Hard to believe it was rainy and cold for the Easter weekend, but today, it is sunny and warm, the perfect Spring day. Trees are budding, birds are singing and love is in the air. A sure sign of the season is seeing ducks around in our swimming pool as the female chooses her mate. Here in Phoenix we pray for more days like this because we know that blistering temperature will be heading our way in a few months. Welcome to the first Saturday Meanderings of April, where we chat about all good things this past week. I really appreciate you joining me today with a cup of your favorite beverages while reading this.

Easter Recap

As I mentioned earlier, the wet weather prevented us from having a meal in the palm orchard, but the covered back terrace is the perfect place to gather out of the elements. With a fire going in the fireplace and the outdoor and space heaters on, twelve of us sit down to brunch.

Before our meal, however, is the annual Easter egg hunt. The Easter bunny places 521 plastic eggs (yes, he counted them this year), with 200 of the eggs filled with money. Though a bit wet and muddy, the children (now well into adulthood) fiercely compete to see who is get the most eggs and hopefully the most cash.

It is a very competitive, almost a contact sport but we’ve yet to see any physical injuries as they fill the wicker baskets provided. After the hunt, we start our Easter brunch on the covered back terrace, Spinach and goat cheese quiches, honey baked ham, green salad, fresh fruit, waffle bar and mimosas are on tap. Dessert is the annual lamb cake and limoncello bundt cake. Of course, I did not take pictures. Sigh.

My son, in Chicago, makes his official lamb cake and it is much better than mine! If you don’t follow him on Instagram, you may want to @crozier_cooks. Obviously I didn’t grease my lamb cake mold well enough because the cake did not come out cleanly.

But after some reconstructive surgery and a lot of frosting, here is my lamb cake. Sorry for the awful picture with the messy kitchen in the background. It was a busy day…

This is a perfect example where the student clearly outperforms the teacher! So proud of his creation.

It is a big day for Finn and he equally loves his stuffed bunny and chicken, snoozing through most of the festivities.

Speaking of Finn, he also had his first wellness check at the vet. As you can see, he is not too bothered by the experience!

Spring Flowers

As cold as it was last weekend, on Thursday, it was 85 degrees. The temperature is supposed to drop again this weekend, but the warmer intervals are encouraging the flowers to blossom.

Hollyhocks are just showing their pretty blooms too.

Nasturtium grows in the same spot every year without any care.

Finn is exploring each and every aspect of the yard; making time to sniff the flowers.

Using Rangpurs

My dear friend, Dr. Ryan Krch delivered a bag of rangpurs from his dad’s tree. Rangpurs, sometimes called the rangpur lime, mandarin lime or lemandarin, is a hybrid between the mandarin orange and the citron. It is a citrus fruit with a very acidic taste and an orange peel and flesh. The peel is a bit baggy, like a mandarin.

Back in 2020, I made a lemon meringue pie using Ryan’s rangpurs (see that post here). This time, I adapt a recipe from The Kitchen McCabe substituting lemon juice with rangpur juice, making individual rangpur tarts.

Using a defrosted store-bought pie crust and these sweet individual tart pans, this recipe is rather easy and tasty. Toasting the meringue topping with this small culinary blow torch gives the dessert a professional touch. Note: there are many different types of culinary torches and depending on your budget and use, read the ratings to select the one that best serves your purpose.

My tartlet pans are 4″ wide by 1.25″, however, I purchased them a long time ago and cannot remember the source. The ones on Amazon are not as tall, but I think they will work equally as well. Webstaurant has one the same size as mine and you can find it here.

The rangpur curd is so unexpectedly different and the dessert is a success.

New Curtains

Our master bathroom is deserving of a total make-over but as I save up for this big project, the curtains in the bathtub nook need replacing. I go to my list of respected resources, but when did the price of curtain panels go up?

Since I am looking for a temporary fix until I fully determine the future new look of the bathroom, I don’t want to spend a lot of money. I find these linen curtains on Amazon for less than $40 for 2 panels, which come in 11 colors and multiple lengths!

Not expecting the best quality, I am very surprised when the curtains arrive. Yes, they are linen and even though the background is more natural vs. white, they are quite pretty. They let the light through but provide some privacy to the outside.

