We just got wonderful housewarming gift from North Carolina friend of Slim's, who incidentally is descended from Tom Dooley. She'd written "it's very important that you get these things for the new house," and when I saw the gift - three little Mason jars of sorghum molasses, local honey, and stone-milled grits - I knew she and I would be kindred spirits.

Ugh, terrible migraine last night, so bad that I took Imitrex, which I normally try to avoid as it's so hard on the stomach. Obviously a small thing as hereditary medical problems go - my mom, her dad, his mother Grandma Viola etc. etc. - but always an irritation. The good thing is, it's such a relief to emerge from a migraine shaky but victorious and curl up with a 'comfort read' as my mom says. I dipped into a favorite book of mine, Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett. I ordered it on a whim from a British catalogue when I worked at a publishing house; I'm pretty sure you can't find it in the States. It's the story of a young British couple who buy a 16th century Welsh castle and painstakingly restore it on no budget, with pure passion and love for history. She's a book restorer, he's an architectural historian; both feel they belong in an earlier time. The book's funny, inspiring, touching, and really romantic. The scope of the achievement's remarkable, the story riveting, but as much as anything it's lovely to see a couple so perfectly matched. A small story, but a lovely one.