Easter 2014

Easter 1982...our daughter was four and our son was two.  I had sewn them matching Easter outfits and Grandpa had planned their egg hunt in his back yard.

Jeff was so proud of his successful hunt the next Easter.

Our family with a mother-daughter hand hold.  I miss holding  my daughter's hands.

Remember the Holly Hobbie look?

2014...32 years later egg hunts for a two year old boy is happening for a new generation.  I think we have a new tradition: The Easter Cat Cheeto hides the Eggs!

Grandpas always help with egg hunts, this Papa helps by holding the beloved brown bear lovey to free up little boy hands for egg hunting.

An egg with nothing inside still brings smiles!

Paska has been added to our family Easter fare.  Luke prefers to call it "cake".

Jeff kept thinking I said I was bringing pasta and said OK to be polite.

I wore a black dress and a black pillbox hat that had a bit of veiling around the edge to the local Greek Orthodox Good Friday service. It was a poignant service of scripture reading without commentary. 

At the end an icon of Christ was removed from a cross and the icon was tenderly wrapped in a shroud, then carried around the sanctuary and the placed in a flower covered booth.  I had never so fully grasped the emotions of Good Friday before; seeing that part of the Easter story silently re-enacted was so moving.

The black funeral dress (not typical at the service) marched the somber events of that day.

Wearing bright pastels on Easter after the funeral black of Friday felt so celebratory.

(My I recommend using paint aps to render portrait pictures artfully and sans aging details? Some theologians think in heaven we will all be in perfect late 20something bodies.  Let's just say the Paint Booth ap may give a hint of what I might look like in heaven...)

Easter dinner at Jeff's house with some friends as guest too.  I love how he and his wife almost always invite people to join us for special meals.

It was a beautiful weekend weather wise. I counted 160+ tulips in bloom in my garden.

I didn't count the daffodils.  I switched to counting my blessings instead.

My calendar says this is Easter week. 

I like that...He is Risen!  

Let's declare it over and over again!

Easter bread; Bernie, Me and our Church on Cold Easter Morn

Isn't this cute?
It's called a "Honey Bunny" and it's made with honey wheat bread dough.

Not by me...I've done lots of Easter breads in the past including individual bunnies, Hot Crossed Buns, and Braided Easter Bread with Eggs tucked into the braid (I made a lot of those one year and delivered them on Saturday night to friends with small children, with a note that Easter breakfast was DONE!)

The "Honey Bunny" was made by our fabulous Great Harvest Bakery.
I used to make bread a lot more often before GHB came to town.
Their Challah bread is almost as good as mine!
Great Harvest Bakery is a chain, but each store seems to have their own specialties.

I also got the White Chocolate Cherry bread there to enjoy. They only make it for holidays.
Our loaf only lasted two days!

Yesterday there were snow flurries north of us, and the weather reported that the temperatures dropped into the thirties last night.
Canada apparently sent winter our way, and snuck a bit of early summer in up there in trade.

(It works for me. I'd rather be cool than very hot on Easter. I've done my share of Easter melting with heat!)

On Easter morning it was still quite chilly and in the forties.

I was glad I had a warm pink dress to wear, abandoning my plan to wear my new chiffon dress that would just not be quite warm enough.

At church we attended the Contemporary Worship Service first.
It was the usual young people in jeans, drums and guitars, and free wheeling lively worship. (By Presbyterian standards at least.)
After service there was coffee and all manners of pastries to enjoy while everyone mingled.

We visited with our Assistant Pastor, who told me he was so glad to see someone in PINK and a HAT; that at the sunrise service everyone was wearing dark colors and only two women wore something colorful.

(I like Fred. He's a good Assistant pastor!)

Then we stayed for the Traditional Service, where there were two other women in hats, and two little girls in hats, and one little girl in bunny ears.
(Oh dear.)
Oh well....

It was lovely to sing the traditional Easter hymns, and to be a bit crowded in the pew.
It was good to see entire families worshipping together.

Our Sr. Pastor Bob Covington preached on "Behold the Man."
Bob will be retiring next year, much to our dismay.
It is always a privilege to hear him speak.
He has had such deep experiences after years of life as a Military Chaplin, including serving on the front in Viet Nam.
He's a man's man, yet he has such soft spirit, so typical of the men raised in Tennessee.
I'll always treasure that I was there to hear Dr. Covington's final Easter Message.

Bernie looked handsome as always.
I thought his Mama and Daddy might like to see him on the blog for a change.

And yes, I DID wear white gloves to church!
And yes, I WAS the only one wearing gloves.
They felt wonderful.
I can't imagine why they fell out of fashion.

It truly was a Blessed Easter.

I know I am blessed.

I know HE has RISEN!

Easter eggs

For several years my mom took ceramic classes, and created all sorts of wonderful decoration and serving pieces for our homes.
One year she made ceramic eggs, painted them pastel colors and used decals to add designs for "permanent" Easter Eggs.
I added gold highlights.
The middle egg was from Mexico, and the orange bunny egg was made by Jeff as a four year old.
I suspect he had help, but I still think it is funny to see the black eggs in the bunny cart. None of that sissy pastel stuff for all boy Jeff!

Each year I enjoy putting out the eggs and reliving the afternoon Mom and I worked on making the eggs.

It's a nice memory. And each year I seem to find a different way of displaying the eggs.

I think that is just part of the fun.

The butterfly as a symbol of resurrection.

Forget-me-not.

I never will!

Millinery: Lavender Easter hat

I added the above flower last night, and the bead "fall" (picture below) on top of some additional leaves that I also fashioned last night.
Using the vintage stamen was so cool, it added just the right touch of mauve to the flower.
The purple beaded balls on the center of the flower was a trim I acquired in the interior fabric and trims section of a yardage store.
The balls were about an inch apart; I gathered the silk ribbon that they dangled from and made it into a compact design element.

I'm always on the prowl for something new.

I also added a few more of the little purple flowers, and the beads were a lampshade bead trim, again I gathered and compacted the ribbon upon which the beads were sewn.

Easter bonnet

(Tiggie's hunting Easter Eggs. Or Easter Lizards maybe.)
I decided to reshape the brim (again!) while Bernie was on hand to thumbs up and thumbs downs the tweaks.
Much easier than steaming the brim, running to a mirror, running back again.

The trim STILL needs to come forward about an inch.
Sigh.

The outfit works for the Southern belle garden party look.