Since I ordered the wrong length, I will need to hem them, but other than that, I am quite pleased with the quality at such a low price. They do have grommets (not my favorite attachment method), but for an interim curtain, it will do. Or I can hem them from the top and add with a pocket for the rod or a way to attach hooks.

From the Internet

I don’t know about you, but for me, Spring is the time to open the windows, and switch things up a bit to welcome the new season. Simple tasks such as reorganizing a hutch or shelves can give a room a fresh, new look. CoCo from The Crowned Goat has Eight Easy Tips for Styling a Dining Room Hutch. Don’t have a hutch? Her tips can be used anywhere you have a set of shelves. Plus her photos are just dreamy.

When the weather gets warmer, I dream about finding the perfect, easy casual dress to wear. However, being on the shorter side (5’4″), some dresses with voluminous fabric make me look like a sack of potatoes. So, I spend time looking but making never making a decision. Elizabeth from Pinecones and Acorns shares a collection of spring dresses in various patterns and silhouettes.

If anyone has had success in finding a pretty, affordable, spring dress please let me know. Seriously, I look every year and don’t buy anything.

Many of you met my sweet friend, Chloe Crabtree, at our Fall Styling Workshop last year. You have often heard me rave about her beautiful home in Celebration, Florida. Now you can see it too. Chloe graciously welcomes you into her home with her recently posted video Spring Home tour.

Mary’s Must Haves

As the weather gets warmer, I am ready for long sleeve blouses vs. jackets. An affordable favorite (truly, I get compliments every time I wear it), is this boho, loose blouse that is currently 24% off on Amazon, at $27.99. It comes in 20 different colors/patterns and I currently own two of them. Launders easily and still looks good a few years later.

I am in the market for a new belt and good quality t-shirts. Each summer I try and buy a new white one, but lately, it seems the fabric is so sheer (what’s that about?). If anyone has a resource for the perfect t-shirt (crew neck) and a good quality belt, please let me know.

Well, that’s a wrap! Trying to get all of Easter put away, doing some spring cleaning projects and gardening this weekend. Wishing you a relaxing and happy weekend!

Happy Easter weekend! We are back in town with our new little (well, not so little) puppy. Next week I will share our cross country adventures and introduce you to the handsome fella. With Easter being so early this year, the weatherman is predicting chilly temperatures and rain. So much for eating outside and enjoying the spring weather on Sunday. It’s that time again and welcome to Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things these past 2 weeks, as I missed last week.

Daughter’s Birthday dinner party

Luckily, our daughter is home for her birthday and we had a casual dinner party celebrating both her birthday and St. Patrick’s Day.

With 12 guests, I make 2 of my Guinness pot pies, a large salad and two desserts~Baileys Irish cream cheesecake and a London Fog cake (Julianna’s request). These tried and true recipes are always a hit.

Annual Shamrock Run

Fortunately, after indulging in so many good calories, my daughter and I get up early the following morning to participate in the annual Shamrock Run. It is chilly and rainy, but we felt blessed to see a rainbow before the race started.

Julianna ran the 10K with both her dogs (just amazing!) and I thought I would just walk the 5K. However, at the starting line everyone around me started running and in order to keep up, I, too, started running. Please note that after 3 knee surgeries my doctor advises me not to run anymore. I don’t know what came over me but I ran about 60% of the race and placed 5th in my age category. Not without consequences, though.

I could hardly walk later that day and of course, my knee ballooned up a bit. What was I thinking?!? Nonetheless, it is a fun run with all sorts of outrageous St. Patrick’s Day attire. Plus I never want to miss out of an opportunity to do something with my children. I am trying to turn off the voice in my head that is saying, “Mary, you are too old for this”.

Fruit picking

It’s that time of year where we need to glean all the citrus trees. Sweet smelling blossoms are now opening on most of the trees. Removing this year’s crop of fruit will help the production of next year’s crop.

In our orchard we have 12 citrus trees ranging from oranges to kumquats to grapefruits. With our abundance of fruit, we ship boxes of fruit to family and friends and donate the rest.

Picking fruit equals many arm scratches, so I finally put on my Farmers Defense sleeves, which are a must for any gardener. They come in various designs and you can find them here. Really love this product!

