Spring... So Far

I feel like we say this with more and more frequency but this has been an interesting, to say the least, spring.  One week we hit 91 degrees (in April!!) and the next week we had a hard freeze where our thermometer registered 22 degrees.  Needless to say, that sort of swing is a perfect storm of disaster for spring plants.  The hot weather pushed out new growth and blossoms in an accelerated way, which weakened them some, then we had a frost, which weakened them more and then we plunged them into a hard freeze, which finished some of them off for the season.  

We are guessing that we won't get any fruit this year (blueberries, peaches, pears, cherries) as all the blossoms were brown following the freeze.  Farmers in our area are reporting a 95% to 100% crop loss!  I lost a lot of my newly planted seedlings in the garden, they are cool season plants and can take a frost, just not a freeze!  Some of the peonies in the field looked wilty and sad, due to losing their turgor but I assumed they would bounce back, peonies are very cold hardy plants.  However, I was wrong!  One row in particular, Henry Bockstoce, did not recover and Bryce and I had to spend time yesterday trying to support the stems with twine.  The verdict is out on blooms and damage that may have been done.

It hasn't all been doom and gloom!  Before the freeze turned all the blossoms brown, we had some really beautiful days of blooming loveliness.

One of my favorite things this season has been these woodland phlox that I planted along the edge of our maple trees, by the orchard.  They are so bright and cheerful and have done so well, I want to plant a million more!  I envision a whole swath of them!

A Girl's Weekend!

 

This past weekend, I went on a girls trip to visit our friend Kristin in Knoxville.  It was a wonderful weekend filled with all the good stuff- conversations, exploring, good food/drink and lots of laughs!

We went to a foot spa where we had a foot soak and shoulder massage, it was surprisingly wonderful!

After a delicious lunch, we wandered around the small downtown of Knoxville and The University of Tennessee before picking up Sonja from the airport!

We visited the grounds of the newly opened Eugenia Williams house.  While the house wasn't open, the grounds were and they were so beautiful!

A little outside of Knoxville, we visited The Lost Sea, which is a cave system with America's only underground lake!  

It was a wonderful weekend! 

Celebrating Bryce

For Bryce's birthday we had my family over for a celebratory dinner.  We often get together as a family to celebrate birthdays,  usually at a restaurant, but this year we felt it was easier to have dinner at our house since Mom hasn't been feeling great and we thought that would be easier for her.  It was a beautiful spring day (too warm for April though!) so we were able to eat outside.  

While we kept dinner simple, we did have some fancy bread!  It's ramp season and I made Ramp Pesto Twist Bread!  It's a beautiful loaf and I used it as the center piece on the table.  It's also really tasty!  Fun fact: we got these frog plates, and linens, from Pottery Barn at least 28 years ago!  I had to pull them out since we were celebrating Bryce, the original frog.

On either side of the bread, I put two simple arrangements using tulips, daffodils, summer snowflakes and boxwood greens.  I love white daffodils, they are so unusual but very elegant to me.

The salad could literally not have been simpler, it was just greens with a light dressing.  However, I added redbud blooms to make it festive.  They are completely edible!

For a cake, we had Bryce's favorite Chocolate Tart.  This is the second year running that he asked for this one!

We are so thankful for Bryce!

Easter

Easter snuck up on me this year so I sort of feel like I dropped the ball on it!  We did manage to have family over for an Easter lunch, though my Mom didn't join us because she wasn't feeling great.  It was so last minute that I found myself on Easter morning dodging raindrops, and then a downpour, trying to get enough material to make a table arrangement!

While we had a fairly simple meal there were a few standouts such as the "Bloody Bunny" drink that Bryce made.  While it's a horrible name, it was a tasty drink that subbed carrot juice for the tomato juice typical in a Bloody Mary (among other things!).  Grace made a new to us version of deviled eggs and added salmon roe on the top of a few.  She also made a delicious Earl Gray chocolate tart that was very tasty!  

Also, Easter morning we made jammy eggs and toast soldiers.  They were super cute, especially with our colored eggs, but the eggs weren't quite jammy enough so will cook them for even less time next time.