Easter and Garden Update

Easter was lovely this year. I have a couple more Easter decorations like this tiny glass rabbit dish from my mother.

And, I picked out this bunny platter to mix and match with our usual dinnerware. (Picture from Williams Somoma.)

The weather was so beautiful that I wanted to be outside all weekend rather than in the kitchen cooking, so I quickly put together a tortellini dish with peas and ham in a Parmesan cream sauce which Jeff and I both like any time of year!

The Big Project over the weekend was putting up a new mailbox. The old, wobbly post was placed in a bucket and braced with bricks, a set up that predated us being here. We live on a pile of slate, so we were putting off trying to dig a hole or drive in a post for a long time. Amazingly, the metal post support went in easily...with the help of an 8 pound sledge hammer! It may be the only post that's ever gone in on the first try without hitting a slate here. (I blocked the numbers for putting on the Internet, but doesn't it look good?)

I've been planting more jugs as I collect them. Already, it is fun to peer into them everyday to look for the new growth.

The first sprouts include Swiss Chard

Basil

and Bachelor Buttons.

Directly in the garden, the peas are up. The immense amount of rain really compacted the soil that we had fluffed up so nicely with the tiller, but the peas are pushing through anyway. The Little Marvel and Early Frosty rows are doing the best so far, but the others are coming along too.

I've been continuing to cut a lot of brush and have two enormous piles to burn. In spite of the fact we had the rain, things have gotten dry and with the light breezes, it may be hard to get a good day for burning.