Happy Easter!

AND THE BEAT GOES ON…

I hope that all goes well with you and yours. Everything at this end is incredible. Mom is holding her own, and I am very thankful for the time we spend together. It is interesting being a “senior” with a “super senior” parent. There is an acceptance of aging that I’ve come to respect. My mother, at 96, is still teaching me a new set of life lessons. The virtue of patience is the utmost as is the art of carefully listening. It is very gratifying.

I have pretty much adjusted to the new timetable that Spring Forward brings. The one thing I don’t like is waking up in the dark, although it has been a treat to have warmer temperatures and bright sun for the last few days. I love that the birds have started building their nests and enjoy their non-stop songs. Every year my bird houses are full, and the front porch light has its tenants back once again. There are all sorts of colors and types of birds, but I always am glad to see the robins back. Usually, they are here in mid-March, but the first I time saw them this year was early April. “My” owls, who have been “missing” for the last month or so, have returned, and the first thing I hear at dusk and early morning is their who-who-wooing to each other. What a great chorus to fall asleep and wake up to.

 The frogs and toads fill the nighttime silence with their melodies. Yesterday I saw a copper-colored frog while on a hike. His tummy was huge, so I’m guessing he just had a good meal of some sort. Turtles were sleepily sunning as I walked by the pond today, their shells all deep green and glossy. My gardens are bursting with early flowers popping up. The rhubarb is growing in leaps and bounds. Tender chives are ready to snip and use as are the thyme and marjoram. The lovage is beautiful as it pokes the first tender leaves out of the soil. Thirty years ago, Tom and I randomly planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs throughout the property, and they’ve naturalized, providing a spectacular display of white and yellow flowers.

Maddie and Sophie are happy and recently celebrated their 13th birthdays and 6 years with me. Sophie is still an energizer bunny and runs after the herd of deer that visit each morning. She doesn’t listen to my requests to stay home, so I just watch her little white body bop up and down through the trees. Of course, she never comes close to catching up with the deer and eventually heads back. Maddie, on the other hand, could care less and waits with me for her return.

Riding goes well. I love the time I spend in the saddle. It is physically and mentally challenging, both in good ways.

Movie review: A Real Pain, is great. I watched it on a flight to my nephew’s wedding last weekend and ironically toured The Holocaust Museum in DC the next day. Powerful.

I’ll be at the Commerce Library on May 7th. Please come to visit and enjoy some samples of treats from my cookbook. Which, by the way, would make a wonderful gift for your mom or special cook in your life. Register here: https://commercetwp-library.libcal.com/event/14159413

Hope you enjoy the brunch recipes! They are easy and allow you time to have fun with family and guests.

I WISH YOU MANY MILLION DOLLAR DAYS!
XXOO,
Mary, Maddie, Sophie, and Ponies