Our Yard this Time of Year

Easter and Spring is when our yard looks its best~mostly around mid-to-late April. A few trees are still bare and will bud later, but the flowers and the lawn are at their prime.

Rose Garden and New Book

The rose bushes in the garden look so healthy and vibrant. A few buds are appearing and I am trying to keep an eye out for aphids, which generally are in abundance this time of year.

I have always wanted to truly learn about roses, but I’m a bit of a weekend gardener. Do you follow Grace Rose Farm on Instagram @gracerosefarm? The photos are always so gorgeous and you can order both cut flowers and rose plants directly from them. I recently received her book, Garden Roses and it is a complete guide to growing and arranging roses.

Currently reading this book to up my roses game. Note: I thought the book would be coffee table book size but it is smaller, which I like. The photos are just stunning and it’s written is a way that is easy to understand.

Making Easter Baskets

A quick trip to Target this week results in some great finds for Easter and Easter baskets. How cute are these fabric, bottom weighted chickens with spectacles?!? At $3.00 a piece, you can find them in their dollar section at the store entrance. I cannot find these online so they must be an in-store special.

I love making Easter baskets and like to find a container that serves a purpose afterwards. These coil rope baskets with leather (pleather?) handles by Brightroom are wonderful storage containers. They come in various sizes but I have the 11″ one here and they are currently on sale for $8.00.

In the basket, there is a bottle of rosé Prosecco, chocolate bunnies, various toiletries-deodorant, facial masks, favorite candies and a wonderful smelling candle. Another Target find at the Threshold section (Studio McGee’s line), this 3 wick candle comes in a matte ceramic container and the scent (Citron and Sands) is fabulous. A bargain for such a large candle at $17.00.

Flower Pressing

Do you remember the post about making your own framed botanical artwork? If not, here it is. In order to press the flowers, I use all of our big books, which is cumbersome.

But Rachel, from The Ponds Farmhouse is very creative with a super handy husband. I love this flower press they make from scrap materials.

Rachel puts her beautiful touches on it using a flower motif. I certainly could have used this when making my botanical artwork. What a wonderful way to preserve the beauty of your garden and yard. You can see Rachel’s blog post here. I think I may ask my husband to make this….

What Am I Reading?

My friend, Andrea recommends listening to this book . However, I read it instead and it is SO good. I imagine it is excellent whether you read or listen to it. It has over 10,000 reviews with 4.6 stars and is a best seller on Amazon. I highly recommend The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. So well done. Now I need to read her other novels, Code Name Hélèna and I Was Anastasia. Is anyone familiar with this author?

Mary’s Must Haves

As you can see in some of the photos above, I really love this lightweight polyester vest from 32 Degrees. Originally, I bought mine at Costco, but inventory there is certainly hit or miss. Amazon sells this same brand in 6 colors and it has a 4.6 rating.

Also Amazon has a similar looking one for less money and in 12 colors (currently 50% off), but I cannot verify the quality. However, with over 13,000 reviews and a 4.4 rating, it may be a good product. I actually might purchase one and try it out as I like some of the color choices.

What I love about this vest is that it is very light, packable, and washable. During these Spring days when it is warm one minute and cold the next, it is perfect for me, especially in our drafty old home.

I own a blue and olive green one and depending on the weather, it works well with long or short sleeves. I’m 5’4″ and am wearing a Small. This yellow one is particularly cute, isn’t it?

Great Rubber Shoes

These Sloggers are my go-to shoes when it’s wet or muddy outside. They are perfect for gardening too. My very first pair was a gift from my friend, Janie and not only are they cute, but oh so comfortable. Now I own two pairs and one set of boots.

With 24 designs to choose from, you can be slogging through the mud in style. I typically wear a 7.5 woman’s shoe size so the size 8 works out well.

I could go on and on today, but there are hot cross buns and babka bread to be made for Easter Sunday. Wishing you a blessed holiday weekend. Please look for my post next week where I will share all the details of this handsome guy!

