a real fairy tale

 Did you hear something about a wedding this Friday?

We're so planning on watching it. My four girls refer to it as the real-life fairy tale.

This brightly colored tea towel arrived a few weeks ago. Wouldn't it be sweet framed? Find it at Cath Kidston, if it's not sold out already.

My oldest doesn't have school that day, and we're planning a little party in honor of the event. I wish you could join us...

William and Kate seem so 'in love', don't you think?
Their wedding day will come and go, but their love will last forever... I hope.

'Whatever our souls are made of,  his and mine are the same.'

~Emily Brontë


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I'm joining the following:

I Love Pretty Little Things,  Common Ground,  My Romantic Home,

French Country Cottage, and Allemaal Kleurtjes.

killer cupcakes

Easter's quickly come and gone. My youngest awoke, raced downstairs to discover that the Easter bunny had thrillingly hidden eggs all over the house, including in her Keds. 

  The older ones really enjoyed 'seeing' the holiday through the eyes of their littlest sister. Excitement is absolutely contagious. 

The girls had a wonderful time with some of their cousins...

 Conor, Bridget, Brendan, Michael, and Emily. A delicious dinner and lots of fun treats. Our Maggie made her coconut cupcakes, they're killer. She tripled the recipe, so she could bring some to her French class. It's from Ina...

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

My dad joined us without my mom. She was too sick to come to my sister's house. Feel better Grandma Sis, we'll be praying for you, especially on Wednesday.

easter chicks

For I remember it is Easter morn,

And life and love and peace are all new born.

~Alice Freeman Palmer

From my four little chicks to you...

Have a blessed and glorious Easter.

flower power

Last Friday, my sister called me fairly early in the morning. 

'There's an estate sale in my neighborhood. Are you interested?'

The house was filled with beautiful items. The gal who lived there had exquisite taste and entertained in a grand fashion. While the prices were a little on the high side, I enjoyed looking at all of the lovely goods. Not a lot of vintage items, though...

I already had sixteen of these pretty little floral napkin rings. I picked them up several years ago, for a  garden party I hosted. Would you believe I found a set of sixteen more, and the nice fellow running the sale said I could have them for two dollars?

I'm thinking they're just the thing for Easter with these organza edged napkins.

They've been waiting for each other.

 I'm really looking forward to Easter. It's probably my favorite holiday. Girls in pretty dresses, Mass, family brunch, baskets filled with treats, and lots of fun with the cousins.

I hope yours is perfectly lovely.

I'm joining the following:

I Love Pretty Little Things,  Common Ground,  My Romantic Home,

French Country Cottage, and Allemaal Kleurtjes.

blue monday

It snowed last night. More than two inches.

Nothing like hearing the scraping sound of the snowplow in the morning.

Picked up some gigantic blue hydrangeas yesterday for a song.  Two of them, at more than two feet tall apiece. Worth it, I believe, just for the visual pick-me-up they're providing.

I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world today. 

'Goodbye blue Monday'

~Kurt Vonnegut

heavens to betsy

Once a year, at Easter
the Easter Bunny brings a special lovie...

For each little gal in the house.

An assortment of sweetness,

that won't hurt your teeth.

I promise.

A set of three 'wee happy hops'.

A paper mâché egg carton packed with a set of six polka dotted 'little wittles'.

Lilac gingham dress edged in ric-rac with sweet felt mary janes...

and the hats, oh my.

Heavens to Betsy.

These little loves are from the 'Bunnies by the Bay' 

Easter Peek-a-Boo Collection from several years past.

As they only come out at Easter, 

my girls eagerly anticipate their annual appearance.

I hope the sun shines brightly for you this weekend.

***

I'm joining the fun at:

I Love Pretty Little Things,  Common Ground,  My Romantic Home,

French Country Cottage, How Sweet the Sound, and Allemaal Kleurtjes.

crocus watch

We had a surprisingly sunny day yesterday. It was very warm, with severe weather on the horizon. My husband and our two youngest girls packed a picnic, and walked to the lake...

 looking for blooms along the way...

While, my two oldest daughters, my mom, and I...

went to see Jane Eyre.

We loved it... 

All these relics gave... Thornfield Hall the aspect of a home of the past: a shrine to memory. I liked the hush, the gloom, the quaintness of these retreats in the day; but I by no means coveted a night's repose on one of those wide and heavy beds: shut in, some of them, with doors of oak; shaded, others, with wrought old-English hangings crusted with thick work, portraying effigies of strange flowers, and stranger birds, and strangest human beings, — all which would have looked strange, indeed, by the pallid gleam of moonlight.

~Charlotte Bronte,  Jane Eyre

Have you seen it yet? It's definitely darker and a lot more 'gothic' than, say, a Jane Austen film. We loved the scenery, costumes and styling. It's always interesting to see what the filmakers choose to include from the book, and what they elect to edit for the sake of brevity.

Have you read Jean Rhys' The Wide Sargasso Sea? It's a prequel of sorts, beautifully telling the sad tale of the first Mrs. Rochester. I remember liking it, a lot.

henrietta

This rather large bunny is named Miss Henrietta.

My youngest is convinced she's alive.

When she spots her...

her eyes light up, 

 'Hello, Henny-ette' she'll whisper.

Quite some time ago, I found these little egg cups.

I picked up a few.

They've multiplied when I wasn't looking.

I thought bunnies were supposed to be the ones...

  

 Henrietta is fond of African Violets. 

As am I.

Can you believe it's almost Easter?

I hope you have a lovely weekend filled with lots of fun.

If you have a moment take a peek at:

I Love Pretty Little Things,  Common Ground,  My Romantic Home,

French Country Cottage, and Allemaal Kleurtjes.

a sunny day

The sun shone for a brief time, yesterday afternoon.

Off I dashed to my favorite nursery/flower shop.

Pansies, I thought. I must have pansies.

Quickly, I planted them...

in Miracle Gro's miracle mix with moisture control.

Color equals happiness, especially in flower form.

the winner is...

Good morning, my friends.

Thank you so much for participating in my 'bring the spring' give-away. I really enjoyed reading about everyone's spring favorites. I've some fun items to send to the lucky winner, a sweet butterfly platter, two pretty floral tea towels, and a set of colorful note cards.

Using 'Violets are Blue' random number generator,

 the winning number is...

Comment #8

Garden of Daisies said...

I'd love to enter!
Hmmm... my favorite part of spring...
1. The "I will beat winter" attitude that the little emerging plants have, as they try to push up in spite of the latest round of snow.
2. Shrubs and trees that burst into purple, yellow and white blooms.
3. The wonderful damp earth smell after a rain.
4. Birds singing.
5. Getting cozy with a book when the big lightening and thunder storms move through.
6. Dyeing eggs with my kids.
7. The huge family gathering to celebrate Easter and the wild egg hunt we always have. (yes, our kids are big, but we still have an egg hunt. A big competition between the boy and girl cousins. Loads of fun!)
8. All the reminders that this is a season of hope and new life.

Congratulations, Gayle.