come prepared.

Curio Confections
5509 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
(Near Pizza Pi and the Historic University Theater)
206-420-8493

In the mornings they have coffee, and in the evenings they offer beer and wine. On Sundays they offer a brunch menu. When we were there they had pastries as well as pot pies, a quiche and a delicious looking baked potato casserole, so stopping in for dinner would be well worth it.

They offer a bunch of charmingly packaged confections to go:

This Nougat de Montelimar bar is the one that DeLaurenti sells, along with a selection of the caramels:

We split the adorable lemon meringue you see above and this incredibly tasty combination of raspberries and nectarines (I think) topped with tender lemon shortbread:

I had a glass of the Moscato, which was crisp and cool and had all those summer fruit flavors you want on a sunny afternoon.

I also tried the Pates de Fruit, the darker one was blackberry and Maggi declared it tasted just like summer:

This was just amazing, this is a Brie Caramel and I really wish I had bought every last one before I left. It was infused with the sort of deliciousness that is hard to describe and I tend to just want to insist that you go, now, and try one yourself:

I bet the Goats Milk Caramels, pictured above, are equally as delicious.

I wish we could have stayed long enough to become hungry again and eat dinner, here is a shot of a pot pie in the pastry case:

They also have an amazing range of gift boxes and tags, which I was told are all made by one of the owners:

Let's look at the adorable lemon meringue again, shall we?

See also: write up in Daily Candy. And thank go to Curio Confections for allowing me to take pictures!

A big thanks to my second sponsor, MirrorMate Frames. They create custom sized frames that fit around a mirror creating a more polished look. When you order the frames they cut them perfectly to size, and you assemble and apply the frames yourself. They also take into account if the mirror has clips that hold it to the wall and if the mirror is snugged up against another surface, like a countertop or backsplash. The MirrorMate site has very clear instructions on how to measure and how to install the frames, they also have helpful videos for both. You can order a free sample of any frame. Everything they carry is made in the USA and they are doing their best to be a green company. I love that this company was created by somebody who couldn't find an easy way to frame a large mirror. MirrorMate frames certainly are a simple solution to making a bathroom mirror look a bit more polished, or if you need to do a bit of staging in preparation to sell your house.