Manifestations of Spring

pink Hyacinths from Walmart

Unlike some Easter weekends we've had through the years, this time we were blessed with abundant sunshine and the kind of warmth that makes you want to wear sandals and buy flowers.

Well okay, I admit it. I wore socks with my sandals and jeans. It was still on the cool side.

Columbines and Hosta

We also bought more Columbines... they did so well for us at our last house, but the four years we've been at The Brown Bungalow our state bloom has faltered, sadly. Each year we try a new location. Maybe this setting under the bay window will satisfy their requirements.

We paired them with Hosta, a plant I've wanted to try for years.

a hardy little bud has appeared

I am so pleased to report that on this Easter weekend, Veronica Speedwell has come out of what looked to be certain death to bud once again. She had me scared but I guess she just needed a little more time. Apparently she wanted to be a sermon illustration.

Former Farmer gave her to me four years ago and although she protested a bit with the relocation from the Midwest to Colorado's Front Range, she has shown off her purple flowers every year before summer's end.

a re-run photo of the thrift store Easter center piece

I shared this delight just a few days ago as we were preparing for Easter. It really made the dining table decor just pop!

dishes from Walmart and the thrift store

I've said before that I like to shop at thrift stores. I buy the occasional skirt or cardigan there, but the real treasures (for me) are jewels for my home. This yellow bowl is one of them. Actually I have a set of six of these buttercup delights. They cheer me just to look at them, and doesn't the white dinner plate from the Pioneer Woman collection at Walmart just set it off? The placemats are from Kohl's and the napkins came from Sister a couple of birthdays ago.

The chocolate bunny -- I have to tell you a funny little story about him. When Beloved bit off the ears of his bunny, he (Beloved) suddenly became deaf! He could not hear a thing I was saying to him! Such a jokester!!

the table adorned with my dear guests

Everybody held still and nobody blinked while I took this obligatory snapshot before they began to eat. 

The menu was light because on holidays we need to share the kids with other family members who prepare a much larger dinner. Blessedly, this has worked out well for all of us.  Our menu was an Asian Pear Salad with a Lemon Vinaigrette dressing, deviled eggs, crescent rolls, ice water, and chocolate bunnies. 

visitors in Sister's yard

Before I close this out, you need to see other signs of spring that have appeared in Sister's yard.  Obviously that's Peter Rabbit to the right of center. This other fellow was the topic of a family round robin of emails, trying to figure out just who or what he was.

posing for the camera

The first thought was he might be a badger who had traveled down from Wisconsin.

"What are you lookin' at?!"

But the final consensus among those who know such things was that he's a ground hog.  If he was indeed from Wisconsin, then Sister concluded that the grass must be greener in Illinois, hence his appearance in her yard!

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