bunny hops

Yes, it feels like I'm bunny hopping my way through the morning. So much to do, so little time for any of it. I had an easy time unpacking last night, just before midnight, but this morning the ten day neglect of house and home came at me full force. 

Well, one thing at a time.

First, let's see what happened out in the flower fields while I was away. Cold, snow, rain -- all this slowed down the unfurling of plant life. I see that just a few daffodils have popped,  though the helleborus (lenten rose) is at its prime moment of great lovelinees...

Bot otherwise, the greening of the garden has slowed down. Fine. I will enjoy it in the weeks ahead.

The new chickens are more acclimated to farmette life and the three youngest ones have grown plump! Well now, free ranging seems to suit them just fine.

I leave them and the cats to their breakfast foods and without sitting down yet to my own morning meal, I head out to the grocery store. It opens at 8. I'm there just a few seconds after. I miss my morning coffee terribly, but I want breakfast with Ed and he is nowhere near ready for it in the early hours of the day.

Then, to Batch Bakehouse to pick up breads and cookies for the kids, and now I'm back, and the laundry is spinning, and the groceries are put away, and the tulips from the grocery store) are in vases on the table, and we're ready to eat our Easter breakfast of panettone -- that yeasty bread with fruits and nuts that Ed tolerates and I love. This one is from Roy's. Italian? -- you ask. No, if you read the link, you'll see that Roy bakes his in Houston. And honestly, I think it's the best I've had in a long time! (I got the one with strawberries, pistachios and mascarpone. Not too sweet. Delicious.)

Eventually I pause with house work, with laundry, with helping Ed with the mechanicals in the basement. Time to fix Easter dinner for the young family.

Christmas and Easter are times when I deviate from my predictable Sunday menus. Easter, to me, begs for a roasted chicken (and asparagus and roasted potatoes and corn for the kids). My big challenge always is to roast the bird to a crispy and even doneness, without drying out the breast or setting off the smoke alarm. (I've finally figured out that if I preheat the pan and start roasting at 500f, or 260c, and then after about twenty minutes turn it down to 400f, or 205c, I'll get the crispy skin without having to fan the alarm to shut it off!)

Okay, here they come!

First -- Sparrow. Handsomely attired.

Then mommy, daddy and Sandpiper. The boy fell asleep in the car. With a strawberry in his mouth, which no one knew about, except then we wondered -- why is he so quiet? Sandpiper is not a quiet boy!

And of course Snowdrop, who right away hits the olives -- an acquired love from Spain.

Dinner!

It's great to see them all again and it's of course a relief to have the ultimate responsibility for Snowdrop lifted, so that I can go back to being the grandma and not worry about getting her through the day!

Easter ends for us with sugar cookies, baked not by me! 

Well, Easter really ends with my kitchen clean up and Ed completely zonking out on the couch. He had worked hard getting the tomato fields ready for planting and it is a given that after all that outdoor activity, he'll fall asleep before me. 

Have I left the European clock behind me? How quickly we return to home routines after a vacation! 

with love...