Easter, Mother's Day, pearlworthy

Today we celebrated belated Easter and early Mother's Day. I thought HS had done quite enough for me this year, without doing anything special next Sunday.

My bit consisted of setting up the cheese board, the table and some vegetables.  And making his favorite Colman mustard. He brought ham, more vegetables, tiny chocolate eggs and jelly beans.

I sported The Pearls! It's a family joke that they come out for special occasions, even if I'm wearing t-shirt and jeans.

It was a lovely relaxed easy time, and we took our tea outside on the deck where we watched a merlin fly over the suddenly quiet area, first sighting this year,  not a bird moved, this picture right before the sighting

and I found this on the Japanese maple.

I think it's a gall. I removed it and the branch looked undamaged. I must learn more. If any blogista knows more, please say.

After Handsome Son left, I watched Textiles and Tea with famous Scottish tapestry and paper artist, Joanne Soroka. She wrote a classic book on tapestry weaving, and her own work in paper and in fiber, breaks barriers.

Here she's showing miniature tapestries based on Japanese boro work, originally patching to save fabric, then recognized as an art form

These two pieces below were commissioned for a super yacht!

And here's a collaged weaving

this piece is about the losses of the covid period, and you see it behind her in her studio

 

She works mainly in linen and cotton, very little wool, unusual for tapestry. And her work makes me want to warp up my handheld loom and weave, always a sign of a quality artist!

Happy day everyone! I definitely had one. The rain and thunder held off till early evening, very obliging.

Happy Easter if you celebrate, and Trans Visibility too which happens to coincide this year

Happy Easter, to those who celebrate. My own celebration will happen Wednesday when Handsome Son is free to come and make a dinner with me.

Here's my Easter display of my hand painted eggs, porcelain, cats, tiny cup and saucer with painted cockatiel eggs. Every year when I bring the tray down from its storage place, an egg gets broken. I've replaced the main part on the tray, so you won't notice. Spot the little wooden duckling!

 

Bottom left corner, little duckie by cast iron cat.

I hadn't intended this as a puzzle! But anyway running it by you again, after plaintive comments.

Meanwhile, the mourning doves did it again, made a sort of nest of grasses chucked around, on the ground, laid two eggs and abandoned the enterprise. Some predator, probably a bluejay, then attacked one egg.

Outside my daffodils are in full bloom everywhere, no idea why the pictured suddenly elongated like that.  Clowning around.

And at home I've been trying a pinloom idea, using whatever pins I could find, none available locally, to my surprise. The cardboard is the divider from the misfits box

 

and here's the result. I've put it here with the earlier weaving. Then I started another square with no particular object in mind, just the pleasure of weaving while I listened to pods and the current audio book

 Current ebook is this 

by an online friend, a headlong rush of a book, loads of fun, as is she

And a shoutout for Trans Visibility Day, which happens this year to fall on Easter, which seems like a hopeful omen.

Happy day everyone, enjoy whatever today is for you.

Easter Sunday, Secret Garden, final daffodils

 Happy Easter. I put out the Easter decorations, various views here.  The eggs I used to paint each year as gifts, the Boehm bunny, various cats and Limoges eggs, and, in the miniature Wedgwood teacup, painted eggs from my long departed cockatiel, Emily.

And the last group of daffodils came out yesterday

One was broken by the wind, so I picked her, along with a few others which would have been trampled by the fencing work probably starting here tomorrow. A bit of henbit and pachysandra added in.

Gary and Jackie finally got away at four o' clock yesterday afternoon, after many false starts and goodbyes.

Yesterday I made the butternut squash, sweet potato and cashew soup, and threw out the squash seeds for Butternut Boy. As I was enjoying the soup, he was busy on his seeds.

So we were a team.

Current audiobook is a really lovely reading of  The Secret Garden, a book I haven't read in many years.  It's dated now but still charming to knit and doze off to.

Hope for Ukraine on a day of hope for the world, photo by AC.

And I fly the flag

Misfits, India news, houseguests, human and vegetables

Misfits arrived yesterday, missing the eggs, but I had plenty, having shopped locally, forgetting I'd ordered them. Sometimes a poor memory works okay. Right, AC?