Can you believe Easter is this coming Sunday, the last day of March? After having two VERY busy weeks, I am now finally shifting my focus to my Easter/Spring decorations and the holiday meal. Will you be hosting friends and family for dinner? We are expecting about 10 for an Easter brunch after we attend sunrise services at church. Today’s post is inspiration for your Easter weekend~ from easy Easter DIYs to family traditions at the table. If your children are on spring break, some of these ideas would be fun to keep them busy and entertained.

Decoupage Easter Eggs

With a plethora of pretty seasonal paper napkins and hand towels, you can easily make these decoupage Easter eggs with your children or grandchildren. All you need are neutral colored eggs~either plastic, wooden or actual eggs, Mod Podge, paper napkins, and a paint brush. If you are using real eggs, you can find instructions on how to do this here.

What’s nice about these decoupage eggs, is that they keep from year to year and you can use them in a multitude of ways. This sweet lady bunny has a space for an egg on her yellow coat.

Or in a basket of straw as an Easter/Spring decoration or part of someone’s Easter basket.

Of course, you can use your decoupage eggs at your Easter dinner table too!

Think of all the possibilities depending on the color and style of your napkin! To see the complete post on How to Decoupage Easter eggs, click here.

Making Easter Nests~a fun DIY project

The joy of spring brings new nests all over our property. Instead of using real nests (not sure how sanitary that would be at the dinner table), I make faux nests. Back in 2020, I use Royal Worcester soup bowls at my Easter dinner table. However, the table is lacking something. So I whip up these cute nests using items I readily have on hand.

Since I have never made these before, it is fun to experiment and try something new. The supplies are simple~shredded paper (from our paper shredder but you can use whatever you have), Mod Podge, disposable styrofoam bowls, a few colors of spray paint, glue and moss.

Don’t they look so pretty on the Easter table?

To see the entire post on making DIY Easter nests, click here.

Easter Table Ideas

If you haven’t starting setting your table for Easter, here is a plethora of ideas from centerpieces to place cards. Today I will be going through the Easter boxes in the garage to come up with a theme for our table this Sunday. It’s a bit like Christmas because I seem to forget year to year what I have collected over time. We hope to set a table outdoors (weather providing) in the palm orchard, like we have the last few years.

Many of my Easter pieces come with wonderful memories. My dear friend, Gwen, gave me these porcelain lamb napkin rings over 30 years ago.

The Easter menu

Since we will be having a brunch, it will be easy to serve a homemade quiche, both green and fruit salad, hot cross buns and perhaps a smoked ham (husband is figuring that out).

The hot cross buns are so tasty, however, I am still struggling with getting the crosses correct. Here’s the recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes, as I have good luck with her content. The crosses are made with a flour/water concoction and orange icing is added after baking.

The annual family dessert is a lamb cake. Easter lamb cake (known as agnuszek or baranek wielkanocny in Polish) is a traditional Eastern European dessert. As a child, I looked forward to my mother making this for Easter as it signaled the beginning of Spring.

To read more about this cake, check out the original post here.

Please share what you are doing for Easter and any family traditions you enjoy. Happy last week of March! I cannot wait to share pictures of our newest family member, a 9 week old Akbash puppy. More to come on that, but have a glorious week!

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.

With quite the rain, thunder and lightning storms this week (hail in some areas), March is definitely in like a lion. We need and love the rain and I can hear all my plants making gulping noises as they absorb nature’s shower. Happy Saturday and weekend, my friends! It’s a chilly morning here at Bella Terra, but enjoying the quiet with a nice cup of coffee. Let’s get started and check out all the good things that happened this week.

Early Signs of Spring

Isn’t it interesting that year after year, the seasons come and go, whether we are ready or not? Even though several of our trees are still in winter mode and bare, there are many plants that shout that Spring is on its way.

So sad that we lost our apple tree to the extreme heat last summer as I already miss it’s pretty pink blooms.

The peach and apricot trees are blooming, and our newly planted Santa Rosa plum tree is filled with flowers.

Lady Banks roses run the entire width of the front of the property along the street. These dense climbing vines provide privacy and reduce the traffic noise. But this time of year the long and tall hedge fills with delicate pale yellow roses.

Though the sweet yellow roses only last a few weeks, and watching them come to life is a reminder of Spring’s beauty. Poppies and hollyhocks are growing but not blooming yet, but there are signs of new life everywhere.

