Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My sixth and final video conference call of the day was an all-staff happy hour. I had all the necessary ingredients for strawberry daiquiris, except for ice and rum for Rudi’s glass. One trip to the liquor store (by Rudi, during call #5), and both needs were met. Five minutes into my call and I was sitting with a very pink drink and congratulating colleagues who’d gotten engaged (in person) and defended their dissertation (via Zoom) this week.

2. I finally got around to baking Mary Berry’s shortbread, which I think is now Rudi’s favorite of my homemade cookies. I had bought semolina flour specifically for this recipe, but the comments suggest that you can substitute rice flour or all-purpose, although the latter will certainly make it less sandy in texture. Also, I didn’t have demerara sugar, but I do have a variety of sparkly sugars for decorating and cocoa topping, so simply subbed that in. (Confession: I didn’t measure it; I just sprinkled it until it seemed like the appropriate density.)

3. My system of dry bags, rolled towels, and newspapers (and less rain than expected) kept the flooding in the Burrow to a minimum.

What beautiful things have been getting you through this last week?