Saturday Meanderings

Happy Easter weekend! I love this time of year and have such happy memories of this holiday. Dad would buy us corsages to pin on our new spring coats. Dressing up for church in hats and gloves and Mom’s homemade lamb cake after dinner. Signs of spring would be popping up in Connecticut and winter was in the rear view mirror. Thanks for joining me today for Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all good things that happen this week.

This picture cracks me up! That’s me in the foreground, with my older sister and brother and Mom. Not sure when this was taken, but it may have been before my other 2 siblings were born? I still look dorky in a hat!

And We Have Winners!

Thank you ALL so much for your comments to last Saturday’s post. Your feedback and comments are like gold to me. Instead of choosing just two winners for a free box of fresh citrus, I picked four out of a hat. The winners are: Debbie Fischer, Linda DeBono, Tanya Lochridge and Virginia Jordan. I hope you have all received your fruit!

I am Hooked!

Thank you, Valerie for the suggestion to watch the Cornell Lab Barred Owl live cam. I am completely addicted. For those of you unfamiliar with this, there is a live camera on a barred owl in a nest in Indiana. She is sitting on 2 eggs which should be hatching within the next week or two. What I find fascinating is her dedicated partner who brings a variety of food to her, while she incubates the eggs. From snakes to frogs to a woodpecker, this mama owl is eating well.

I literally keep the feed up on my laptop in the kitchen and catch glimpses of her throughout my day. And if you miss an important event like a feeding, there are short videos that capture the important moments. Isn’t Mother Nature amazing? Here is the link.

What is Wrong with my Hollyhocks?

Typically, I have very good luck with hollyhocks. They are like weeds here and grow everywhere. A particularly stunning show of hollyhocks is located near my vegetable garden. But this year, these hollyhock plants are deformed.

The leaves are tightly curled and the flowers are small and sparse. Does anyone know why? At first I thought it might be frost damage? However, in other parts of the yard, the hollyhocks look fine. I’m hoping it’s not a virus or something that spreads.

I think I may pull all the damaged plants out and replant, as I have lots of seeds. It’s a bit perplexing.

Did you Know?

If you are like me and not in-the-know, it appears that every 26-ounce canister of iodized Morton Table Salt has a built-in salt shaker. This is only revealed after removing the sticker from the metal spout. Under each sticker are two salt-shaker-sized holes that can be used to pour much smaller amounts of salt — without having to pour it into your hand first.

Someone posted this on TikTok and has over 13 million views. I certainly didn’t know this! Did you?

Also, please remember that iodine is an important nutrient that your thyroid needs to produce certain hormones. Not getting enough iodine in your diet can lead to problems such as an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter) and an abnormally low level of thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism).

Unexpected Project Completed

On the back of our well tower, is a small platform with a fireman’s pole (to slide down from the second level). Unknown to us, the platform has been rotting due to water damage, which we just discovered this week.

Fortunately our contractor John is able to come by and replace the damaged wood.

My husband repaints the security railing which is faded from the sun exposure.

Now the platform is completely stable and ready for our friends and family to use and slide down the pole safely.

There is always something to repair with these old houses!

The Cherry Blossom paper Wreath

Last Saturday, I shared the paper cherry blossom wreath by Janine from Happy Happy Nester. Well, this week I decide to make it (as I love cherry blossoms). This is the first time I have ever used paper flowers for anything.

Since I want the flowers to have some weight, I download the pictures of the cherry blossoms and print them on some old stationary paper stock.

Cutting the flowers is a bit tedious, however, after a while, I just relax and cut while watching my barred owl live camera! The whole process reminds me of cutting out paper dolls and clothing (am I dating myself?).

In Janine’s tutorial, she uses a 12′ wreath, while mine is a 15″ wreath, so I just keep cutting flowers. A previously used grapevine wreath with lots of old glue dots makes my placement strategy easy by just covering the spots up with flowers.

So what do you think? I’m actually surprised and delighted with it!

The number of flowers cut depends on the width of your wreath and the density of your flowers. For my 15″ wreath there are 70 flowers. Bending the petals gives the flowers a more life-like appearance. You could do less flowers, too.

Baking this Week

I keep trying to perfect two recipes~gruyere, garlic and rosemary sourdough bread and a sourdough panettone. This week, the panettone gives me the perfect rise out of its tall pan and finally I feel like I have a success.

Last week’s panettone:

This week’s panettone:

Trying to get my baking in before the hot summer hits.

Hurt Hummingbird

The downside to having clean windows is birds often fly right into them. This unfortunate incident occurred this week with a hummingbird. My husband found it and it was unclear whether the little fella would make it.

He put the injured bird into a makeshift bed and placed it in a tree. A few hours later, the hummingbird was gone! So we are hoping that he/she recovered from the shock of hitting the window. Makes me want to have dirty windows.

On the Internet

If you are longing for beautiful pictures of front porches, check out my friend, Stacy’s (from Bricks ‘n Blooms) post on 7 Small Porch Ideas on a Budget. I’m always looking for ways to charm up my front porch without spending a lot of money. Plus this post will lead you to 9 other bloggers’ front porch ideas! See it here.

If you garden or just love beautiful flower gardens, you cannot go wrong with reading Kim’s blog (from Shiplap and Shells). For those of us who are enjoying the daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and other flowering bulbs, pretty soon they will wither. After showing their best blooms, we are now left with rather ugly plants. Kim has a great post on When to Cut Back Spring Bulb Flowers and Their Foliage. I’m at that stage with some of our holiday bulbs (amaryllis, narcissus and now my tulips). Lots of good information here.

Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover or just Spring, have a blessed beautiful and blessed weekend. I am so excited that I will be hosting Easter brunch for 8 and will spend all of today cooking and baking. Ah, my happy place!