Garden Update

Finally, this weekend, I am planning to work on the vegetable garden. This week I picked all the tomatoes on my winter crop. What I noticed is that the tomato plants from last fall, look healthy and are actually producing flowers.

Typically, I pull the old plants and put in new ones. But after doing a bit of research, apparently some tomatoes are annuals and others perennials. They are called determinant (annuals) and indeterminant (perennials) plants. Since many of my plants are heirloom varieties, it appears they are indeterminant and continue to produce fruit until the plant is killed by frost.

Does anyone grow tomatoes that you would consider perennial? I did trim the plants back to newer growth areas and will fertilize this weekend. Hoping for an abundant healthy crop from them.

My 5 Days in Florida

Last weekend I was in Celebration, Florida at my dear friend, Chloe’s home (Celebrate and Decorate). What an absolute treat to be in her lovely home with 5 other blogging friends. We try and meet twice a year because we enjoy each other’s company and learn so much from each other.

Chloe arranges for a lovely boat ride around Winter Park and Lake Osceola, with a delicious lunch following.

In addition to exploring, we work collectively on blogging issues. It is fun to take photographs of Chloe’s Easter decor and tablescape. To see more about this seasonal table for two, click here.

Another photo opportunity is Chloe’s large chocolate Easter bunny in this basket of hydrangeas.

Check out these cute bunnies on pedestals on Chloe’s living room mantel? They are $5.98 each and you can find them here.

Of course, darling Lily spent the entire time with the girls. I swear she is a person reincarnated…maybe even a princess in a previous life.

Bread Making Week

I am in the bread making mood this week and finished 3 loaves. This is my second attempt at a Honey Lavender sourdough bread, a recipe adapted from @barefoot.mimosas. Surprisingly, this bread is delicious. Sometimes rose or lavender can be a bit too perfume-y or soapy, but the subtle herbal flavor is just fantastic. It is especially tasty out of the toaster with honey butter.

Another favorite is my cheese, garlic and rosemary sourdough bread which I mix up after dinner, let it rise overnight and bake the following day. So simple and easy, but delicious especially when experimenting with cheeses from gruyerè to cheddar.

I am also thinking about having a Bread class here at Bella Terra~a general one about sourdough, yeast and quick breads. What do you think?

From the Internet:

Lemons, Lemons, and More Lemons

As you know, I recently hosted the All Things Lemon class (see that post here). Also in this post are some kitchen tools I recommend for working with lemons.

My sweet friend, Wendy from WM Design House has a marvelous post on several way to use lemons from making a household cleaner to creating a lemon scrub.

Now is the time to take advantage of the lemon season, before the prices go up over the summer.

Spring Cleaning

Each Spring, my mother would open up all the windows in our Connecticut home and start her spring cleaning. Often times she would change out the linens, replace the rugs and lighten the winter look to the new season.

There is no easier way to refresh your house for the Spring with a good deep cleaning. If you change out your rugs for lighter weights and colors, then you need to read my friend, Andrea’s post on Rug Buying Guide: An Essential Part of Decor.

Not sure of what size rug to use? Andrea has all the answers in her post. There are so many attractive, affordable rugs on the market and this is another simple way to update your home for spring and summer.

Bulb Gardening

Here in Phoenix, now is the time to garden for Spring. Each year I look forward to my bulb garden, however, this year it is underwhelming. I am learning that bulbs last for only a few years here and need re-planting.

Kim from Shiplap and Shells has a very informative post on Growing Tulips from Bulbs: Tulip Care and Maintenance 101. So if you are interested in planting bulbs in the fall and enjoying their beauty next year, check out her post here.

Wishing you a terrific weekend! We have a friend’s birthday event tonight and hope to get the garden cleaned up and planted.

This is my 100th Saturday Meanderings post. For the centennial post, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication and loyalty every Saturday. I recently heard a sad statistic that over 50% of Americans feel lonely or profoundly lonely. However, so many of you feel like close friends to me and this blog. You are my blessings and our friendship, either in person or virtual, provide my life with great joy. So for the 100th time and In true fashion, let’s get started on chatting about all good things this week. Don’t forget to check out the giveaway below too.

Easter Recap

After Easter service at church, we have a sit-down brunch/lunch with our children (minus our son), their significant others and friends outside under the palm trees.

The menu consists of: lemon ricotta pancakes and fresh berries; Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, fresh fruit salad, arugula salad with lemon dressing, hot cross buns, bacon, sausage and a spinach quiche. Dessert is the traditional lamb cake, made with Ambitious Kitchen’s healthy gluten-free carrot cake recipe (a winner!).

I love this hot cross bun recipe and only make it once a year. But this year, the buns look perfect going into the oven, more so than any previous year. When the baking timer goes off, I am so excited to take them out of the oven. Unfortunately, I didn’t video the moment because no sooner did I get them out of the oven, that the handle to the ceramic baking dish broke off. The entire pan of freshly baked hot cross buns fell out of my hand, crashes to the floor, shattering the dish and ruining my beautiful buns. Ugh.

But things took a turn for the better when a few minutes after the hot cross bun clean up, my family comes into the kitchen with a birthday surprise (my birthday was Monday, April 10th). Pretty flowers, gifts and 2 of my favorite Chardonnays! All in all the day is a beautiful one~great food, gorgeous weather and lively conversation.

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, I hope your day was filled with love and joy.

Powdery Mildew

Due to all the rain and cooler spring temperatures, my rose garden looks fabulous. However, within a matter of days, I now have powdery mildew. Typically the rose mildew occurs with excessive humidity (which we do not have). Since I don’t want to use chemicals, I am going to try a mixture of one part milk to 10 parts water and spray it on the affected leaves. If you have a natural remedy for powdery mildew, please do share.

In inspecting the powdery mildew situation, I also find aphids. Sigh.

Gardens are like that. Just when you think things are going well, something else comes up. I guess that’s why gardening keeps you humble.

This Week’s Projects

Speaking of gardens, the white picket fence surrounding my vegetable garden finally has a fresh coat of paint. What a difference it makes! My husband gets credit for completing this project!

Now that the guest cottage remodel is complete (see it here if you missed it), I am now back to tackling one room at a time. Most of this week is cleaning up the office and art room. Back in 2020, I shared a peek into our home office. Hard to believe it’s gotten so messy since then.

Here’s a look at a clean office, which is my inspiration. Again, I am wondering if it’s time to get rid of the dark ebony finish on the bookcases and do something else~like blue? Your thoughts?

A little Saturday Meanderings History

When I started writing Saturday Meanderings in 2020, the very first post was after a mother/daughter trip to Vancouver, Canada. Elisabeth and I crossed back into the United States and the very next day, the borders were shut down due to the pandemic.

When I look back over those difficult years, collectively, through this blog, we endured the fear, sadness, loneliness and pain from COVID. The goal of this blog is to continue to spread kindness, a bit of sunshine and civility while sharing tips, tricks and information.

In order to celebrate the 100th edition, I would like to giveaway a beautiful book, An American in Provence: Art, Life and Photography. Written by Jamie Beck, she transports you to the South of France. Her book is part art, part travelogue, part memoir, and part cookbook. It is perfect for art lovers, Francophiles, and armchair travelers alike. 

I am slowly making my way through this book, devouring each and every page.

Just write a comment below about what you like about Saturday Meanderings (or don’t like, I suppose!). Names will be put into a bowl and a winner will be selected. The winner will be announced next Saturday.

Around the Internet

I know I have mentioned this before, but I just love reading my friend, Kim’s blog on Sunday. Called Shiplap and Shells, Kim is a self-taught gardener, a fabulous photographer and she lives in the sweetest home on the water in the Pacific Northwest. Just reading her blog makes you happy. I highly recommend reading Saturday Meanderings on Saturday and Kim’s Saltwater Sounds on Sunday.

Do you love deviled eggs? We certainly do and even though my husband prefers his version the best, I like trying other recipes. Michele from Vintage Home Designs shares 3 recipes and the way to make perfect hard boiled eggs. You can see it here.

As I wrap up this 100th Saturday Meandering post, I can only hope that the next 100 posts will be as fun and rewarding. Again, my deepest thanks for your support. I am always very grateful when you share Life at Bella Terra with others, too. Wishing you a fantastic weekend!