This little array illustrates the rising cost of food, excellent products, covering less counterspace than ever. 

The butternut squash will be in soup today with cashews and sweet potatoes from earlier weeks. Soup in the freezer is my go to when I run out of ideas and motivation for cooking.

Exchanges of holiday greetings today, very nice to help with the slough of loneliness that sweeps over now and then. 

Mike is free Tuesday, so we'll celebrate then with ham, roasted cheese potatoes and carrots. He's bringing cheese and bread sticks for before, drinks for during, and dessert for after. I have to find my collection of Easter eggs and things to put out.

One Indian friend texted early today, reported the death of her father in India very recently, peacefully, he was okay with it. And the family donated his skin, a new one to me. Evidently other organs weren't accepted, perhaps his age played a role, but skin is vital to people like, I suppose, burn patients, or maybe research.  Brilliant idea.

So Jackie didn't get away yesterday, after all, her car not being back from the shop in time. Today's the new target.  Having been a houseguest, she being in Gary's extended family,  for way longer than her original plans, she's ready. 

Gary is about to drive to Florida with her and the cats, help her move in, collect her furniture in store in Miami since she left Puerto Rico, drive it to the new place in Tampa, stop off to install a new floor for another relative somewhere in Florida, snd take in a specialty breed dog show somewhere there, too, maybe to bring home a new dog.  Just a normal couple of weeks in his life.

It means that he has to be away right when the fence on our block is being replaced. I'm hoping for no complications there, since I'm charged with keeping him informed! This wasn't his original plan, after all the disputes with the fencers who wanted him to fell a beautiful butterfly bush. I might have to run interference there. We'll see.

I'm also charged with taking care of this. One orchid, two views. I kept the view of the shelves because I like sneak peeks into other people's kitchens so I thought you might, too. There's the calendar right where I see it daily. And my chef's apron hanging on the wall, and the trusty freezer. And the shelves, every single item on which is used.

Another neighbor is watering the rest of his collection, but he's entrusting this to me for the two weeks he's away. 

It's not a very good set-up, just a gift item, artificially dyed, not expected to last. No drainage, no inner pot to lift out for watering. I'll see if I can get it out to water and drain, but it's jammed in. I might have to run a knife around. Anyway I'll do my best.

The other vital last minute task was to check with me, again, how to apply for the senior freeze program! I showed him, again,  my packet of forms and he'll follow up. 

It's the program where seniors can freeze  real estate taxes to the year you get in the program, then claim a refund of subsequent years'  increases.  

Naturally the State Treasury is not in a mad rush to enroll new applicants and pay out money,  and it can take years to get in. They've failed twice to send him the vital forms. They lose them, insist you missed the deadline etc.  

But it amused me hugely to see this illustration of his quicksilver mind, in the middle of retrieving the car from the shop, shoving items on the patio back from the fence, arranging plant care, planning on a new dog, that he'd be taking care of the tax situation, too. He'd lost his phone again, took pictures of the vital info on another. Portrait of Gary.

This is the current state of the dried flowers, including roses from my December birthday bouquet. They've dried to look like silk flowers. I sent a pic along with pictures of current live flowers, to my sister, who sent the bouquet, with an Easter email.

Happy day everyone, this weekend of the confluence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter. Sikhs just celebrated, too, and Jain. 

Inclusive weekend to us all.

Great Day, happy pearlful dance

Today went like a platonic ideal of a  day. Both fully vaccinated, feeling safer though careful.

The weather warm enough to take dessert and tea outside. Handsome Son coming through with a great Easter dinner 

All I had to do was lay the table and sit at it. Bread sticks and Gouda cheese. Then garlic potatoes, ham steaks with English mustard, mixed veggies.

I moved us to the patio which I'd set up with rugs and pillows, for tea and desserts. 

Great chats about shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. 

And this evening is beach reading, Olivia Goldsmith, one I hadn't read before. 

Handsome Son also brought a few grocery items, nearly two weeks since I saw him, including my first try of Kerrygold butter, unsalted. Two little dabs on a bread stick. Testing, testing..

On a scale of one to ten:  eleven. They are not paying me to say this.

I hope everyone had as good a day.