Mixed Bag Easter!

Are you all having a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break? I do hope so. It's been a bit of a mixed bag kind of Easter here on top of our 'hill'. Our Easter started on a sad note. My Beloved Geek Boy and I attended the funeral of my friend Lynda's 99 year old Nan on Thursday. It was a lovely celebration of a life well lived and a reminder that whether we are allotted 20 years, 50 years or 99 years, the thing to remember is to LIVE and squeeze the most out of every day ... not to put things off for 'one day', but to get in and DO them, because sometimes, 'one day' never arrives. So although it truly was a celebration of her Nan's life, it has left a huge hole in my lovely friend's life, as she has been one of the main support/carers for her Nan in the last few years. Big hugs to you, Lynda!

Then on Friday, I received an email from my Mum to say that her sweet furry baby, Sunny, had crossed the Rainbow Bridge overnight.

My brother and I bought Sunny for Mum when my brother was leaving home for the second time and from the first time she laid eyes on him, Mum said he was a little ray of sunshine in her world ... hence the name. And since he was VERY spoilt ... I joked that he was the namesake of the youngest spoilt "son". :0) He was 14 1/2 but his death was unexpected, so you can imagine there were quite a few tears from us all ... my Dad included ... though he always insisted that he didn't like small dogs. He really is a big softy under that gruff exterior, my Dad. :0)

So ... not much happened here on Friday ... apart from me supporting the tissue company and vowing that my next pet will be a goldfish cos I won't get as attached to that and be upset when it goes!!

Saturday was errand running day for GB and I ... this was actually the first weekend in ... well ... a LOOOOOONG time!! ... that we were both home for the WHOLE weekend!! So there was a bit of catch up happening on chores and errands. On our way back from some of those errands, though, we decided to just go for a 'drive in the country' and headed west to the area we'd lived for four years before moving into Toowoomba. Sorry ... no pics ... we just kind of cruised and commented on changes as we went.

The rest of the weekend has been a little bit of this and a little bit of that. There was a LOT of this ...

... I ask myself how two people can accumulate so much washing ... but then I reminded myself that for the last few weeks the 'bare necessities' of washing have been done, so it was towel/sheet/heavier clothing catch up this weekend ... six loads later ... PHEW!! Then there was some of this ...

The poor vege garden had been VERY neglected for a long time ... I don't have a "Before" photo to share ... which is just as well, as I would have to hang my head in shame! :0) But with the assistance of my Beloved GB, we've cleaned out the garden, dug in some new compost, planted some winter veggies and herbs and given it a nice thick layer of sugar cane mulch. We've planted broccoli, cauliflower, snowpeas, chives, garlic chives, sweet basil and rescued/replanted a couple of overgrown strawberry plants and a parsley plant. I'm not certain whether the sweet basil will survive Toowoomba's chilly winter, but I thought for the price of a punnet of seedlings, it was worth a shot to get at least a few dishes cooked with delicious fresh basil flavours. :0)

Then during a bit of TV viewing (catching up on some missed episodes of another UK produced favourite "Death In Paradise") I did a bit of this ...

... re-stitching the block that the iron spat on. There were a couple of suggestions left in comments when I shared my spitting-iron mishap that I couldn't reply to personally as the lovely commenters were "No Reply". Someone said they use a dry iron ... so do I ... but GB uses the same iron on steam to iron his work clothes (aren't I lucky to have a hubby who does his own ironing! :0) ) and although I'd switched it back to dry, the iron obviously still had something stuck in its gullet from the steaming process and ... well ... spat it out ... at a very inopportune moment. SIGH! There was another suggestion that I could tea-dye the block to disguise the ugly spot ... I actually intend to try this, but am not certain it will take well, as the dots on the background fabric are a bit shiny and I don't know if they'll take the colour. Also ... it's one block of a pair to match ... so I couldn't have one tea-dyed and one not ... plus they wouldn't match the bag fabric I've chosen quite as well if they were tea-dyed. Still ... the replaced block will be used for something ... some day. :0) And ... I will be using an ironing cloth EVERY time I iron stitcheries, now, instead of 90% of the time ... live and learn! :0)

So far this weekend, though, I haven't quite got around to any of this ...

... as I had planned for this weekend. Maybe this afternoon ... if I get stitching and finish off that sock block. :0)

Mixed in with all of that, there have been a few sleep-ins and some quiet time spent with my Sweetie, so as my title today says, Easter has been a bit of a mixed bag here at the Meares' Madhouse. But that's life, I guess. :0)

So ... whatever you've been up to, whatever you're doing this afternoon for the end of your Easter break, I hope you've managed to spend some time appreciating loved ones, doing something that brings a smile to your face and hopefully you've been reminded, too, of the reason for our four day weekend ... the loving sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. THAT sure is worth celebrating! :0)

OK ... I'm off to get stitching on that sock block (I feel like Dr Seuss!!) I'll leave you with a favourite photo of Mum and Dad with sweet Sunny taken during a beach break a few years ago. Remember to give your family and furry friends lots of hugs cos you don't know how long you'll have them!! Til next time ...

EASTER BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS