Monthly Archives: April 2011

the wedding

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This morning, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to head to the State Theatre for a live broadcast of THE wedding. Along with about 500 other people! I had a blast.
Here are a few thoughts on the big wedding…

  • Pippa stole the show. That dress? Gorgeous. I’m a bit concerned about her tan though…
  • The Queen looked just darling in yellow, didn’t she? I wanted to squeeze her soft, fleshy arms and give her a big hug, but I think that might be frowned upon.
  • I love scones with strawberry jam. And earl grey tea. And mini cornish pasties. And mimosas.
  • This inescapable urge to wear hats more often just won’t go away.
  • Harry is a lot cuter than William. And I feel a bit sorry for William. Losing his hair before age 30? Yikes!
  • My favorite part? Hearing William and Kate’s voices while exchanging their vows. I’m not sure I breathed. It really WAS just like a movie.
  • My prediction for the most popular baby names for 2011-2012? Pippa, Kate, Will.
  • I guess I’m a sucker for tradition, pomp & circumstance. Didn’t even know it!
  • Wondering how heavy those big black hats are that the Buckingham Palace guards wear? And how do you store one of those when you’re not wearing it?
  • It goes without saying (err, writing too) that Kate looked absolutely stunning. Although I think the eyeliner was a bit too heavy.
  • The music was beautiful – I just love those boy choirs. But I was concerned that so many of the young boys were already wearing glasses. What’s up with the British eyesight?!
  • I got to sit next to a real live princess: Baby Margo! I’m so glad my good friend, Kristen, invited me to go. What a memorable event!
They are just too cute, right?! And at 3:45 a.m. too!
Did you watch the wedding, lovelies? What did you think? Is this all just ridiculous? Yes, a bit. But it’s fun, no?!

wonders of Easter

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We had such a wonderful Easter this year. It was sunny and felt so springy. New life! We spent most of the day outside when we weren’t eating one of our decadent meals or chomping on chocolate bunnies. The weekend was full of wonder for the little birdie (and us!), beginning with a real bunny sighting in our backyard on Saturday morning. Bunny!!!! Another highlight: Peeps? This is really a food? I just love the expression on her face below. Classic.

We also colored eggs this year using the simple McCormick food colors and the colors came out beautifully vibrant on the white eggs and deep and earthy on the brown eggs. It had never occurred to me that I could even use simple food coloring. Until I saw some beautiful pics over on Not Martha and wondered how she could achieve those amazing colors. Food coloring, duh! Last year I tried doing all-natural vegetable dyes and they came out all blah. Throw some “safe” chemicals at ’em and voila!

But wait, there’s more.

Magic seeds! We started a new tradition this year that we borrowed from my sister-in-law’s family. The day before Easter we planted “magic seeds” all over the lawn. We used grass seed, as I had plenty on hand from my egg cup project.  We checked on them several times over the course of the afternoon and evening and made sure to also say goodnight to them before bed. In the morning, we went outside to check on them and the seeds had bloomed (boom!!! says the birdie) into 200 Dum-Dum suckers!

And a little costume change for the afternoon… a pretty little Easter dress. Piddy dess!!! Oh, and another sucker. That would probably be number 6 for the day?

How was your Easter, lovelies? Full of hope, renewal and chocolate bunnies?! And a few sugar-fueled meltdowns to round out the day? What are some of your favorite Easter traditions? Will you send me a picture or a link, or share a story with my readers in the comments section? Please and thank you!

‘dama’s Snow Bunny

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Wren just adores her ‘dama Judy. They do such fun things together every week, like going for walks to Morsels, Wren’s favorite place, and making a snow bunny! We’ve already lost a lot of snow from earlier in the week, but there was plenty of wet snow left for making a snow bunny. Isn’t it adorable? I didn’t feel much like sculpting anything else with snow this year. I just wanted to sit inside, read books and eat popcorn. Thank goodness for ‘dama Judy! We feel very blessed that we have family who live nearby and take such an active interest in the little birdie’s development as a snow sculptor.

Seedy retail therapy

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What’s a gal to do when it’s nearing the end of April and there are eight (8!) heavy, wet, clinging to everything inches of new snow in these parts? Lots of chocolate and a hot, steamy beverage come to mind. Or maybe a glass of something a bit stronger, but given my present condition, my best Mama judgment says nope.

Maybe just curl up under a heavy blanket and thumb through the seed catalogs and pine for warmer days…? Because spring will come and summer will come. Please? Last year this time, we already had sprouted plenty of tomato plants inside and I had already transplanted them into larger pots. Yes, it was unseasonably warm and sunny, but still. It kinda hurts to look back on that time given our present wintery mix. Sigh.

With hopefulness overshadowing the winter blues mixed with a heavy dose of retail therapy, I just placed my orders!

