Oh Duane I am so jealous that you are able to grow your own tomatoes. Absolutely hands down, my all time favourite food is a freshly picked tomato. Sadly I don't have enough sunny space to grow more than a few plants. Luckily I have a great farmers market nearby.

Sunday I'm having the family for Easter dinner so most of the today and tomorrow will be spent with activities centered around that although I'm in pretty good shape.

At last count there will be 18 of us although it could be 1 or 2 more in either direction. Should be fun....even more fun if I had heat. Our furnace blew Wednesday night and they won't be able to install until Monday. Good Friday is a stat holiday here, nothing is open, so they can't get the new furnace and the parts until Sometime Saturday.

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy your weekend.

I was at Pilates this morning (Friday) despite that it was a holiday as there are still people playing tennis there so the club was open.
My friend Anne came up after class so we sat in the outside terrace of the cafe with others and had coffees and some hot cross buns made by one of the ladies in my class. The weather is mild, overcast with a warm breeze.

I'm going to prepare a fish lunch today and then check out to see what time the Good Friday processions will be taking place around the island. Here there are a lot of church ceremonies and processions carrying statues in the streets, with members wearing those tall pointed head coverings. (Semana Santa = Holy Week.) I would like to get a few photos downtown if I can find out the place and time.
Anne said she'd come with me.

Easter Sunday I'll be doing a duck dinner for Wolf and I.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate this holiday.....otherwise Happy Friday!

SharonCb

I'm cleaning and baking today. Have got to make some Hot Cross Buns or it wouldn't seem right. I'm already having a hard time beleiving it's really Easter already. No big plans, it's going to be a quiet weekend here. We'll have a nice dinner for Easter and just relax.

Nancy

{{gwi:1502390}}
Happy Easter!

There will be 12 of us this Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and having a relaxing day.

Hope you all have a wonderful day as well!!

TGIF, all! Ohmy your flowers are beautiful Sharon and Shaun. It's dumping snow at my house right now...looks like there's 3+" on my car, sighhhhhhh..... They canceled our community Easter Egg hunt for the first time in years.

Duane, you are ambitious. I've been buying my tomato starts the last few years, but this year we're starting our own. Only a couple of dozen though. We're starting peppers and onion seed tomorrow, and I'll wait a week or two to start tomatoes and cole crops. Since there's still 3-4 feet of snow on my garden, I think we won't get the greenhouses up until May.

We aren't doing much for Easter, a nice dinner, Aunt Margaret's rolls, and a laid back day. The (22 yo) kid wants to color eggs...I think she's regressing.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. ~clink~

Hi all and TGIGF!

What's good about it around here is the sun is shining! Yeah! But the wind is fierce and the ground is saturated, but nothing like the poor souls in the midwest..I can't imagine.

Duane, I too am jealous of the tomato seedlings you'll have soon. Sigh, I gave up the veggies when the raised bed got too shaded and the critters got the drop on me all week while I was in NY. I feel your pain, Chase.

Sharon CB, I got green with envy and immediately went to the web to look at the Canary Islands...Wah!!!! I want to go there.

Nancy, enjoy your buns :)

Happy Easter Everyone!

Bubbe

I've been really slow at getting back into gear after St Thomas. A sight head cold slowed me down even further but that's gone. Have some summer clothes to put away from unpacking (not enough room in NY for two seasons) and I plan to go to the gym either today or tomorrow.

Happy Easter everyone!

Duane, I grew my own tomatoes last year, for the first time. They were just cherry tomatoes (b.a.b.y. steps) but it was a very rewarding experience nonetheless, and one I'm looking forward to again, this spring.

Thankfully, we've missed almost every snowstorm reportedly headed our way, in our corner of MI. And although we've had milder weather than most, with no snow, sunny days and clear skies, it has still been too cold to trade my snow hat for a lovely Easter bonnet.

Bubbe, take care of that head cold.

Sol

Bubbe,you reminded me of the help you gave me when I was planting a new perennial bed a few years back. I know you will recall sending me lots of pics of your gardens in the country as well as a list of all the plants. That was a few years back.

I did plant that garden with much inspiration from you. I did post some pics but that was when you were off galloping the globe.

I'll email pics when it is finally up this year...if that happens !

Happy Good Friday and Easter everyone! Duane, good luck with the pooches.

Sharon I know a way to keep warm until your furnace gets fixed but hey 'incest is a game the whole family can play' OK I'll accept my punishment for that one now

Sharon (Canary) beautiful flowers, enjoy your day!

Nancy post pix of your buns. The bread, that is.

(boy I'm on a roll today)

Katie send me some snow its going to be hot here. Can I come color eggs with DD?

Bubbe, eat some more kumquats, then look at your calendar. PASSOVER IS AROUND THE CORNER bwahahahaaa. I checked out NY Times Passover cookbook on a whim from our library. Time to start stressing? Neah, I have two lbs of chicken feet in the freezer!

Sol I'm afraid to grow maters. I kill plants!

Love your hopping bunny, Diana.

I have two challahs in the oven...one with chocolate chips for the miserable kids. The other one is plain for the adults. That should keep my kids at the table longer - my DF and his wife are driving down for dinner. Clear the freeways! On a whim as inspired by Lars I put up a pumpernickel bread in my bread machine. I would have preferred to free form it but the clock tells me I may not be able to accomplish that with kid carpool in the middle of the afternoon.

