An Eggs-Citing Day

The Easter Bunny came to the farm for a visit.  :-)  We had a great day yesterday.  It was a miracle that it was dry all day.. it's been rainy for several days.  We were enjoying seeing the boys hunt for Easter eggs around the farm and then Kristi pointed out a wild bunny up by the old apple tree.  Travis grabbed my camera and snuck up closer to it and got this shot.  How appropriate for the day, eh?

Can you see all the eggs?

There were eggs up in the lilac bushes and on the ground and on car bumpers.  :-)

Caleb is finding eggs in the dark purple lilac!

Meanwhile grandma is walking about checking on the flora of the farm.. more Star of Bethlehem bloomed!

Right under the white lilac which is finally opening!  I took a big whiff.. ::heaven::!

Can you believe that this is the only blossom on my one dark purple bush?  ONE!?

This white bluebell hides behind the pink rosebud azalea.. my son bushwhacked through the honeysuckle to get this photo for his mama.  Aww.. good boy.

The boys found ALL the eggs.. we hope.  Two bags full!  Funny little faces.. the the sun was blinding them.  :-)  Caleb had an itch next to his nose.  LOL!

 Hayden had fun taking all the jelly beans and toy soldiers out of the plastic eggs.

In my garden walk I saw how beautiful my white edged Hosta was looking as it emerges from it's winter nap.

My Bleeding Heart is still looking gorgeous.

A fern I planted by the creek comes back every year, lacy and green.

My daughter sent me a pair of gorgeous English antique oak barley twist candlesticks for my birthday.  I've admired these kind of candlesticks for a long long time, so I'm just thrilled with this gift from my daughter.. thank you, Amy!

I found my bottle of lemon oil and beeswax furniture polish and gave them a good rubbing with the nourishing substance and they just glowed!

The oak is beautiful!

I forgot to show you the neat vintage crocheted hot pad I found at the flea market in Amish country that my daughter and I found.  It's a beauty!  Maybe this will be the beginning of a collection?  :-)

Our Easter dinner was a success!  We made a red currant glazed ham, I tried a new recipe for what we call "scalloped potatoes" - this is the French version  - Gratin Dauphinois - and boy did they come out eggs-cellent!  Also new to our dinner were these baby yellow, green and zucchini squash.  They are DELISH!  

First put 2 pints of heavy cream in a saucepan to slowly heat until it's steaming hot, but don't boil.  Peel and crush 5 garlic cloves and drop them in the warming cream, along with several sprigs of fresh thyme.   Butter a baking dish, slice Yukon gold (or any kind) potatoes thinly, put one layer of potatoes on the bottom of an oblong baking pan, grate Gruyere cheese over the first layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add the second layer of sliced potatoes, salt and pepper and the rest of the Gruyere cheese.  When the cream begins to steam, pour the cream over the potatoes (don't pour the big chunks of crushed garlic in the potatoes) - I stuck the springs of fresh thyme down into the edge of the pan on both ends to further flavor the dish.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (until potatoes are tender), then uncover and let the top brown.  Things I forgot to do with this is - I had some green onions that I was going to add to the center layer.. and I was going to try grating some nutmeg in the middle and smoked paprika on top.  I forgot all those things but it still turned out c'est magnifique!

Kristi made some really fun cupcakes for dessert!  They had Peeps on top and under the Peeps were some chocolate eggs!  :-)

I just had to show you the boys with the eggs Kristi and they dyed for the egg hunt.  After the hunt K made a nice platter of deviled eggs for us to share!  

I hope you had a nice day yesterday, whether you celebrate or not.  Spring itself is worth celebrating!  We're off to the beach tomorrow.. I'll be popping up from there on my next post.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)