I decided this year that I will get some tomato, basil and broccoli starts from a local farmer instead of starting them from seed given the calendar and the weather. And use up what’s left of our seeds from last year. Sugar snap peas, anyone? Maybe we’ll plant those this weekend and it will be our new Easter tradition. Nothing quite like having a little dirt under the fingernails while chomping a chocolate bunny’s head off, I always say.

So what does a little seedy retail therapy look like?

  • strawberry plants
  • asparagus crowns
  • bells of ireland
  • dill
  • parsley
  • radish
  • mixed lettuce
  • spinach
  • kale
  • carrots
  • delicata squash
  • french fingerling potato plants
  • honey ace melon
  • jade beans
  • fennel
  • cucumbers
  • beets
  • tigger melon
  • zucchini
  • mache
  • peas
What plans do you have for your garden this year, lovelies? At least a pot or two of some cherry tomatoes, right? I would love to hear/see your plans! Here’s to a happy growing season. Someday soon?!

fig inside of a grapefruit

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Exciting news! According to the powers that be, I have somebody the size of a fig growing inside my uterus, which is now the size of a grapefruit. I bet your first thought is, but aren’t figs and grapefruit grown at different times of the year? Oh, that wasn’t your first thought?! Yes, Wren’s Nest will be expecting a new little birdie at the end of October and we are thrilled. A Halloween baby! Shall we call it Pumpkin?

It seemed more fun to write that I have a fig inside of a grapefruit than to just say I’m pregnant. Maybe this will be the new 12-week pregnancy euphemism? Speaking of pregnancy euphemisms, which ones do you like or dislike?

  • bun in the oven
  • expecting
  • with child
  • knocked up
  • preggers/preggo
  • on stork watch
  • in a delicate condition
  • in the family way
Let the wild ride begin… again!

click on

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Happy weekend, lovelies. Do you have any fun plans? We’ve got a couple fun things planned, including going for a hike in the woods to hear the spring peepers and check out the first of the spring wildflowers. “They” say we’re going to experience a mix of rain and snow this weekend, but I’m hopeful that it’s mostly rain at this point. We need it to wash all the yuck away…

If you ARE stuck inside a bit, check out these inspiring links:

  • I had pretty much written off using crepe paper for decorating. Until now. Gasp!
  • Great ideas for making time in your life for crafting.
  • Rainy day blues? Dress for (colorful!) rainy day success.
  • Starting seeds this spring? Check out this handy calendar for when to start your hopeful cornucopia of veggies.
  • I love to click in on the Sweet Juniper blog and was thrilled to see the new hand-drawn header image. What do you think?
Here’s to a restful weekend. Whew.

taste of summer

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Happy spring, err, summer? Wasn’t last weekend amazing (and strange)? We snuck down to Chicago to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday (surprise!) and were greeted with a taste of summer. Yes, it even got hot enough that we started to complain… almost 90, humid and sunny! It felt great to be outside all day in t-shirts, gulping lemonade and grilling burgers. The telltale sign that it really was still spring? Forsythia.

Me thinks it’s going to be a wonderful summer. As long as I have enough popsicles in the freezer…

cups of grass!

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Don’t you just love egg cups? I sure do. And I also enjoy soft-boiled eggs. AND I love the idea of eating the eggs in beautiful little cups. But I hardly ever eat an egg in one of our egg cups! So what’s a gal to do…?

Turn them into little planters, of course!

Lovelies, this is SO simple and rewarding. Bonus! Easy to do with your wee ones too. Have some potting soil, a bit of grass seed and a few cute little containers? You’re set. Want cups of grass for Easter? Let’s get growing!

First fill up your containers almost to the top with the potting soil because this airy stuff settles a lot once watered and you’ll want the grass growing near the top, no?

Sprinkle the grass seed in very liberally then dump in a bit more soil. Water the little guys and place them in a sunny spot. Then watch them grow! In less than a week, we had grass. I think it’s even time for a hair cut, don’t you think?

What fun spring/Easter projects are you up to these days? Send me some links! I’m looking for more fun Easter things to do with the little birdie…

moss

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Yup, we’re still wearing winter hats here in da frozen north country, but mostly only in the mornings. Only a few big snow piles in the northern shadowy reaches remain. The squirrels have been eating the crocus as soon as they begin to get real showy. Arrghh. What’s it like in your neighborhood, lovelies?

We spent almost all of yesterday’s play time outside, which included a long meandering walk through the neighborhood going wherever the little birdie wanted to go. Do you ever do this with your kids? Just let go and let them lead YOU on a walk? We end up discovering fun places like drainage ditches, “bowls,” as Wren calls them, with patches of sprightly green moss. One of yesterday’s new words! Moss.

We even grilled out AND ate dinner outside at the picnic table. I think the little birdie even had a little pink in her complexion this morning. So it only hit 50 yesterday, but we’ve got some major spring fever around here, can you tell? No flip flops yet, but I’m not wearing any socks today. Just in case.

Waking up to the smell of skunk was even a bit thrilling. Spring really has sprung!