I hope all of you had a joyful Easter and were able to celebrate with those you love. And to all my readers who observe Passover, I hope you had a beautiful celebration as well.
Thanks for the notes from those of you who have missed my newspaper column. If I were still "at it," I'd certainly write about . . .the children in Ukraine, some nice people I've recently met, and how I think the commercial that tells people it's okay to wear your slippers in public is FALSE. They say, "No one will know." Actually, yes we do. Pajama pants in public were bad enough, don't take this final plunge into fashion darkness. Society is shaky enough without slippers in the restaurants. But for now . . .
I absolutely love Easter, so I invited a group of middle school girls over to have a craft day. Our designs were based on the decoupage project I wrote about HERE. These girls are my bright hope for the future. They are smart, funny and grounded in deep faith and good values. They're also just a little bit . . . you know, "middle-schooly" which keeps things real and reminds me that someone was once kind to me when I was that age and OFF THE CHART "middle-schooly" Bless their hearts.
We enjoyed a little sugar. Oh- yes! The "nest" was actually edible. This was for my youngest friends. Now, here's news on my oldest non-sugar eating friend . . .
You may remember Jule Moon from previous posts over the years. The last story in my book, Exploding Hushpuppies, "When a Southern Lady Walks into a Room" is about her. I've been helping her prepare for a move to Nursing Facility. Thank goodness, she has an army of friends who all pitched in. Jule remains as sharp as the day she turned 21. The day she moved (above) was very emotional, but she brushed off her ever-present optimism, popped on a smile, and took with her . . . a hair dryer, makeup bag, four sparkly beaded tops, a jar of olives, and a large dictionary so she can continue writing . She said, "I'm going to write a story about this!" Then she called out, "Wait! I need my sunglasses!" Jule will be 103 this coming June. Before she moved, Jule used her eagle eye and sharp mind to proof read my new book. WHAT??? ( keep reading). More about Jule Here.
I have to show you a photo of a gorgeous luncheon from a few weeks ago, hosted by friends Emily and Lucy. I could write an entire post on how perfect everything was. It was elegant with a warm, casual feel. The table setting, food, hand lettered menus, and table arrangements were all fabulous and made the guests feel special. And a bonus? I loved all the ladies around the table.
Our Easter church service was amazing. In both services, the sanctuary was full, the overflow room was full, the crying room (where I appropriately sat because Easter music always chokes me up) was full, and 30 chairs were added to the hallway. It's so good to see people returning to church. Can you believe it was two years ago Easter services were sidelined by COVID?
An Easter treat found me when a friend came over after church and slipped a bag of my favorite cheese straws into my pocketbook. She knows I love them more than chocolate bunnies. Don't you love thoughtful people? (say yes).
Our Easter lunch at home was small and casual this year. I used my "new" set of old dishes, collected piece by piece from antique stores. It's by Harmony House - the Monticello pattern, which is what my grandmother had. The pink and blue flower boarder was perfect for Easter. I still need a few serving pieces. It's a never-ending sickness game.hobby passion.
My son Joseph came home and here he is seating my mother. Ahh . . . my heart is full.
I didn't even get a photo of us all dressed up for church. I had a new Easter dress. The matching shoes arrived . . . the day after Easter. Aagghh!
My menu was Coca-Cola ham, potatoes au gratin, asparagus egg and cheese tarts, glazed carrots, pink deviled eggs, pickled okra relish tray, lemon cakes and brownies. Sister Schubert made the rolls since I'm no good at that.
And the rest of my time? I've been working on a Christmas book. Instead of being a compilation of several of my short stories like the other books, this is one story only and was originally a newspaper column from 10 years ago. I'm expanding it and filling in details, which proves to be harder than I thought.
I continue to have fun working with Andy Andrew's new site, Wisdom Harbour. I write and sometimes read content on the site along with other contributors I'm sure you'd love. And if you will be in Orange Beach, Alabama this summer (and who isn't?) stop by Andy's studio and store at The Wharf and say hello.
It's good to catch up with my readers. Let me know what you've been up to this spring. I've missed connecting with all of you! And as always, thanks for reading.
