Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Bits and Pieces of Spring!

Spring really does seem to be here.

I always wait with baited breath for the first bulbs to pop -- this year it was the mini-irises that flowered first...

Spring. For me it's anticipating Easter -- I love the decorations...

...and the colors!

And as far as I'm concerned, as long as the table is set nicely and looks pretty, I can get away with a multitude of cooking sins.

A sure sign of spring is decorating Easter eggs with our friends, Mark and Jan. (Rick did his raw instead of hard boiled. I'll let you know how that comes out -- no unfortunate breakage accidents, though!)

Our Easter itself was nice, with Greg and Rick for brunch...

I made WONDERFUL muffins! Blueberry muffins with lemon glaze.

And for dinner we actually ate outside! That NEVER happens! My Pavlova died a painful meringue death, so I quickly came up with a back-up dessert: Shortbread with Strawberries and whipped cream.

(Amazing what you can do with some flour, sugar, butter and vanilla. It rocked!)

Another sign of spring for me is the MSU Museum's annual wine tasting party, which was about a week ago. It is the mother of all wine tasting parties, with 200 wines to sample!

I always run into my wine tasting buddy Cheryl...

...and this is Kate with Marcia McDowell, who is THE ace curator at the museum.

But what really makes it spring?

Yes! The first robin!

All this, and Harry the Heron too! He was pretty far away, and my zoom was maxed out -- still, you can see him a bit!

My world is waking up. It's spring!

17 comments:

HerzBlatt said...

Hi Jeanie,
wonderful pictures!!!!
Thank you for help, I got your email!!
Tomorrow we are going to Berlin for some days.....
Best wishes
Iris

Anya said...

LOVELY pictures all
looks all so pretty :-)

Hugs to all Kareltje =^.^=

Sugar Bear said...

Hi Jeanie,
Beautiful table! I bet the dinner was fabulous too. I had some hairy moments when making our Easter dessert as well. Cooking I can do no problem - baking always poses more of a challenge!
Happy Spring
Karla

Kate Robertson said...

Lovely pictures, I want those blueberry muffins, would you share your recipe?

Janet said...

"And as far as I'm concerned, as long as the table is set nicely and looks pretty, I can get away with a multitude of cooking sins"....I'm going to have to try that because my cooking is not the best!!

All your photos are so pretty and full of springtime colors. And the muffins look delicious!

Beth said...

Don't you just Love spring? My favorite season. Its been almost summer like here for the past week with the highs in the 80s. Cold front coming in tonite will bring us back to more normal temps.
Love your pics and the easter eggs and dinner! Wine tasting looked fun too!
Have a great wednesday!
xoxxoxoxo

anno said...

The beautiful spring colors in all of these photos are just wonderful -- a great antidote to this rainy day (yes, we need the rain, and I'm glad to see it, but it does make the day seem awfully drab). Looks like you enjoyed a fabulous Easter -- I love your Easter eggs and the inspired strawberries & shortcake!

GwendolynKay said...

I love the first signs of spring. Especially a robin. Your strawberry dessert looks really yummo, I may have to make me some strawberry shortcake.
Gwen:)

joyce said...

Hi Jeanie....I've missed you. (My fault, not yours!) I like the new border to your blog (cause I love pink). Lucky you to have flowers already!! I'm still waiting for the green shoots to show up out of the ground one day soon (I check my gardens daily!!)
Greg & Rick sure look alike...the both have the long faces that all the men in my husbands side of the family have. And, I will HAVE to remember, the next time I screw up on dinner.....just pretty up the table & hope no one notices!

Becca said...

I can't remember having a picnic on Easter in Michigan - but this year we did!

I keep thinking that spring is too early and we'll get one more nasty wintry surprise. I hope I'm wrong.

Pugelicious said...

What a wonderful collection of images. Love the muffins - which reminds me it is time for a cup of tea - have a wonderful day :)

Ruth said...

It's been so glorious! Now it will get cold a bit, I hear. Beautiful spring you show us.

I need to go see if my mini irises are open!!

Joanne Huffman said...

Great spring photos!

Unknown said...

Muffins, robins and wine, Oh My!

I don't want your muffin recipe- I want a half dozen shipped to my door! heehee. They look YUMMY!

I must say, robins have been a MOST welcome sight since winter was so long!

200 wines? Sounds like a WONDERFUL evening!

~*~Patty S said...

Oh SO lovely each and every picture!
The Robin really speaks to me! They are sweet to have in the garden and are such harbingers of spring here in VA too!
oxo

paris parfait said...

Really lovely photos of beautiful spring and fun times! Oh and blueberry muffins - could you send some off to Paris, please??!! :) xo

ForgedinPaper said...

Photos are just fab. The blue irises are my favourite the colour is great. Will have to try the decoration distraction for my cooking sins and I'm too scared to even attempt a pavlova at all. The backup plan looked good though.

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