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Easter – What We Did

Holidays can sometimes be stressful for us because we want to be everywhere at once and we often miss seeing one part of the family or have to leave early/arrive late. This year Easter seemed to come early and for a variety of reasons it worked out that we didn’t have to zip from here to there with too much of a fuss. We ended up meeting up with Barry’s side of the family for breakfast at The Farmhouse and then Linda treated us to a tour of RoozenGaarde, which wasn’t too crowded considering it was Easter Sunday. 

The tulips weren’t quite out yet, but the daffodils sure were putting on a show. Since we tend to take pictures in fields to mark holidays, it seemed appropriate that we break the rules and take some shots with Brian and Darcy. We had to make sure that the ‘flag guy’ wasn’t looking when we ran down the rows. After our tour of the gardens we headed back up to Greg and Linda’s and eventually over to Barry’s grandparents house for lunch. 

Linda had hidden eggs around their house and Maggie finally discovered the joy in plunking eggs in to her bucket. While we ate candy and looked at our easter baskets  (Thanks, Linda!), we took shifts hiding the eggs for Maggie, who would go wait in the bathroom down the hallway for us to hide the eggs. I think next year she’ll really flip over the Easter Bunny…should be fun. 

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A Magnificent Weekend

We had the kind of weekend that I love: productive, at home, and together. We scrapped our plans at the last minute to drive up to B-Ham and ended up staying home to work in the yard all day. Since neither Barry or I could remember the last time that we both were able to log some hours together getting our hands dirty, I say it was high-time we did just that. The weather was nice enough for us to contemplate sunscreen, only to decide we didn’t need it, and then Barry went and burned the lower part of his back. Go figure.

With the exception of me baking a few things and leaving to go get more yard waste bags, we worked in the yard from start to finish. I’m pretty sure the only person that will be able to notice will be my mom because  as we settled into our Adirondack chairs, sipping wine and eating dinner, we noticed that our yard resembled a project that she would typically have her hand in. (I say this because one time we ‘lost’ an entire Holly tree thanks to her. Don’t worry, that tree had it comin’ and I’m glad it wasn’t me snippin’ away!) We filled our yard waste bin and 10 (THAT’S RIGHT, FOLKS, TEN!) yard waste bins. It helps that I hacked into the horrible, horrible bamboo.

As I cleaned up the enormous pile of bamboo that I chopped down, I serenaded Barry with Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” since about 98% of me wanted to ignore the heap of bamboo and move onto the other part of our yard that was calling my name. He seemed to appreciate the gesture. More than anything, I think he liked that I didn’t leave a ton of bamboo in the middle of our yard. If that isn’t love, I guess I don’t know what is. Serenading and yard waste removal speaks volumes at HBHQ.

But the best part of my weekend was when I got to bust out the hedge trimmer and use it to open up some space around a poor Maple that hasn’t been getting any love for the past few seasons. I don’t know what it is, but I love power tools. I’d never trust myself with a “real” tool like a power saw or anything else that could cut a limb or finger off in a matter of seconds. I think the hedge trimmer is power enough for me and by the looks of the southeast part of our yard that much might be obvious to our next guests. So it goes.

If Saturday was the day to be outside working all day, then Sunday was the day to be outside working most of the day. We took our time reading the Sunday paper, eating breakfast and took Syd for a stroll. By the time we slinked into our work clothes it was almost time for Maggie’s nap. The weather wasn’t as nice, but Barry ended up spreading a ton of mulch and compost around so now everything looks practically new. So fresh.

Maggie and I left Barry at home for the afternoon and had a make-your-own pizza date at the Merk house, by the time we got home it was almost time for bed time. We had hung some lights around The Pit (we need a better name) earlier in the day and they set of a warmish glow from that part of the yard. Barry took Maggie out there to check it out and later, after Maggie had fallen asleep, we went out again to get a feel for what’s to come.

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Eggs & The Mags

Spring is in the air and it just makes me utterly giddy! A few days ago I boiled a dozen eggs with the plan that we’d spread out some newspaper and go to town dyeing those suckers, but life got the better of us and we continually opted to be outside. And then yesterday, while walking Sydney, I had an epiphany and realized that we should dye those dang eggs outside! Duh!

I started to talk to Maggie about the ‘project’ that we were going to do when we got home and how much fun it was going to be. I told her all about the table that we were going to set up and how we were going to carefully move the eggs outside and make them change color. She seemed excited at the idea of a ‘project’ and when we got home she instantly hunted down her apron like we’d talked about.  She got a bit distracted by her baby dolls and I used that time to fill the dye cups and get them ready to transport. I also went to our back room to change my lens and within less than a minute, Maggie stopped playing with her dollies and found the blue dye on the counter top.

I came around the corner to see her ‘holding’ the blue dye cup and standing in a huge blue puddle. At first I wanted to laugh really hard because….well, it looked funny. But the next thought was about our hardwood floors (Funny that I didn’t worry about the ugly linoleum in our kitchen…) and if we were now forever destined to look at a blue stain. Thankfully it wiped right off, but the dye on Maggie’s hand? Not so much. We’re working on it, but I swear that she must have soaked her hand in that blue dye trying to get it off the counter.

Once things got set up outside, we were ready to rumble. Asking an almost two-year old to wait a few minutes while some eggs soak in colorful water felt like a mean, mean trick. We went and added coats and hats to our wardrobe, in hopes of distracting ourselves a bit, but Maggie practically sprinted back outside to “watch de eggs.”

And watch she did……there was something about that blue that she just loved. I eventually gave up on trying to have her use the tool and just let her dig her hands right into the dye. It’ll come off soon, I hope.

When Barry got home later in the day, Maggie instantly wanted to show him her eggs and was very proud about her work, dropping one or two in the process and wondering why they broke. I totally understand why she’s so proud, look at those colors! You’ve got to wait a long time to get such vibrant colors!!

So, Spring is springing up around us. We mowed the lawn for the first time this week and actually spent time pulling weeds in the garden, it felt good. We still have our winter coats close by, but I can feel the weather shifting and it makes me hippity-hoppity-happy!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!