The Easter Party

Easter morning was a gloriously beautiful day for picking flowers.  I started out on the dam along the pond where years ago Bruce scattered a handful of bush lupin seeds that he'd collected along the roadway.  They've now grown into a wild, rambling hedge and the walls of purple mingled with the orange of California poppies on each side of the path is stunning.  Amazing what the right seeds in the right place can turn into -- and without any help from us whatsoever (other than the original efforts of Bruce who took the trouble to get them in the ground).

I was picking flowers for an Easter bouquet for Mama down in Stockton.  Ian has been laid up with a bruised hip and she hasn't been able to come up to Frogpond for almost a month.  Since she isn't able to come here, we decided to bring her a bit of Frogpond springtime prettiness in a vase.

So I walked to the dam and picked the wildflowers first:  lupines with a few popcorn flowers and bachelor buttons.  When I got back to the gardens by the house, I added Dutch iris (yellow and blue), sweet peas and a few sprays of mock orange.  I think that the flowers arranged themselves particularly well!









Mama had mentioned that she missed the long-ago days when we used to dye eggs together and I realized that I missed all of that too.  Another easy (and fun) thing to remedy:  along with the flowers,  we brought hard boiled eggs (donated by our hardworking hens) and the stuff needed to dye them.

With surprising forethought, we also brought a bottle of wine.

When we arrived, we discovered that Mama was fixing lunch for us and the table was set and waiting.  Without any advance planning at all, we were having an Easter party.  I think a spontaneous party like this is the best kind of all -- it's all the delight of what is in the present and none of the worries that come with putting on "an event".





The egg dying part of the party was a hit.  Even though the wind knocked over the cup holding the yellow dye, we somehow made do with the remaining colors.

Mama sets such a pretty table -- look at all that springtime in a small dining room.

Mama's cheese quiche was a triumphant success -- it rose, it puffed, it browned.  In short, it did everything a good little quiche was supposed to do.  It also tasted delicious (how can one go wrong with a Julia Child recipe that contains cheese, whipping cream and three eggs?).  She rounded things out with her potato salad and a green salad.

I'm so glad we brought the wine as we had all sorts of blessings to toast!


Happy, happy Easter!