Barely time to breathe tomorrow - synagogue bar mitzvah, then Sweeney Todd at the theater, then drive the kid to/from the Bar Mitzvah party. Sunday I work at the synagogue gift shop, snarf down lunch, then its SHOWTIME for the second and last performance of our synagogue play.

Maybe I'll sleep through the night Sat or Sunday, ya think?

Oh Canarybird -- I LOVE brugsmansias! Thanks for posting that picture!

Easter Sunday here is going to be taken up mortaring, tiling, and grouting as part of our total bathroom renovation -- whee! Just made a big batch of minestrone today to help keep us going over the weekend... But I was thinking perhaps I'd pick up some lamb chops as a treat...

Have a good weekend folks!
Emily

Happy and Joyous Easter everyone. Spring is a time of birth and rebirth and with the miracle baby in my tummy I am feeling a part of spring. Went to Dr yesterday and found out that I am only 4 weeks along, too soon to see the baby or heartbeat. Which puts the birth between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We decided not to find out the sex of the baby this time around but it's middle name will be Shaun which is our Dr's first name:) LOL just to remind us of how special the baby is.

I am at my folks and mom watched the kids so I could go and pick up some of my maternity clothes, yes 4 weeks prego and in maternity clothes, how big will I get this time. I also did a little shopping and thrift shopping. Nice to get out and run around without the kids. Found out that my sis who is scheduled for c-section next Thursday is thinning out and having major contractions so they may take the baby tonight or tomorrow sometime. They sent her to the mall to run errands and see if it keeps up.

We go do DH's family tomorrow and will come back to mine Sunday. My nephew that was born in January ( Aiden) only has 6 3-6 month outfits so I need to stop by home and trade my maternity clothes for my 2 20 gallon totes of boy 3-6 month clothes for her to borrow for Aiden. He is such a cutie at 2 months.

So busy weekend full of family but no cooking for me:)

Stacie

great to see that things continue as always around here--duane is starting tomatoes and sharon has incredible flowers blooming while katie is shoveling and likely scraping, and bubbe and the rest of us in the northeast are hoping the wind doesn't take all the paint off our homes! poor chase--i'm picturing 18 folks huddling together in your kitchen while you're trying to cook--sure hope things come tgether ok for you!

work has taken up a whole lot more time and energy than i'd like recently but nothing to be done about that. and then, my computer decided it would only communicate when and if IT wanted to! that's settled but man, seems like things have been just an annoyance lately. fortunately that's all--everything else is just fine.

it's spring as far as the calendar goes but it hasn't exactly arrived here yet :) still have quite a bit of snow that needs to melt but, we now have some open water from the area of the dam and creeping outwards in our direction--that's as good an indicator of spring as anything i know! hope you are all seeing signs of it too. when things are going right, it really is the absolute best season of the year! hope you all get a chance to enjoy it as much as we will--whenever it really arrives :)

Happy Easter All! I'm doing my Easter dinner tomorrow, 12 people. I'm sure it will be fun. I already have everything preped and ready to go so I won't have to work too hard. Luckily, so far, the snow we were suppose to get today has stayed to the north so everyone should be able to get here.

hi all Happy Friday! We're off to Lake Placid for a looong weekend but Happy Easter everyone!

Happy Friday and a Happy Easter to all. Spring?? Not here. I have 6 inches of snow to clear, about 10 mile north of me they have over 12inches. I have yet to even see my snowdrops and they are usually in February. Plus I have a new gas grill sitting on the patio in its crate waiting for assembly. This is the winter that won't end.

I think I have a special Saturday afternoon and dinner in the works but Sunday will be just Dad and myself. I am not complaining, I like a slow holiday. Leg of lamb, rice pilaf, fresh asparagus and a morning start of mimosa and the paper.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Last night we saw my cousin's son's girlfriend sing Miss Donnithornes's Maggot, along with another vocalist doing Eight Songs for a Mad King. I have never been a fan of atonal music but she performed it flawlessly, as far as Max and I could tell. Both of them are masters students in opera at CU. In a few weeks they are both singing in The Cunning Little Vixen which will be a lot more fun to see.

Today we spent most of the time doing last minute shopping and coloring and decorating eggs. We will be fifteen for dinner at our DIL's brother's house. I have most of my prep work done.

And now, after a wonderful 55° sunny day - it's SNOOOOWING! Tomorrow will be cool, around 50° but we have the low 70's forecast for most of the week.

Sharon, I hope you all huddle together and stay warm. We have a lot of 24/7 heating and plumbing services - of course you pay dearly for off hours service.

Duane, I'll bet your house is doggie heaven and that you have a great time with them. We take our dog to a bed and breakfast (and dinner too but it's just called a B & B) and he loves it. They have up to six dogs at a time, the owner is wonderful and sooo good with dogs. We have often come to pick up our dog to see all her charges, who may never have met before, sitting in a semicircle around her waiting for individual praise or treats. The dogs have more freedom than they would in our house, but our dog knows there are rules here and rules there and he doen't confuse the two.

Katie, we have never missed a year coloring eggs, even when there are only the two of us for Easter.

Happy Easter everyone.

Lee

Happy Easter everyone!

Fortunately the annual Easter blizzard blew right past the area where I live, but it caused major problems up north. It did get very windy here, but there was no snow, which is a blessing.

I cooked myself a nice fillet of lamb with garlic potatoes for the occasion. Then my grandmother called to invite me to dinner tomorrow - we will be having leg of lamb, which I also had on Friday at my mother's. I am going to have to eat salads for the rest of the week while my stomach recovers.